John's Jottings - Weekly Meeting Reports
Copies of the Secretary's weekly email
Weekly Meeting Reports by John Sim
President Brian welcomed all to tonight’s meeting, including our guests from Queen Anne, Woodmill and Dunfermline High Schools
Thought for the Day delivered by John Anderson was a warm welcome to our guests and looking forward to their speeches.
Update on Current Business Items
Reminder to everyone to let Brian know if you will be attending the Midsummer Dine and Dance, on 18th June, along with your guests’ details, as soon as possible please. brian.blanchflower@btinternet.com.
If you are not attending, it would really help if you could also let Brian know.
Deadline for registering attendance is Sunday (12th June) evening
Purvis Group visit to their new premises on the outskirts of Lochgelly on Thursday 16th June at 1.50pm for 2pm. Deadline for letting Brian know if you will attend is Monday 13th June.
Please note no meeting next week at Garvock House Hotel due to Midsummer Dine and Dance at the weekend. Club Assembly on 23rd June is next meeting, that Libby Seath, District Governor, will also be attending.
Alan Mutter gave a report on attending and helping, along with President Brian, judge the Dunfermline High School youth philanthropic initiative on 8th June. The winner was case made by pupil for https://www.choicesdunfermline.org/. They received the first prize as sponsored by Wood Group as part of their national support for this. The four runners up were all able to donate £250 each to their nominated charities, as sponsored by ourselves. We got to know this arrangement is somewhat unique to Dunfermline, and highly commended.
Other announcements
Mike Williams gave report on Capitals Challenge, with a 2-2 draw being the outcome, and therefore Dunfermline as previous winners retain the trophy.
Speaker
Three excellent speeches from pairs of pupils from each school (mix of head girl / boy, deputy heads and incoming school captains), giving a summary of the school year / progress and future plans. President Brian presented all with £50 Amazon vouchers.
Thought for the Day delivered by John Anderson was a warm welcome to our guests and looking forward to their speeches.
Update on Current Business Items
Reminder to everyone to let Brian know if you will be attending the Midsummer Dine and Dance, on 18th June, along with your guests’ details, as soon as possible please. brian.blanchflower@btinternet.com.
If you are not attending, it would really help if you could also let Brian know.
Deadline for registering attendance is Sunday (12th June) evening
Purvis Group visit to their new premises on the outskirts of Lochgelly on Thursday 16th June at 1.50pm for 2pm. Deadline for letting Brian know if you will attend is Monday 13th June.
Please note no meeting next week at Garvock House Hotel due to Midsummer Dine and Dance at the weekend. Club Assembly on 23rd June is next meeting, that Libby Seath, District Governor, will also be attending.
Alan Mutter gave a report on attending and helping, along with President Brian, judge the Dunfermline High School youth philanthropic initiative on 8th June. The winner was case made by pupil for https://www.choicesdunfermline.org/. They received the first prize as sponsored by Wood Group as part of their national support for this. The four runners up were all able to donate £250 each to their nominated charities, as sponsored by ourselves. We got to know this arrangement is somewhat unique to Dunfermline, and highly commended.
Other announcements
Mike Williams gave report on Capitals Challenge, with a 2-2 draw being the outcome, and therefore Dunfermline as previous winners retain the trophy.
Speaker
Three excellent speeches from pairs of pupils from each school (mix of head girl / boy, deputy heads and incoming school captains), giving a summary of the school year / progress and future plans. President Brian presented all with £50 Amazon vouchers.
President Brian welcome all to tonight’s meeting, including our speaker, Hilary Roberts, Tourism Partnerships Manager Fife Council, and guest from Rotary Club of Carnegie Dunfermline, President Abby McMurtrie.
Update on Current Business Items
Reminder to everyone to let Brian know if you will be attending the Centenary Summer Ball, which is now called the Midsummer Dine and Dance, on 18th June, along with your guests’ details, as soon as possible please. brian.blanchflower@btinternet.com. Ticket uptake is lower than expected, and payment even lower. Brian needs final numbers by Monday 13th June.
6.30pm for 7pm (until midnight)
3 course meal (with choices) plus tea/coffee & tablet served at 7pm
Live Band "Cut the Cake" (featuring our very own Alan Condie) will play two sets from 8.30-10pm and 10.30pm - midnight
There will be some "games" and a raffle at 10pm (thanks to Graham Steedman for organising)
TICKET PRICE IS ONLY £35 per person. Feel free to invite friends, family, colleagues etc and book a table.
Reminder of the tour of Purvis Group of companies at their new premises on the outskirts of Lochgelly on Thursday 16th June at 1.50pm for 2pm. As they wished us to see a live working site the visit could only be arranged during the day on weekdays so apologies to the working members. The Purvis companies were in partnership with our Club with the Centenary Rotary Walk in the Glen and saved us thousands of pounds and significant physical effort with our project, so would be great to show support to this invite. If you wish to attend this guided tour, could you please let Brian know by Monday 13th June so that he can advise on numbers.
Brian is going to be a very busy boy, as he has been invited to speak at the District Conference, that unfortunately is on 18th June, the same day as our Midsummer Dine and Dance. He has been asked to present on our Environmental and Community work in our centenary year.
Sad news about Peacocks in the Glen, which as members will recall was one of our charity groups receiving a donation this year. The Just Giving page has at time of meeting reached £11,000 in donations to help. We will continue to support and will be reaching out to them.
Alan Mutter and Brian are to attend Dunfermline High School to judge youth philanthropic initiative on 8th June. Members may recall we are helping support this event by awarded £250 to runners up for donation to charity of their choice. Wood Group are main sponsors, with winners receiving £1000 for donation to charity of their choice.
Other announcements
None
Update on Current Business Items
Reminder to everyone to let Brian know if you will be attending the Centenary Summer Ball, which is now called the Midsummer Dine and Dance, on 18th June, along with your guests’ details, as soon as possible please. brian.blanchflower@btinternet.com. Ticket uptake is lower than expected, and payment even lower. Brian needs final numbers by Monday 13th June.
6.30pm for 7pm (until midnight)
3 course meal (with choices) plus tea/coffee & tablet served at 7pm
Live Band "Cut the Cake" (featuring our very own Alan Condie) will play two sets from 8.30-10pm and 10.30pm - midnight
There will be some "games" and a raffle at 10pm (thanks to Graham Steedman for organising)
TICKET PRICE IS ONLY £35 per person. Feel free to invite friends, family, colleagues etc and book a table.
Reminder of the tour of Purvis Group of companies at their new premises on the outskirts of Lochgelly on Thursday 16th June at 1.50pm for 2pm. As they wished us to see a live working site the visit could only be arranged during the day on weekdays so apologies to the working members. The Purvis companies were in partnership with our Club with the Centenary Rotary Walk in the Glen and saved us thousands of pounds and significant physical effort with our project, so would be great to show support to this invite. If you wish to attend this guided tour, could you please let Brian know by Monday 13th June so that he can advise on numbers.
Brian is going to be a very busy boy, as he has been invited to speak at the District Conference, that unfortunately is on 18th June, the same day as our Midsummer Dine and Dance. He has been asked to present on our Environmental and Community work in our centenary year.
Sad news about Peacocks in the Glen, which as members will recall was one of our charity groups receiving a donation this year. The Just Giving page has at time of meeting reached £11,000 in donations to help. We will continue to support and will be reaching out to them.
Alan Mutter and Brian are to attend Dunfermline High School to judge youth philanthropic initiative on 8th June. Members may recall we are helping support this event by awarded £250 to runners up for donation to charity of their choice. Wood Group are main sponsors, with winners receiving £1000 for donation to charity of their choice.
Other announcements
None
President Brian welcome all to tonight’s meeting, including a guest Jim who helped us at the Gin Festival. John Anderson giving us his thought for the day, with reference to the very successful Ralph and Alan Show (AKA The Gin Festival).
Update on Current Business Items
President Brian thanked the organising committee for the planning and coordination leading up to the Gin Festival and the huge effort on over the weekend by members and in most cases, their partners. Four days of effort with many turning out each day to share the load. At some points we were three deep at the bar! The fellowship was excellent and very noticeable in the buzz before and after each evening.
Charity Donations for this year. After Gin Festival concludes on finances and we reallocate cash after the Centenary events conclude, the outlook is circa £30k in the charity account. Members suggestions for donations requested and have started to come in, but we would like more please, by 5pm Tuesday 17th, as there is a Council Meeting that evening where these will be reviewed. Remember our criteria, Foundation projects as will benefit from matched funding, or local charities.
Centenary Summer Ball is booked for 18th June. Final details are concluding, including ticket pricing, and this will be shared in coming days. This will be a non-formal event, with three course meal. Cut the Cake, with our very own Alan Condie, are providing the entertainment. It is hoped members will take the opportunity to bring along friends and we can fill the hall.
https://www.cutthecakemusic.co.uk/
President Brian and David Walker met the Rotary International President-Elect Jennifer Jones and her husband Nick Krayacich, who are were visiting Scotland from Monday 9 to Wednesday 11 May. Time spent at Carnegie Trust and the Glen taking in the new Cherry Tree Walk. Two of Nick’s favourite things are Golf and Whisky, so them moving onto a lunch at New Golf Club in St Andrews, and our own David Walker covering the Whisky chat, we are sure helped make them feel welcome.
