A
small group of Callander Rotarians set up and manned a promotional
stall at the Deanston Distillery Whisky Festival. The main purpose of
this was to enable us to promote Rotary in general and to encourage
local folk to consider joing Callander and West Perthshire Rotary Club.
The stand consisted of a display board, expertly put together by Jen
Shearer, showing the many things Callander Rotary and Rotary in general,
do to help communities, both locally and internationally. Also on
displayed was a Shelter Box and its contents. The stand attracted much
interest (and not only because it was situated next to a luxury
choclatier) and a number of people said that joining Rotary was
something they would consider. See photos.
The
weather was great, the midgies were biting and around 100 walkers
turned out for this year's Ben Ledi Walk. Approximately 600 was raised
this year to be divided equally between our three nominated charities -
Killin Mountain rescue Team, Heart to Heart and Young Exploreres
Scotland. A big thank you to all who took part and all who helped out.
Also, thanks to our sponsor, Dickson Middleton & Co.
Congratulations too to Trevor Hipkin, who was presented with a
Certificate recording his election as an Honorary Member. Trevor was
instrumental in setting up the original Ben Ledi Walk and even though he
has recently moved away, was keen to continue his involvement with the
event.
Click here to view a few pictures from the event.
Our
annual Coffee Morning, which was held in Callander Kirk Hall, is our
main vehicle for raising funds for Rotary International's own Foundation
charity. Rotary Foundation funds are used to support worthy causes
throughout the world, wherever need arises. In particular, Rotary
Foundation funds the mission to eradicate Polio from the world. This
has been a hugely successful endeavour with only a few small pockets
left in countries like Pakistan, where Polio still clings on. This year
we had a few different stalls and in total we raised over 500.
This
year's Easter Bottle Stall was held in glorious sunshine and with it
being Good Friday, the town ws full of visitors. Thanks to their and
local people's generos
ity,
we raised a total of 600, 50% of which has been donated to Camphill
Blair Drummond, with the other 50% earmarked for local causes.
Donna Milligan from Deanston Distillery gave a wonderfully interesting talk about the history of Deanston Distillery, from its beginnings as a Cotton Mill to its conversion to a Distillery in the 1960s through to the present day. Members thoroughly enjoyed the talk and asked many questions, but the highlight of the evening was when we got the chance to sample some of the whiskies and has it to be said (hic) they were worth waiting for. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Boyd Scott-Brown who was not at all wobbly in the legs. A great night!!
For
the first time we decided to promote Rotary's Primary School Quiz in
our area. Utilisng John Isgrove's experience of the competition (John
successfully organised the event in his previous club, Cumbernauld), we
attracted entries from five schools in the area. With Callander
entering two teams, a total of six teams took part,
Another successful night organised by John Isgrove with help from a number of other Rotarians. The format, whilst following the normal programme, wandered a little from traditional content. The Immortal Memory was given by Fergus Wood who posited an interesting link between the patriotism of Burns and William Wallace. As ever, Fergus broke into song ensuring we all joined in. The Toast to the Lassies was proposed by Mike Cantley - Mike incorporated many stories about the female partners of male Rotarians, ensuring that we (the men) had a lot to answer for when we got home. Leslie Niven responded to Mike's toast in a most humourous way, at one point using a variation of Ken Robert's single joke - except this time we all laughed (kidding Ken). The Toast to the Haggis and Tam O'Shanter were recited (or enacted) by Liz Mackie and both were performed with passion and humour and in the case of Tam, with little sympathy for Tam's plight (quite rightly too). The evening was enhanced by the piping of Ross Walker and the fiddling of Katie Allen and even by the singing of Ken Roberts. The evening was rounded off by a humorous Vote of Thanks given by Junior Vice President Mark wallace
As ever, the community of Callander were hugely supportive of our bag-packing efforts, even if some paid us not to pack. We raised over 800 for our Charity fund and this will help us to make donations to appropriate local causes.
A great night was had by all, with the highlight possibly the animations that John Isgrove used to enliven his Christmas Quiz. John put on a wonderful night that sent us into the festive break in good cheer.
Coinciding with the Jazz Festival, we ran a Bottle stall and raised nearly 600 for charitable causes.
We
were fortunate to have the well known mountaineer Vicky Jack as our
Guest Speaker. Vicky gave a fasciniating account of her ascents of the
highest peaks on each of the seven continents. The audience were
spellbound and at the end of the talk bombarded Vicky with questions.
Rotarian Paddy Ryan gave the vote of thanks. The night also featured
the handing-out of cheques to the various causes who benfited from the
funds raised at the recent Am-Am Golf Charity Day. These were - Mary's
Meals, Young Explorers Scotland, Callander Hockey Club, Callander Boxing
Club and Callander Brass Band Junior Section. In view of the
humanitarian crisis in Syria a raffle was held to raise funds to finance
the purchase of an Aquabox - the magnificent sum of 265 was raised.
The prizes - 2 bottles of Glengoyne malt - were donated by the Glengoyne
distillery, to whom go our thanks.
Despite our worst fears the weather was kind to us. Not to tempt fate, but this event has always been blessed with decent weather. This, our fifth year running the event, was hit by the poor economic conditions with fewer teams than normal entering. Nevertheless, with all of the holes attracting sponsorship, we were able to raise a total of 2,200 to be shared amongst a number of local and national charities.
Thanks go to all Rotarians who helped organise the event, with a special mention for Jim Raeburn who took over running it from Arthur Leask. Thanks also to all the teams and sponsors who supported the event.
Winners of the team competition were the Teddy Bears' with second place going to the Riverside Inn. 'Nearest the Hole' winners were - Jason Hardacre at the 11th; Donald McLean at the 15th and A. S. McDonald at the 18th. The prize for the longest drive at the 17th went to our very own Ken Roberts.
The weather wasn't too ind to us and so Liz Campbell's dancers were only able to perform for three-and-a-half days. Nevertheless, we managed to raise nearly 400 for our Charity Funds. We are, as ever, grateful to Liz and her charges for performing in the Square for local residents and visitors alike. The great entertainment served up by the dancers was thoroughly appreciated by all.
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