Speaker
Member’s Tale by Andrew Watson – “The Life and Hard Times of a Bookie”
Opening with the Migambo Trap explanation and encouraging members to use this if any of his speech was deemed applicable to the tag, Andrew outlined his life prior to betting shops, at school and initially in the Dockyard. His father ran two shops and Andrew at 16 was a willing helper at the weekend, later progressing to working full time. After taking ownership there was a nationwide expansion of betting shops after gambling regulations were relaxed, and Andrew did not miss the bus, growing the business, including in time a new building at Hospital Hill that included Jokers Bar, Sylvester’s Night Club, a shop, and his business HQ. The Secretary is of the age bracket where he remembers well the circuit used for all 18th & 21st birthday parties in Dunfermline at the time - The Well, The Paragon and Sylvester’s (which was very flash with its multi levels).
Hard work ensued with long hours running the betting shops and the pub / night club. In 2006 the time came to sell the shops to Coral as online betting was starting to rise in popularity, although he still partook in track side betting till finally fully retiring in 2020. I wonder, if Covid had not occurred would Andrew have hung up his Turf Accountant Jacket.
Ian Morris delivered the vote of thanks, who as it happens Andrew introduced to Rotary in 1993 and awarded him Rotarian of the Year in his year as Present in 1998. Andrew is known for various quotations, amongst those Everyone’s a Winner, and Bookmakers are the 4th Emergency Service. Above all, Ian mentioned Andrews hard work, good judgement, successful career, and his continued help in the community.
Programme Upcoming
19/05/22 Annual General Meeting
26/05/22 Speaker - The Kilted Christmas Tree Company
02/06/22 Speaker - Hilary Roberts, The Fife Tourism Partnership Manager
09/06/22 Schools Leadership Awards (Each recipient will give a summary of their school progress and future plans)
16/06/22 No meeting at Garvock (due to Centenary Summer Ball on 18th)
18/06/22 (Sat) Centenary Summer Ball
23/06/22 Club Assembly
30/06/22 Brian Blanchflower’s Valedictory
Update on Current Business Items
President Brian thanked the organising committee for the planning and coordination leading up to the Gin Festival and the huge effort on over the weekend by members and in most cases, their partners. Four days of effort with many turning out each day to share the load. At some points we were three deep at the bar! The fellowship was excellent and very noticeable in the buzz before and after each evening.
Charity Donations for this year. After Gin Festival concludes on finances and we reallocate cash after the Centenary events conclude, the outlook is circa £30k in the charity account. Members suggestions for donations requested and have started to come in, but we would like more please, by 5pm Tuesday 17th, as there is a Council Meeting that evening where these will be reviewed. Remember our criteria, Foundation projects as will benefit from matched funding, or local charities.
Centenary Summer Ball is booked for 18th June. Final details are concluding, including ticket pricing, and this will be shared in coming days. This will be a non-formal event, with three course meal. Cut the Cake, with our very own Alan Condie, are providing the entertainment. It is hoped members will take the opportunity to bring along friends and we can fill the hall.
https://www.cutthecakemusic.co.uk/
President Brian and David Walker met the Rotary International President-Elect Jennifer Jones and her husband Nick Krayacich, who are were visiting Scotland from Monday 9 to Wednesday 11 May. Time spent at Carnegie Trust and the Glen taking in the new Cherry Tree Walk. Two of Nick’s favourite things are Golf and Whisky, so them moving onto a lunch at New Golf Club in St Andrews, and our own David Walker covering the Whisky chat, we are sure helped make them feel welcome.
Speaker
Member’s Tale by Andrew Watson – “The Life and Hard Times of a Bookie”
Opening with the Migambo Trap explanation and encouraging members to use this if any of his speech was deemed applicable to the tag, Andrew outlined his life prior to betting shops, at school and initially in the Dockyard. His father ran two shops and Andrew at 16 was a willing helper at the weekend, later progressing to working full time. After taking ownership there was a nationwide expansion of betting shops after gambling regulations were relaxed, and Andrew did not miss the bus, growing the business, including in time a new building at Hospital Hill that included Jokers Bar, Sylvester’s Night Club, a shop, and his business HQ. The Secretary is of the age bracket where he remembers well the circuit used for all 18th & 21st birthday parties in Dunfermline at the time - The Well, The Paragon and Sylvester’s (which was very flash with its multi levels).
Hard work ensued with long hours running the betting shops and the pub / night club. In 2006 the time came to sell the shops to Coral as online betting was starting to rise in popularity, although he still partook in track side betting till finally fully retiring in 2020. I wonder, if Covid had not occurred would Andrew have hung up his Turf Accountant Jacket.
Ian Morris delivered the vote of thanks, who as it happens Andrew introduced to Rotary in 1993 and awarded him Rotarian of the Year in his year as Present in 1998. Andrew is known for various quotations, amongst those Everyone’s a Winner, and Bookmakers are the 4th Emergency Service. Above all, Ian mentioned Andrews hard work, good judgement, successful career, and his continued help in the community.
Programme Upcoming
19/05/22 Annual General Meeting
26/05/22 Speaker - The Kilted Christmas Tree Company
02/06/22 Speaker - Hilary Roberts, The Fife Tourism Partnership Manager
09/06/22 Schools Leadership Awards (Each recipient will give a summary of their school progress and future plans)
16/06/22 No meeting at Garvock (due to Centenary Summer Ball on 18th)
18/06/22 (Sat) Centenary Summer Ball
23/06/22 Club Assembly
30/06/22 Brian Blanchflower’s Valedictory
President Brian welcome all to tonight’s meeting, with John Anderson giving us his thought for the day.
Update on Current Business Items
Cherry Tree Walk. Need for 10 tons of topsoil to conclude on planting. Pricings obtained - £1190 from Beatsons, £790 from West Lothian, asked Purvis what they could do, and price was free of charge. Yet again a big thank you to Purvis.
On similar topic, the tour of the new Purvis facilities is still expected to happen, sometime in June on a weekday.
Alan Mutter reminded everyone of need for volunteer drivers to help with Dunfermline Foodbank food distribution. Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, donation collections from supermarkets 12:30 – 14:30, or food distribution to branches 16:00 - 18:00. This is using the charities vans for transport. Please let Alan know if you can help, even a little – mutteralan@aol.com
Gin Festival report from Vice President Ralph. Two weeks from now will see us amid room set up, ready for the event on Friday 6th & Saturday 7th May. Helpers required for set up during day on Thursday / Friday, serving Friday / Saturday evening and clear up on Sunday. Please let Allan Mitchel know what you can help with - amitchell@thomsoncooper.com
Preparation going well, with programme content concluding. 42 Gins, 4 Rums, 2 cask beers and Wine and Prosecco for people where that is their preference. 36 sponsor pages, with only 12 needed to fill the gaps. Reminder of packages - £125 also gets sponsor two tickets, and £250 gets sponsor eight tickets. On ticket sales, we are now at 350 online sales with two weeks to go - in 2019 our total online sales were 386.
https://dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk/ for tickets
Please share this page on Facebook to spread the word https://www.facebook.com/DunfermlineGinFestival.
John Haxton was successful securing some support from Brewdog. They have donated two cases of their own Gin. Thank you John, and the Gin Festival Committee will put to some good use in order to raise more funds for the charity account.
John Sim and Ralph McCran visited Rotary Club of Alloa last week as part of an invite to all clubs in our District celebrating one hundred years. Outcome was a presentation from Global Sight Solutions, which is a known Rotary fund raiser, raising funds for sight hospitals, along with pitch covering promotion and development of Rotary, and gift for each club. Was interesting to see how another active club operates and we took away to be explored the Sway / business card solution for promoting the club to potential new members - https://sway.office.com/Tc6oWrSDtxT8PPrn?ref=Link&utm_source=Rotary&utm_medium=Membershp&utm_campaign=Orientation
Alloa are also running a short cycle ride of 13 miles, Tour De Clacks on 1st May, raising funds to provide direct aid to the people of Ukraine through their partner the Rotary Club Warszawa City - https://www.tourdeclacks.com/
Social
Wine Tasting / Tapas Spanish evening at Juniper on 23rd April. All places taken, however, a few delinquencies on payment. Please pass payment via the General Account and look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.
Speaker
Sean Donaldson, member since 2005, started as an Apprentice Electrical Fitter at the Dockyard in 1984, and now the Director and General Manager for Babcock Group UK.
Very interesting and insightful talk, especially for some of us who left school locally and sat the Dockyard Exam at Lauder Tech.
Rosyth is now the largest waterfront manufacturing site in West Europe. Sean explained how the business was moving more towards a digital workforce, with major restructuring / rebuilding of their facilities and staff retraining to deliver efficiencies to remain competitive. Rosyth is still going strong, has a good future, although as always in business needs to keep rising to the challenges of modern manufacturing.
VOT that was deliver by Blair Morgan, who confused a few by first sharing his knowledge of Latin. However, he did used this VOT opportunity to develop his skills in Google, finding there was a Sean Donaldson recently arrested in Aberdeen, for punch two guys in a pub. He reassured all not the same Sean Donaldson. Google options put to the side, Blair thanked Sean for a fantastic, interesting, and informative talk, and having attended Sean’s last presentation, gave performance feedback stating this was an improvement on last time!
Programme
28/04/22 Speaker is Steven Godden from the BBC
05/05/22 NO MEETING due to Gin Festival set up day
12/05/22 Member’s Tale by Andrew Watson
19/05/22 Club Assembly
Next week
Host – David Walker
Reception – Matt Brown & Andrew Watson
VOT – Alan Mitchell
Visitors Next Week –
Douglas Scott, President West Fife, who are presenting the club with a centenary commemorative bench.
Olive Geddes and Ian Spence from our mother club in Edinburgh to present us with a centenary quaich. A good turn out would be very welcome.
Update on Current Business Items
Cherry Tree Walk. Need for 10 tons of topsoil to conclude on planting. Pricings obtained - £1190 from Beatsons, £790 from West Lothian, asked Purvis what they could do, and price was free of charge. Yet again a big thank you to Purvis.
On similar topic, the tour of the new Purvis facilities is still expected to happen, sometime in June on a weekday.
Alan Mutter reminded everyone of need for volunteer drivers to help with Dunfermline Foodbank food distribution. Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, donation collections from supermarkets 12:30 – 14:30, or food distribution to branches 16:00 - 18:00. This is using the charities vans for transport. Please let Alan know if you can help, even a little – mutteralan@aol.com
Gin Festival report from Vice President Ralph. Two weeks from now will see us amid room set up, ready for the event on Friday 6th & Saturday 7th May. Helpers required for set up during day on Thursday / Friday, serving Friday / Saturday evening and clear up on Sunday. Please let Allan Mitchel know what you can help with - amitchell@thomsoncooper.com
Preparation going well, with programme content concluding. 42 Gins, 4 Rums, 2 cask beers and Wine and Prosecco for people where that is their preference. 36 sponsor pages, with only 12 needed to fill the gaps. Reminder of packages - £125 also gets sponsor two tickets, and £250 gets sponsor eight tickets. On ticket sales, we are now at 350 online sales with two weeks to go - in 2019 our total online sales were 386.
https://dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk/ for tickets
Please share this page on Facebook to spread the word https://www.facebook.com/DunfermlineGinFestival.
John Haxton was successful securing some support from Brewdog. They have donated two cases of their own Gin. Thank you John, and the Gin Festival Committee will put to some good use in order to raise more funds for the charity account.
John Sim and Ralph McCran visited Rotary Club of Alloa last week as part of an invite to all clubs in our District celebrating one hundred years. Outcome was a presentation from Global Sight Solutions, which is a known Rotary fund raiser, raising funds for sight hospitals, along with pitch covering promotion and development of Rotary, and gift for each club. Was interesting to see how another active club operates and we took away to be explored the Sway / business card solution for promoting the club to potential new members - https://sway.office.com/Tc6oWrSDtxT8PPrn?ref=Link&utm_source=Rotary&utm_medium=Membershp&utm_campaign=Orientation
Alloa are also running a short cycle ride of 13 miles, Tour De Clacks on 1st May, raising funds to provide direct aid to the people of Ukraine through their partner the Rotary Club Warszawa City - https://www.tourdeclacks.com/
Social
Wine Tasting / Tapas Spanish evening at Juniper on 23rd April. All places taken, however, a few delinquencies on payment. Please pass payment via the General Account and look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.
Speaker
Sean Donaldson, member since 2005, started as an Apprentice Electrical Fitter at the Dockyard in 1984, and now the Director and General Manager for Babcock Group UK.
Very interesting and insightful talk, especially for some of us who left school locally and sat the Dockyard Exam at Lauder Tech.
Rosyth is now the largest waterfront manufacturing site in West Europe. Sean explained how the business was moving more towards a digital workforce, with major restructuring / rebuilding of their facilities and staff retraining to deliver efficiencies to remain competitive. Rosyth is still going strong, has a good future, although as always in business needs to keep rising to the challenges of modern manufacturing.
VOT that was deliver by Blair Morgan, who confused a few by first sharing his knowledge of Latin. However, he did used this VOT opportunity to develop his skills in Google, finding there was a Sean Donaldson recently arrested in Aberdeen, for punch two guys in a pub. He reassured all not the same Sean Donaldson. Google options put to the side, Blair thanked Sean for a fantastic, interesting, and informative talk, and having attended Sean’s last presentation, gave performance feedback stating this was an improvement on last time!
Programme
28/04/22 Speaker is Steven Godden from the BBC
05/05/22 NO MEETING due to Gin Festival set up day
12/05/22 Member’s Tale by Andrew Watson
19/05/22 Club Assembly
Next week
Host – David Walker
Reception – Matt Brown & Andrew Watson
VOT – Alan Mitchell
Visitors Next Week –
Douglas Scott, President West Fife, who are presenting the club with a centenary commemorative bench.
Olive Geddes and Ian Spence from our mother club in Edinburgh to present us with a centenary quaich. A good turn out would be very welcome.
President Brian welcome all to tonight’s meeting, with John Anderson giving us his thought for the day, covering New Years resolutions lapsing, climate change and recommendation to always consult the old guys who know best!
Lots of people to thank for their recent efforts for our club.
Bill and Wendy Spence for resurrecting the Daffodil Tea. Tails of people delighted to be out and enjoying company again. Special thanks to Golf Widow (AKA Margaret Steadman), Rotarians and Partners attending together to help, and Alan Condie for his music and quiz, which was won by his mother….. hhhmmmm
Ian Wilson (visit nonattendance) and Andrew Croxford for arranging the Carnegie HQ visit and Ronnie Pooke (visit nonattendance) for coordinating super at the Glen Tavern afterwards. Nonattendance for both was due to Covid, and despite this Ian and Ronnie still facilitated an excellent outside evening.
David Chalmers for securing funding sign off from District 1010 for Gakoigo Primary School project in Kenya
Update on Current Business Items
Defibrillator for St Andrews Erskine Church in Robertson Road should arrive shortly. Neil Wilson has offered his help with installation, however, we need an electrician to complete. Can any member help, or find a willing volunteer?
The Rotary Charity Golf Day on 12th April. 17 teams signed up with great Rotarian attendance. Prizes donations of a liquid in a glass bottle variety requested. Deadline for entries is evening of Friday 8th (tonight) ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Gin Festival. Plea to members to start publicising and selling tickets / sponsorship. We are tracking a little ahead of 2019, but more work required. Based on current sales evidence, ladies are the target audience for ticket sales. We also have 40 gins to be sponsored, with so far only 18 covered. £125 also gets sponsor two tickets, and £250 gets sponsor eight tickets.
https://dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk/ for tickets
Please share this page on Facebook to spread the word https://www.facebook.com/DunfermlineGinFestival.
Youth and Schools report from Dave Sommerville. Four competitions run this year, with submissions to District. Intermediate Photography entrant got a highly commended and the rest were finalists. Young Environmentalists entrant from Dunfermline High School outcome eagerly anticipated.
The Marine band event, Around The World in 80 Minutes, on 28th April. We would encourage Rotarians to support this event. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/around-the-world-in-80-minutes-tickets-217547218587
Suitable local charities investigations by Alan Mutter so far have not resulted in a suitable charity to donate cash to. However, it has highlighted the need to volunteer efforts. Alan has highlighted the need for help at Dunfermline Foodbank for drivers. Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, donation collections from supermarkets 12:30 – 14:30, or food distribution to branches 16:00 - 18:00. This is using the charities vans for transport. Please let Alan know if you can help, even a little – mutteralan@aol.com
Social
Reminder of the Wine Tasting / Tapas Spanish evening at Juniper on 23rd April. 6/7 Wines for tasting. £25 per person. A couple of spaces left, so please let Gordon know quickly if you wish to attend. gblack5020@gmail.com
Programme
14/04/22 Fellowship.
Ralph McCran and John Sim attending Alloa meeting, hosting National, who invited clubs celebrating their centenary year.
21/04/22 Rotarian Sean Donaldson, Marine Engineering & System and Babcock Rosyth presenting From Aircraft Carriers to Frigates.
28/04/22 Speaker is Steven Godden from the BBC
05/05/22 NO MEETING due to Gin Festival set up day
Lots of people to thank for their recent efforts for our club.
Bill and Wendy Spence for resurrecting the Daffodil Tea. Tails of people delighted to be out and enjoying company again. Special thanks to Golf Widow (AKA Margaret Steadman), Rotarians and Partners attending together to help, and Alan Condie for his music and quiz, which was won by his mother….. hhhmmmm
Ian Wilson (visit nonattendance) and Andrew Croxford for arranging the Carnegie HQ visit and Ronnie Pooke (visit nonattendance) for coordinating super at the Glen Tavern afterwards. Nonattendance for both was due to Covid, and despite this Ian and Ronnie still facilitated an excellent outside evening.
David Chalmers for securing funding sign off from District 1010 for Gakoigo Primary School project in Kenya
Update on Current Business Items
Defibrillator for St Andrews Erskine Church in Robertson Road should arrive shortly. Neil Wilson has offered his help with installation, however, we need an electrician to complete. Can any member help, or find a willing volunteer?
The Rotary Charity Golf Day on 12th April. 17 teams signed up with great Rotarian attendance. Prizes donations of a liquid in a glass bottle variety requested. Deadline for entries is evening of Friday 8th (tonight) ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Gin Festival. Plea to members to start publicising and selling tickets / sponsorship. We are tracking a little ahead of 2019, but more work required. Based on current sales evidence, ladies are the target audience for ticket sales. We also have 40 gins to be sponsored, with so far only 18 covered. £125 also gets sponsor two tickets, and £250 gets sponsor eight tickets.
https://dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk/ for tickets
Please share this page on Facebook to spread the word https://www.facebook.com/DunfermlineGinFestival.
Youth and Schools report from Dave Sommerville. Four competitions run this year, with submissions to District. Intermediate Photography entrant got a highly commended and the rest were finalists. Young Environmentalists entrant from Dunfermline High School outcome eagerly anticipated.
The Marine band event, Around The World in 80 Minutes, on 28th April. We would encourage Rotarians to support this event. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/around-the-world-in-80-minutes-tickets-217547218587
Suitable local charities investigations by Alan Mutter so far have not resulted in a suitable charity to donate cash to. However, it has highlighted the need to volunteer efforts. Alan has highlighted the need for help at Dunfermline Foodbank for drivers. Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, donation collections from supermarkets 12:30 – 14:30, or food distribution to branches 16:00 - 18:00. This is using the charities vans for transport. Please let Alan know if you can help, even a little – mutteralan@aol.com
Social
Reminder of the Wine Tasting / Tapas Spanish evening at Juniper on 23rd April. 6/7 Wines for tasting. £25 per person. A couple of spaces left, so please let Gordon know quickly if you wish to attend. gblack5020@gmail.com
Programme
14/04/22 Fellowship.
Ralph McCran and John Sim attending Alloa meeting, hosting National, who invited clubs celebrating their centenary year.
21/04/22 Rotarian Sean Donaldson, Marine Engineering & System and Babcock Rosyth presenting From Aircraft Carriers to Frigates.
28/04/22 Speaker is Steven Godden from the BBC
05/05/22 NO MEETING due to Gin Festival set up day
President Brian welcome all to tonight’s meeting, that was not impacted by Covid compared to previous week. This week we had three full tables of eight people, whereas last week we only had 13 in total. Still, the food portions were generous last week!
John Anderson gave us his thought for the day, as the days start to get sunnier and warmer, and the lawn starts calling. Good reasons to keep smiling as summer grows closer.
Update on Current Business Items
It is important everyone notes there will be no meeting at Garvock House Hotel next week. The is due to visit to Carnegie Trust HQ, and Glen Tavern for food afterwards being scheduled for 31st March instead. Gillian Taylor, the new CIO will be hosting us. Please can we have a good turnout, as we get a lot of support from The Trust. Please let Ronnie know ASAP if you will be attending ronnie@scotland-tours.com. NOTE – you need to let Ronnie if you will be attending both the Trust HQ Tour and Glen Tavern, or only one of those. Those attending must be at Carnegie Trust HQ for 6:30pm.
Daffodil Tea on Sunday 3rd April in Crossford Village Hall coming together. Bill Spence highlighted the possible need for more drivers, so would be very helpful if helper drivers could make themselves known to Bill just in case he needs to call on your services. bspence@bscomputers.co.uk
The Rotary Charity Golf Day on 12th April. There are now only two spaces remaining, so if you were planning to come but have not let Ronnie know, you need to be quick! ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Reminder of the Wine Tasting / Tapas Spanish evening at Juniper on 23rd April. 6/7 Wines for tasting. £25 per person. Open to Rotarians & Partners, however places are limited, so please let Gordon know quickly if you wish to attend. gblack5020@gmail.com
Gin Festival is starting to build up. Sponsors signing up to support, however, we need more please. Gin list being finalised, 100 tickets sold already, with marketing and social media starting to ramp up. We need all Rotarians to be encouraging friends and family to buy tickets to support this major fund raiser. https://dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk/ for tickets and please share this page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DunfermlineGinFestival. Note the Facebook competition for two free tickets!
We are currently benefiting from some excellent Press coverage and thank goes to Dave Somerville for pulling this together. Recent big Dunfermline Press spread on Gin Festival and Kenya project. The Kenya Project also featured in the 1010 Vision, March 2022 Edition. The formal opening of the Cherry Tree walk should be scheduled soon, so more press visibility.
Charter – anyone who did not attend, there is an envelope at Garvock for you to pick up with mementos.
50/50 Draw for March was made. Winners are –
£60 Andrew Croxford
£40 David Fraser
Programme
31/03/22 Carnegie HQ & Glen Tavern for food afterwards
3/4/21 Daffodil Tea Crossford
07/04/22 Fellowship
12/04/22(Tues) Charity Golf Day
14/04/22 Fellowship. Also Alloa meeting – some members to attend
21/04/22 Fellowship
23/4/22 (Sat) Wine Tasting @ Juniper (previously known as Ruebens) 12 couples
John Anderson gave us his thought for the day, as the days start to get sunnier and warmer, and the lawn starts calling. Good reasons to keep smiling as summer grows closer.
Update on Current Business Items
It is important everyone notes there will be no meeting at Garvock House Hotel next week. The is due to visit to Carnegie Trust HQ, and Glen Tavern for food afterwards being scheduled for 31st March instead. Gillian Taylor, the new CIO will be hosting us. Please can we have a good turnout, as we get a lot of support from The Trust. Please let Ronnie know ASAP if you will be attending ronnie@scotland-tours.com. NOTE – you need to let Ronnie if you will be attending both the Trust HQ Tour and Glen Tavern, or only one of those. Those attending must be at Carnegie Trust HQ for 6:30pm.
Daffodil Tea on Sunday 3rd April in Crossford Village Hall coming together. Bill Spence highlighted the possible need for more drivers, so would be very helpful if helper drivers could make themselves known to Bill just in case he needs to call on your services. bspence@bscomputers.co.uk
The Rotary Charity Golf Day on 12th April. There are now only two spaces remaining, so if you were planning to come but have not let Ronnie know, you need to be quick! ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Reminder of the Wine Tasting / Tapas Spanish evening at Juniper on 23rd April. 6/7 Wines for tasting. £25 per person. Open to Rotarians & Partners, however places are limited, so please let Gordon know quickly if you wish to attend. gblack5020@gmail.com
Gin Festival is starting to build up. Sponsors signing up to support, however, we need more please. Gin list being finalised, 100 tickets sold already, with marketing and social media starting to ramp up. We need all Rotarians to be encouraging friends and family to buy tickets to support this major fund raiser. https://dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk/ for tickets and please share this page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DunfermlineGinFestival. Note the Facebook competition for two free tickets!
We are currently benefiting from some excellent Press coverage and thank goes to Dave Somerville for pulling this together. Recent big Dunfermline Press spread on Gin Festival and Kenya project. The Kenya Project also featured in the 1010 Vision, March 2022 Edition. The formal opening of the Cherry Tree walk should be scheduled soon, so more press visibility.
Charter – anyone who did not attend, there is an envelope at Garvock for you to pick up with mementos.
50/50 Draw for March was made. Winners are –
£60 Andrew Croxford
£40 David Fraser
Programme
31/03/22 Carnegie HQ & Glen Tavern for food afterwards
3/4/21 Daffodil Tea Crossford
07/04/22 Fellowship
12/04/22(Tues) Charity Golf Day
14/04/22 Fellowship. Also Alloa meeting – some members to attend
21/04/22 Fellowship
23/4/22 (Sat) Wine Tasting @ Juniper (previously known as Ruebens) 12 couples
Junior Vice President Alan welcomed all to tonight’s meeting, that would appear to be a meeting of deputies. President Brian is self-isolating, and Vice President Ralph was off watching his team play in the Euro Diddy Cup against some unknown from Norway (I only document what I hear!)
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/report/_/gameId/618949
JVP invited our Master of Wit and Repartee to deliver his thought for the day, who delivered an insight on how we move from one life worry to the next, currently being the predicted “catastrophic” weather for Friday.
Update on Current Business Items
The attendees for the Charter Dinner are finalised at 92. However, three people are still to pay and deadline is 18th February (Friday) - to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378). The opportunity to name and shame was not available, much to the disappointment of all in attendance and our JVP. Now is also the last chance for any food allergies to be declared to Brian. We do not want any unexpected events at the Charter.
Daffodil Tea on Sunday 3rd April in Crossford Village Hall. Bill Spence requires names of helpers ASAP. Also, a plea for any recommendations for outside caterers, as Lizzy B has had to cancel. Please let Bill know if you know of anyone suitable. bspence@bscomputers.co.uk
Everyone please remember, the Rotary Charity Golf Day that makes its return on 12th April. Please let Ronnie know ASAP if you plan to enter a team or will attend and be part of one of the Rotary formed teams. ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Other announcements
Eric Keenan reported some sad news. David Watson passed away, who would have been 92 in May. David was a long-standing member, an excellent piper, and a former Argyll and Sutherlander. He joined our club in 1967, which created a not often repeated scenario where he was a member at the same time as his father.
Speaker
Introducing form third sub Ian Morris, who managed to add a coffee beans analogy into his opener.
An excellent insight into a local coffee roasters business, overcoming the Covid challenges and outcome was growing their business. Questions round quality of GHH coffee, and shocking confirmation it was okay to use a cafetiere. A lot of questions. Evident we have a lot of Rotarians that like a good coffee.
Dave Walker (also substitute) delivered a vote of thanks. David, now retired account, was very impressed with business journey, adaption, and entrepreneurial people. He did draw a line at coffee tasting notes being similar to what whisky advocates would appreciate!
Web address for any now motivated to sample some of their product, either via a visit or online purchase - https://www.unorthodoxroasters.co.uk/
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/report/_/gameId/618949
JVP invited our Master of Wit and Repartee to deliver his thought for the day, who delivered an insight on how we move from one life worry to the next, currently being the predicted “catastrophic” weather for Friday.
Update on Current Business Items
The attendees for the Charter Dinner are finalised at 92. However, three people are still to pay and deadline is 18th February (Friday) - to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378). The opportunity to name and shame was not available, much to the disappointment of all in attendance and our JVP. Now is also the last chance for any food allergies to be declared to Brian. We do not want any unexpected events at the Charter.
Daffodil Tea on Sunday 3rd April in Crossford Village Hall. Bill Spence requires names of helpers ASAP. Also, a plea for any recommendations for outside caterers, as Lizzy B has had to cancel. Please let Bill know if you know of anyone suitable. bspence@bscomputers.co.uk
Everyone please remember, the Rotary Charity Golf Day that makes its return on 12th April. Please let Ronnie know ASAP if you plan to enter a team or will attend and be part of one of the Rotary formed teams. ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Other announcements
Eric Keenan reported some sad news. David Watson passed away, who would have been 92 in May. David was a long-standing member, an excellent piper, and a former Argyll and Sutherlander. He joined our club in 1967, which created a not often repeated scenario where he was a member at the same time as his father.
Speaker
Introducing form third sub Ian Morris, who managed to add a coffee beans analogy into his opener.
An excellent insight into a local coffee roasters business, overcoming the Covid challenges and outcome was growing their business. Questions round quality of GHH coffee, and shocking confirmation it was okay to use a cafetiere. A lot of questions. Evident we have a lot of Rotarians that like a good coffee.
Dave Walker (also substitute) delivered a vote of thanks. David, now retired account, was very impressed with business journey, adaption, and entrepreneurial people. He did draw a line at coffee tasting notes being similar to what whisky advocates would appreciate!
Web address for any now motivated to sample some of their product, either via a visit or online purchase - https://www.unorthodoxroasters.co.uk/
Thought for the day from our Bard Ian Morris, with only one days noticed delivered an excellent short TFTD, covering amongst other things Raith Rovers recent acclaimed signing, and a link between the upcoming increase in household fuel the passing of Bamber “Gas Coin”.
Update on Current Business Items
President Brian reminded everyone one last time about the Centenary Charter Dinner, with 91 now attending. Anyone remaining has till 14th February (Monday) to let Brian know. Remember deadline of 18th February (Friday) for payment of £90 per person to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378).
President Brian reported attending an Area Governors meeting. He heard all sorts of club reports of dropping numbers and poor meeting attendance. Our club certainly appears to be much more vibrant, with good meeting attendance, a growing membership, succession planning, an active programme and continued evolution via good future planning. Be proud everyone!
Other announcements
Bill Spence reported that arrangements are reaching a conclusion for the return of the Afternoon Teas. The Village Hall in Crossford has been booked for 3rd April. We need some helpers for food preparation and waiting. More details coming from Bill in coming weeks, however I am sure Bill would welcome people contacting him now to volunteer to help on the day.
Next week, 17th February – Unorthodox Roasters
Update on Current Business Items
President Brian reminded everyone one last time about the Centenary Charter Dinner, with 91 now attending. Anyone remaining has till 14th February (Monday) to let Brian know. Remember deadline of 18th February (Friday) for payment of £90 per person to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378).
President Brian reported attending an Area Governors meeting. He heard all sorts of club reports of dropping numbers and poor meeting attendance. Our club certainly appears to be much more vibrant, with good meeting attendance, a growing membership, succession planning, an active programme and continued evolution via good future planning. Be proud everyone!
Other announcements
Bill Spence reported that arrangements are reaching a conclusion for the return of the Afternoon Teas. The Village Hall in Crossford has been booked for 3rd April. We need some helpers for food preparation and waiting. More details coming from Bill in coming weeks, however I am sure Bill would welcome people contacting him now to volunteer to help on the day.
Next week, 17th February – Unorthodox Roasters
Thought for the day delivered by our Poet John Anderson, skilfully commenting on Covid restrictions starting to cave, our proud 100th birthday and new foundations for a confident successful future.
Update on Current Business Items
On behalf of David Chalmers, President Brian reported the completion of the centenary international project (Kenya Primary School), with handover expected to be fittingly on our Charter date. See notice board next time Rotarians are at a GHH meeting. There are pictures coming which will be shared / posted on website. I huge thank you to David and Sean Doran for delivering on this project in UK and Lang’ata Club in Kenya for local coordination.
Meeting starts. Email sent to all members prior to this evening’s meeting outlining the original approval of Way Ahead Group recommendation to have all weekly meetings at evening, starting at 7pm for 7:15pm, giving working members time to navigate any commute. This was lost a little, as during lock down our weekly Zoom meetings started at 7pm, so upon return to GHH we adopted 6:45pm for 7pm. Pros and cons on both options aired till an eventual vote, with results as following that including those who could not attend but had expressed their preference via email
6:45pm for 7pm 8 votes
7pm for 7:15pm 4 votes
Abstentions 14
President Brian outlined further his Centenary Charter Dinner email sent to all members prior to this evening’s meeting reporting event now being finalised with the Balmoral. There are currently 89 attendees, but still a few Rotarians who have yet to signed up. It is not too late, as you have till 14th February to let Brian know (sooner would be very welcome) and 18th February for payment. For those that have indicated you will be attending, please make payment of £90 per person to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378) as soon as possible.
Vice President Ralph gave a report on the 2022 Gin Festival, with the committee reconvening again earlier this week to kick things off. Expenditure will start to be required as we progress up to the event date. The committee are aware of need to not commit to anything till at late as possible. There is a go / no go date of 6th March for event generally. Anything we order leading up to 6 / 4 weeks in advance we would expect to be items that could be retained for 2023 (i.e. Gin) or could be something we could roll forward (i.e. band booking). Only concern is venue cost, as refund / rescheduling would be subject to reasoning for cancellation. Glass sponsorship has been secured from Thomson Cooper, that we are all very grateful for. However, we need to find more sponsors, so please let us know of any suitable contacts in your networks we could approach. Date for your diaries as we will need lots of Rotarian and hopefully partners helping – 6th & 7th May.
Queens canopy signage for the cherry tree avenue in The Glen has arrived and Ian Wilson will be affixing to existing signage posts today (4th Feb). << update, Ian completed and shared pictures at end of this meeting note >>. Cost was £282.94.
Carnegie club curry and quiz evening at Apricot on 17th March (Thursday), we are keen to support. Currently checking if we can send more than one team and will share details with members once known.
Brian Somerville reported via President Brian the successful outcome to the appeal for baby clothes from a family in Lochgelly. Brian picked up four bags of baby clothes from Children’s Clothes Bank Dunfermline https://www.facebook.com/ClothingBankDunfermline because of our referral, along with bed clothing they require. This was substantial help for the family, as it also covered clothing for 9-15 months and 12-18 months. The family are very very grateful and sent us all a personal message via our Facebook page.
Ronnie reported on the golf season getting close. Current key date for all to note is 12th April for the Rotary Charity Golf Day. Texas Scramble with 20 teams of 4. 10 teams have entered so far. So please let Ronnie know ASAP if you plan to enter a team or will attend and be part of one of the Rotary formed teams. ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Programme - Upcoming Meetings -
10th – Whisky Tasting, after business meeting, so members who do not plan to partake in tasting do not need to (but of course can stay and drink something they find more palatable) and each will be priced / charged separately.
17th – Unorthodox Roasters
24th – Fellowship
3rd Mar – no meeting due to proximity to Centenary Charter Dinner
31st Mar - Carnegie Trust visit
Other announcements
None
Update on Current Business Items
On behalf of David Chalmers, President Brian reported the completion of the centenary international project (Kenya Primary School), with handover expected to be fittingly on our Charter date. See notice board next time Rotarians are at a GHH meeting. There are pictures coming which will be shared / posted on website. I huge thank you to David and Sean Doran for delivering on this project in UK and Lang’ata Club in Kenya for local coordination.
Meeting starts. Email sent to all members prior to this evening’s meeting outlining the original approval of Way Ahead Group recommendation to have all weekly meetings at evening, starting at 7pm for 7:15pm, giving working members time to navigate any commute. This was lost a little, as during lock down our weekly Zoom meetings started at 7pm, so upon return to GHH we adopted 6:45pm for 7pm. Pros and cons on both options aired till an eventual vote, with results as following that including those who could not attend but had expressed their preference via email
6:45pm for 7pm 8 votes
7pm for 7:15pm 4 votes
Abstentions 14
President Brian outlined further his Centenary Charter Dinner email sent to all members prior to this evening’s meeting reporting event now being finalised with the Balmoral. There are currently 89 attendees, but still a few Rotarians who have yet to signed up. It is not too late, as you have till 14th February to let Brian know (sooner would be very welcome) and 18th February for payment. For those that have indicated you will be attending, please make payment of £90 per person to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378) as soon as possible.
Vice President Ralph gave a report on the 2022 Gin Festival, with the committee reconvening again earlier this week to kick things off. Expenditure will start to be required as we progress up to the event date. The committee are aware of need to not commit to anything till at late as possible. There is a go / no go date of 6th March for event generally. Anything we order leading up to 6 / 4 weeks in advance we would expect to be items that could be retained for 2023 (i.e. Gin) or could be something we could roll forward (i.e. band booking). Only concern is venue cost, as refund / rescheduling would be subject to reasoning for cancellation. Glass sponsorship has been secured from Thomson Cooper, that we are all very grateful for. However, we need to find more sponsors, so please let us know of any suitable contacts in your networks we could approach. Date for your diaries as we will need lots of Rotarian and hopefully partners helping – 6th & 7th May.
Queens canopy signage for the cherry tree avenue in The Glen has arrived and Ian Wilson will be affixing to existing signage posts today (4th Feb). << update, Ian completed and shared pictures at end of this meeting note >>. Cost was £282.94.
Carnegie club curry and quiz evening at Apricot on 17th March (Thursday), we are keen to support. Currently checking if we can send more than one team and will share details with members once known.
Brian Somerville reported via President Brian the successful outcome to the appeal for baby clothes from a family in Lochgelly. Brian picked up four bags of baby clothes from Children’s Clothes Bank Dunfermline https://www.facebook.com/ClothingBankDunfermline because of our referral, along with bed clothing they require. This was substantial help for the family, as it also covered clothing for 9-15 months and 12-18 months. The family are very very grateful and sent us all a personal message via our Facebook page.
Ronnie reported on the golf season getting close. Current key date for all to note is 12th April for the Rotary Charity Golf Day. Texas Scramble with 20 teams of 4. 10 teams have entered so far. So please let Ronnie know ASAP if you plan to enter a team or will attend and be part of one of the Rotary formed teams. ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Programme - Upcoming Meetings -
10th – Whisky Tasting, after business meeting, so members who do not plan to partake in tasting do not need to (but of course can stay and drink something they find more palatable) and each will be priced / charged separately.
17th – Unorthodox Roasters
24th – Fellowship
3rd Mar – no meeting due to proximity to Centenary Charter Dinner
31st Mar - Carnegie Trust visit
Other announcements
None
President Brian welcomed 28 Rotarians to tonights, and hopefully last, full virtual meeting!
VOT from Club Poet John Anderson, who referred to life hopefully returning to normality, and keeping it that way as long as we all stay safe!
Update on Current Business Items
Centenary Chart Dinner - everyone made aware of event on 5th March continuing. Numbers will need to be submitted to hotel on 14th February, with moneys required by us no later than 17th February. Refund request for anyone calling off due to contracting Covid, up to 24 hours in advance the hotel will give a full refund, and if within 24 hours they would refund £50, and Council has agreed the club would refund the balance. Welcomed outcome from all attending this evening.
Burns Supper with Inner Wheel next week, that Rotarians have already received background email for. A reminder that Ronnie needs to have all names attending by Monday Morning at 10am ronnie@scotland-tours.com. Format and speakers all now confirmed. Still looking for a piper to pipe in the haggis. No dress code as expansion of normal business meeting, however of course tartan is optional.
Ian Wilson spoke with the three Carnegie Trusts and with Jason in the Park who were delighted with the prospect of the three surplus Cherry trees being planted in the front garden of Andrew Carnegie House in the Glen (see picture). The response from the three trusts has been great and many of the Dunfermline Trustees have expressed their appreciation to The Rotary Club of Dunfermline, via their WhatsApp Group, for such a lovely gesture and wonderful addition to the Trust/Park Grounds.
International projects, agreement from club in Centenary Year was one community project, one international project, and one local project. We are therefore looking for suggestions to what this third project in our Centenary could be. All members are encouraged to come forward with options, but local (and international as backup), and we will perform a selection via membership pole. It is hoped we can deliver this in second half 2022 and receive some matched funding.
Programme - Upcoming Meetings -
27th – Burns Night jointly with Inner Wheel
3rd Feb – Fellowship
10th – Whisky Tasting (after business meeting / meal) – names required ASAP (no later than end January) to Ronnie to make sure enough samples are ordered.
17th & 24th – TBA
3rd Mar – no meeting due to proximity to Centenary Charter Dinner
31st Mar - Carnegie Trust visit
Sport / Fund Raising
Rotary Golf Challenge fund raiser at Dunfermline Golf Club on 12th April is coming together. Reminder that only space for 20 teams, so get your entries in quickly. The feather flags recently order have arrived and will be used at this event.
The appeal for attic / garage search for Rotary material only resulted in one reply, so if you have not looked already, please do and let us know if you find anything.
Other announcements
Did anyone send John Haxton a letter, maybe containing money. He had an issue with recently received post and wants to check if anyone send him anything Rotary / Marine Band related.
Next week
VOT from Club Poet John Anderson, who referred to life hopefully returning to normality, and keeping it that way as long as we all stay safe!
Update on Current Business Items
Centenary Chart Dinner - everyone made aware of event on 5th March continuing. Numbers will need to be submitted to hotel on 14th February, with moneys required by us no later than 17th February. Refund request for anyone calling off due to contracting Covid, up to 24 hours in advance the hotel will give a full refund, and if within 24 hours they would refund £50, and Council has agreed the club would refund the balance. Welcomed outcome from all attending this evening.
Burns Supper with Inner Wheel next week, that Rotarians have already received background email for. A reminder that Ronnie needs to have all names attending by Monday Morning at 10am ronnie@scotland-tours.com. Format and speakers all now confirmed. Still looking for a piper to pipe in the haggis. No dress code as expansion of normal business meeting, however of course tartan is optional.
Ian Wilson spoke with the three Carnegie Trusts and with Jason in the Park who were delighted with the prospect of the three surplus Cherry trees being planted in the front garden of Andrew Carnegie House in the Glen (see picture). The response from the three trusts has been great and many of the Dunfermline Trustees have expressed their appreciation to The Rotary Club of Dunfermline, via their WhatsApp Group, for such a lovely gesture and wonderful addition to the Trust/Park Grounds.
International projects, agreement from club in Centenary Year was one community project, one international project, and one local project. We are therefore looking for suggestions to what this third project in our Centenary could be. All members are encouraged to come forward with options, but local (and international as backup), and we will perform a selection via membership pole. It is hoped we can deliver this in second half 2022 and receive some matched funding.
Programme - Upcoming Meetings -
27th – Burns Night jointly with Inner Wheel
3rd Feb – Fellowship
10th – Whisky Tasting (after business meeting / meal) – names required ASAP (no later than end January) to Ronnie to make sure enough samples are ordered.
17th & 24th – TBA
3rd Mar – no meeting due to proximity to Centenary Charter Dinner
31st Mar - Carnegie Trust visit
Sport / Fund Raising
Rotary Golf Challenge fund raiser at Dunfermline Golf Club on 12th April is coming together. Reminder that only space for 20 teams, so get your entries in quickly. The feather flags recently order have arrived and will be used at this event.
The appeal for attic / garage search for Rotary material only resulted in one reply, so if you have not looked already, please do and let us know if you find anything.
Other announcements
Did anyone send John Haxton a letter, maybe containing money. He had an issue with recently received post and wants to check if anyone send him anything Rotary / Marine Band related.
Next week
Apologies for long meeting note but had to give full report on debate and outcome of Centenary Charter Dinner decision by members.
President Brian welcomed 39 Rotarians to tonight’s virtual meeting. 3 apologies given in advance and thank you for those.
VOT from Club Poet John Anderson, who made a welcome return.
Update on Current Business Items
Royal Marine Band Concert - salesman extraordinaire John Haxton broke through the 80 barrier for tickets sold. A big thank you to John for his vital contribution to a successful evening. Bucket collection on the night, with all proceeds being gifted to our Charity Account, raised £372. £330 ticket refunds for non-attendance due to covid resulted in most of these being donated to the club’s charity account.
Tree-Planting in Glen report from Ian Wilson. Lots of complimentary comments to Rotary on this new addition to The Glen. Application to The Queens Platinum Jubilee Green Canopy Project was successful and plaques will be purchased to go along with existing Rotary signage. Three trees remain as old trees expected to be removed to complete avenue are subject to a preservation order. These three will be planted elsewhere in The Glen in the Spring. Project cost us £2705, helped a lot by Purvis Plant Hire sponsorship, which was incredible value and leaves some budget for any future replacements if required.
£250 donations to both Keira's Big Build and St Andrews Erskine Defibrillator completed. Confirmation defibrillator has been ordered received and church asking for volunteers to help with installation.
Baby Clothing Request via Facebook received prior to Christmas. It did fall victim to Christmas distractions, however, shared with members now. Baby boy clothes for 9th months plus are still very much required. They are also looking for a single bed and cot sheets. Intention is to send appeal round members to poll their families for donations and liaise with Craig Smith on coordinating handover of donations (the Children’s Clothing Bank is part of could retain any surplus).
Early Golfers heads up for dates in the diary
Option for 22nd October or 12th November for Dumbarnie
Rotary Golf Challenge expected to run again as a fund raiser at Dunfermline Golf Club on 12th April
7th June will be Quach competition
8th July is Edinburgh Rotary Club Charity Day
Update on Current Position re Centenary Charter Dinner
There have been some questions asked by various members on the planned Centenary Dinner, coming from opposite ends of the cost spectrum regarding views on kind of event we should be having. Therefore, President Brian has explored options available to us to accommodate a member’s open discussion and decision this evening.
Option 1 – Stick with Balmoral as planned. Deposit paid and 80 attendees so far (28 rotary members have responded), although further are expected. Hotel have ample space for any requirements like tables of three households. They are also extending the deadline date for final confirmation and payment – 14th February is date all attending must pay by.
Option 2 – Move this to 24th September at Balmoral, which is only other Saturday in 2022 available. However, we must confirm this now. They will honour the original meal pricing. We would need to find alternative speakers and musicians.
Option 3 – We cancel Balmoral, lose £1000 deposit, and move to another location. Garvock House Hotel is already booked for 18th June for Summer Ball, so we could change June event. We do also have a band booked for that evening, so a cancellation fee would have to be paid.
Option 4 – Cancel and postpone all together, till covid impact on hospitality becomes clearer.
Six breakout rooms to discuss Centenary Dinner views and share.
Group 1 preferred option to continue with current plans, with fall back plan being swapping with June Summer Ball date. Do not like cancelling altogether. Main concern was cost for an expensive event, with no refund option if somebody contracted Covid! Would venue consider refund on presentation of a positive covid test?
Group 2 preference was to remain with plan. Moving to September would be the preferred plan B. Reassuringly, some people in this group still plan to let Brian know about attendance.
Group 3 unanimous decision to stick with 5th March. There were people in this group who were part of team who set up Centenary Hospitality Fund and mentioned original plan was to use some of this to help fund members attendance at events over course of year. Suggested we use this fund to re-imburse any member who needs to cancel due to a positive Covid test.
Group 4 in break out room very quickly said stick with 6th March. There was also discussion on using Centenary Hospitality Fund for refunds.
Group 5 view was to continue with 5th March. Most points discussed were same as other groups, including £180 ticket at risk if Covid was contracted. Only fall-back option for them was move to September.
Group 6 there was mix of views in this group, no consensus, with mutual understanding and acceptance of peoples concerns. Event coming back to Dunfermline would be welcome. Recognition that we can never satisfy everyone, and we have to all respect the majority decision.
Decision
It was agreed we will stick with 6th March and at next Council meeting consider the club funding ticket refunds for anyone contracting Covid and presenting evidence of a positive test – which will also be explored with The Hotel in advance of next Council meeting scheduled for 18th January.
All members accepted that outcome.
Upcoming Meetings -
Virtual meeting on 20th January, because Garvock House Hotel are sticking to three household rule for now, therefore not viable for Rotary meeting format. This will be a fellowship meeting.
Following meeting is Burn Super joint meeting with Inner Wheel on 27th that for now we are aiming to go ahead with and hotel plan to restrict tables to eight people. However, to keep format easy we will stick to single course meal at usual price (haggis will be one of the options). Intention is to have address to the Haggis, hopefully a shortened version of immortal memory, and address to the lassies and laddies. Garvock are only looking for estimates on numbers in advance to help with catering, so everyone please email Ronnie ronnie@scotland-tours.com on your attendance, but NOT your partners attendance IF they are Inner Wheel members, as they will collect their own attendee numbers.
President Brian welcomed 39 Rotarians to tonight’s virtual meeting. 3 apologies given in advance and thank you for those.
VOT from Club Poet John Anderson, who made a welcome return.
Update on Current Business Items
Royal Marine Band Concert - salesman extraordinaire John Haxton broke through the 80 barrier for tickets sold. A big thank you to John for his vital contribution to a successful evening. Bucket collection on the night, with all proceeds being gifted to our Charity Account, raised £372. £330 ticket refunds for non-attendance due to covid resulted in most of these being donated to the club’s charity account.
Tree-Planting in Glen report from Ian Wilson. Lots of complimentary comments to Rotary on this new addition to The Glen. Application to The Queens Platinum Jubilee Green Canopy Project was successful and plaques will be purchased to go along with existing Rotary signage. Three trees remain as old trees expected to be removed to complete avenue are subject to a preservation order. These three will be planted elsewhere in The Glen in the Spring. Project cost us £2705, helped a lot by Purvis Plant Hire sponsorship, which was incredible value and leaves some budget for any future replacements if required.
£250 donations to both Keira's Big Build and St Andrews Erskine Defibrillator completed. Confirmation defibrillator has been ordered received and church asking for volunteers to help with installation.
Baby Clothing Request via Facebook received prior to Christmas. It did fall victim to Christmas distractions, however, shared with members now. Baby boy clothes for 9th months plus are still very much required. They are also looking for a single bed and cot sheets. Intention is to send appeal round members to poll their families for donations and liaise with Craig Smith on coordinating handover of donations (the Children’s Clothing Bank is part of could retain any surplus).
Early Golfers heads up for dates in the diary
Option for 22nd October or 12th November for Dumbarnie
Rotary Golf Challenge expected to run again as a fund raiser at Dunfermline Golf Club on 12th April
7th June will be Quach competition
8th July is Edinburgh Rotary Club Charity Day
Update on Current Position re Centenary Charter Dinner
There have been some questions asked by various members on the planned Centenary Dinner, coming from opposite ends of the cost spectrum regarding views on kind of event we should be having. Therefore, President Brian has explored options available to us to accommodate a member’s open discussion and decision this evening.
Option 1 – Stick with Balmoral as planned. Deposit paid and 80 attendees so far (28 rotary members have responded), although further are expected. Hotel have ample space for any requirements like tables of three households. They are also extending the deadline date for final confirmation and payment – 14th February is date all attending must pay by.
Option 2 – Move this to 24th September at Balmoral, which is only other Saturday in 2022 available. However, we must confirm this now. They will honour the original meal pricing. We would need to find alternative speakers and musicians.
Option 3 – We cancel Balmoral, lose £1000 deposit, and move to another location. Garvock House Hotel is already booked for 18th June for Summer Ball, so we could change June event. We do also have a band booked for that evening, so a cancellation fee would have to be paid.
Option 4 – Cancel and postpone all together, till covid impact on hospitality becomes clearer.
Six breakout rooms to discuss Centenary Dinner views and share.
Group 1 preferred option to continue with current plans, with fall back plan being swapping with June Summer Ball date. Do not like cancelling altogether. Main concern was cost for an expensive event, with no refund option if somebody contracted Covid! Would venue consider refund on presentation of a positive covid test?
Group 2 preference was to remain with plan. Moving to September would be the preferred plan B. Reassuringly, some people in this group still plan to let Brian know about attendance.
Group 3 unanimous decision to stick with 5th March. There were people in this group who were part of team who set up Centenary Hospitality Fund and mentioned original plan was to use some of this to help fund members attendance at events over course of year. Suggested we use this fund to re-imburse any member who needs to cancel due to a positive Covid test.
Group 4 in break out room very quickly said stick with 6th March. There was also discussion on using Centenary Hospitality Fund for refunds.
Group 5 view was to continue with 5th March. Most points discussed were same as other groups, including £180 ticket at risk if Covid was contracted. Only fall-back option for them was move to September.
Group 6 there was mix of views in this group, no consensus, with mutual understanding and acceptance of peoples concerns. Event coming back to Dunfermline would be welcome. Recognition that we can never satisfy everyone, and we have to all respect the majority decision.
Decision
It was agreed we will stick with 6th March and at next Council meeting consider the club funding ticket refunds for anyone contracting Covid and presenting evidence of a positive test – which will also be explored with The Hotel in advance of next Council meeting scheduled for 18th January.
All members accepted that outcome.
Upcoming Meetings -
Virtual meeting on 20th January, because Garvock House Hotel are sticking to three household rule for now, therefore not viable for Rotary meeting format. This will be a fellowship meeting.
Following meeting is Burn Super joint meeting with Inner Wheel on 27th that for now we are aiming to go ahead with and hotel plan to restrict tables to eight people. However, to keep format easy we will stick to single course meal at usual price (haggis will be one of the options). Intention is to have address to the Haggis, hopefully a shortened version of immortal memory, and address to the lassies and laddies. Garvock are only looking for estimates on numbers in advance to help with catering, so everyone please email Ronnie ronnie@scotland-tours.com on your attendance, but NOT your partners attendance IF they are Inner Wheel members, as they will collect their own attendee numbers.
President Brian welcomed 31 Rotarians to tonight’s meeting. A fantastic turn our considering most were at the well-attended Christmas lunch just four days before.
After dinner, with Grace deliver by John Anderson, Rev MaryAnn Rennie from Dunfermline Abbey was welcomed by President Brian. The introduction started to look suspiciously like Eamonn Andrews and the big red book would appear from behind the curtains. However, it was evident to all MaryAnn is a very well educated, travelled, and experienced lady.
MaryAnn struck a chord with all on her talk covering last years knitted angels after Covid challenges and this year the Angels Wings that are now situated across the town to allow people to have their pictures taken as Angels. All are encouraged to share in Instagram or Twitter using #angelseverywheredunfermline. You can find these on the Glen Gates at the bottom of the High Street, and the old St Andrew's Erskine Church in Pulmuir Street. There is also some street art planned for those Angels who do not mind lying on the street at Christmas time.
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/angelseverywheredunfermline/
Reports and announcements -
Tree Planting completed this week and a big thank you to Ian Wilson for pulling this together and pushing to a conclusion. This week the following able soles helped with planting – Brian Blanchflower, Keith McFarlane, Ronnie Pooke, David Somerville – thank you folks. Signage is in place, however you will not see anything in Press yet as the Official Opening will be scheduled for some time in the Spring.
Royal Marine Band Concert - salesman extraordinaire John Haxton broke through the 80 barrier for tickets sold. There will be a bucket collection on the night, with all collected being gifted to our Charity Account. Note – if anyone has any Rotary buckets at home, please let John Haxton know as only three have been traced to date.
Next meetings - 6th January – Curry Night at Royal Bengal, 13th January – visit Carnegie Trust HQ, then decant to Glen Tavern for food and drink. Ronnie still looking for names. The cut off is fast approaching, so please get in touch if you have not done so already
The Great Santa Sleigh hunt continues, now focused on the back alleys of Rosyth Dockyard. Graham and his team are confident it will be found in time for our Christmas collections. Graham will be looking for volunteers covering Saturday 18th in the High Street and a few evenings the following week in Tesco Car Park (the Tesco by the Fire Station Creative).
Centenary Dinner email from President Brian, please respond as quickly as possible. Deadline for names to hotel is 17th January, although payment not required till February.
After dinner, with Grace deliver by John Anderson, Rev MaryAnn Rennie from Dunfermline Abbey was welcomed by President Brian. The introduction started to look suspiciously like Eamonn Andrews and the big red book would appear from behind the curtains. However, it was evident to all MaryAnn is a very well educated, travelled, and experienced lady.
MaryAnn struck a chord with all on her talk covering last years knitted angels after Covid challenges and this year the Angels Wings that are now situated across the town to allow people to have their pictures taken as Angels. All are encouraged to share in Instagram or Twitter using #angelseverywheredunfermline. You can find these on the Glen Gates at the bottom of the High Street, and the old St Andrew's Erskine Church in Pulmuir Street. There is also some street art planned for those Angels who do not mind lying on the street at Christmas time.
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/angelseverywheredunfermline/
Reports and announcements -
Tree Planting completed this week and a big thank you to Ian Wilson for pulling this together and pushing to a conclusion. This week the following able soles helped with planting – Brian Blanchflower, Keith McFarlane, Ronnie Pooke, David Somerville – thank you folks. Signage is in place, however you will not see anything in Press yet as the Official Opening will be scheduled for some time in the Spring.
Royal Marine Band Concert - salesman extraordinaire John Haxton broke through the 80 barrier for tickets sold. There will be a bucket collection on the night, with all collected being gifted to our Charity Account. Note – if anyone has any Rotary buckets at home, please let John Haxton know as only three have been traced to date.
Next meetings - 6th January – Curry Night at Royal Bengal, 13th January – visit Carnegie Trust HQ, then decant to Glen Tavern for food and drink. Ronnie still looking for names. The cut off is fast approaching, so please get in touch if you have not done so already
The Great Santa Sleigh hunt continues, now focused on the back alleys of Rosyth Dockyard. Graham and his team are confident it will be found in time for our Christmas collections. Graham will be looking for volunteers covering Saturday 18th in the High Street and a few evenings the following week in Tesco Car Park (the Tesco by the Fire Station Creative).
Centenary Dinner email from President Brian, please respond as quickly as possible. Deadline for names to hotel is 17th January, although payment not required till February.
Interesting start to the evening, as 21 hungry Rotarians stalked the dark shadowy corners of Garvock House Hotel, wondering how they were going to get fed due to a power cut. Half an hour was as much as most were giving, with talk of how far spreading the outage was that could impact alternative feeding arrangements. Thankfully power was restored in time.
President Brian welcomed everyone to our Fellowship meeting, with some observations round this day in history. May be a new segment for our meeting running order.
Reports and announcements -
The Bard had returned, delivering his though for the day based on news observations, that was subject to a time and motion study on delivery from fellow Rotarians! Concluded on this little observation / true story –
https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/brazilian-model-who-married-herself-will-get-divorced-says-met-someone-special-4481858.html
Christmas Lunch, we now have 58 attendees. A small number have still to pay, so if that is you, please remember to transfer £30 per person into Rotary General account - 82-62-19 60461378. Please make it clear what this payment is for.
Upcoming Meetings -
9th December – Christmas message from Rev MaryAnn Rennie from Dunfermline Abbey. Please feel free to bring guests to our last meeting of 2021. It is an Inner Wheel meeting night, so no doubt lots of people will meet in the bar afterwards.
16th December – note no meeting as same evening as Royal Marine Band Concert. Small number of tickets still available at rmbscotglen.eventbrite.co.uk
Reminder, Garvock House Hotel is closed for two weeks after Christmas, so we will be out and about. Two events arranged and it would help Ronnie a lot if people could let him know via email if you will be attending as he must provide numbers to the restaurant ronnie@scotland-tours.com
6th January – Curry Night at Royal Bengal
13th January – visit Carnegie Trust HQ, then decant to Glen Tavern for food and drink
Other Matters -
Secretary reported newly issued guidance from District now reflects the approach we were taking as a club on permissions to share personal information in the Club Handbook. Also, he thanked all those who have responded, with only 9 remaining. If this is one of you, please look out for chaser email and respond to as per instruction within. Please note, for people pending reply we will now be looking for positive or negative approval, as applicable on sharing your personal information.
Secretaries Addendum
Recipe book in partnership with Inner Wheel. A reminder again to Rotarians for recipes to Graham Steedman. graham@premierservicesfife.co.uk
Santa’s Sleigh is close now, at Tesco and on the High Street in the lead up to Christmas. Volunteer requests coming via email to create rota, so watch out for please.
Appeal for inventory to be created / updated for Dunfermline or general Rotary flags, banners, bibs, etc etc. Conscious we could have lots of items scattered across Rotarians garages and lofts. Please let Ronnie Pooke and David Fraser know if you have anything. Consideration will then be given to bringing this all together into one location, so you may get some space in your garage / loft back again!
President Brian welcomed everyone to our Fellowship meeting, with some observations round this day in history. May be a new segment for our meeting running order.
Reports and announcements -
The Bard had returned, delivering his though for the day based on news observations, that was subject to a time and motion study on delivery from fellow Rotarians! Concluded on this little observation / true story –
https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/brazilian-model-who-married-herself-will-get-divorced-says-met-someone-special-4481858.html
Christmas Lunch, we now have 58 attendees. A small number have still to pay, so if that is you, please remember to transfer £30 per person into Rotary General account - 82-62-19 60461378. Please make it clear what this payment is for.
Upcoming Meetings -
9th December – Christmas message from Rev MaryAnn Rennie from Dunfermline Abbey. Please feel free to bring guests to our last meeting of 2021. It is an Inner Wheel meeting night, so no doubt lots of people will meet in the bar afterwards.
16th December – note no meeting as same evening as Royal Marine Band Concert. Small number of tickets still available at rmbscotglen.eventbrite.co.uk
Reminder, Garvock House Hotel is closed for two weeks after Christmas, so we will be out and about. Two events arranged and it would help Ronnie a lot if people could let him know via email if you will be attending as he must provide numbers to the restaurant ronnie@scotland-tours.com
6th January – Curry Night at Royal Bengal
13th January – visit Carnegie Trust HQ, then decant to Glen Tavern for food and drink
Other Matters -
Secretary reported newly issued guidance from District now reflects the approach we were taking as a club on permissions to share personal information in the Club Handbook. Also, he thanked all those who have responded, with only 9 remaining. If this is one of you, please look out for chaser email and respond to as per instruction within. Please note, for people pending reply we will now be looking for positive or negative approval, as applicable on sharing your personal information.
Secretaries Addendum
Recipe book in partnership with Inner Wheel. A reminder again to Rotarians for recipes to Graham Steedman. graham@premierservicesfife.co.uk
Santa’s Sleigh is close now, at Tesco and on the High Street in the lead up to Christmas. Volunteer requests coming via email to create rota, so watch out for please.
Appeal for inventory to be created / updated for Dunfermline or general Rotary flags, banners, bibs, etc etc. Conscious we could have lots of items scattered across Rotarians garages and lofts. Please let Ronnie Pooke and David Fraser know if you have anything. Consideration will then be given to bringing this all together into one location, so you may get some space in your garage / loft back again!
President Brian welcomed everyone to this evenings Fellowship meeting and the excellent turn out showed, despite it being a dark cold night, Rotarians were keen to get out and meet with friends. Thought Tor The Day new approach was also delivered as our resident poets were absent, all about dinner at Granny Pamela’s, where we do not say Grace.
A warm welcome back to Alan Mutter after his health challenges, everyone was delighted to see him back with us.
Reports and announcements -
Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links “prizes” of great value and significance were awarded to the winner of the JC Thomson Trophy and Sclar. Ronnie Pooke won both with a stableford score of 40, second was Ralph McCran with 36, nudging ahead of David Walker who also scored 36 but lost on back nine count back. A fantastic day out for all and thanks got to Ronnie and Keith McFarlane for organising.
Santa Dash on Sunday just past was a great success after a year away. 70+ runners, and fantastic Press coverage with Santas being very prominent, considering we were part of the overall town Christmas kick-off events culminating in the Christmas lights switch on.
Recipe book in partnership with Inner Wheel. A reminder again to Rotarians for recipes. A lot of our better halves are members of Inner Wheel, so have submitted recipes, but please everyone look out your own personal favourites and send to Graham Steedman. graham@premierservicesfife.co.uk
Santas Sleigh is on the horizon now, at Tesco and on the High Street in the lead up to Christmas. Volunteer requests coming to create rota, so watch out for please.
Christmas Lunch, we have 51 attendees and final number goes into GHH today. For those who have not paid yet, please transfer £30 per person into Rotary General account - 82-62-19 60461378. Please make it clear what this payment is for.
Hospitality Evening, members being poled to get feedback on if return of this would be welcomed in 2022. Format is some Rotarians volunteer to be a host, and coordinator has two pairs of guests come to your house for dinner. The guests donate to charity. A great way to get to know Rotarians better who you may not normally spend a lot of time with at meetings. Gordon is looking for views on this returning - gblack5020@gmail.com
Cherry tree planting in Glen to mark centenary year, looking like will be planting w/c 6th December, with signage on 9th December. Remember, we do still need some Rotarians to turn out and help with final tidy up.
Our dynamic program continues to evolve as Ronnie and his team work through the challenges of arranging events in the current climate. These are some key dates for everyone to note –
2nd December – Fellowship
9th December – Christmas message from Rev MaryAnn Rennie from Dunfermline Abbey
16th December – no meeting as same evening as Royal Marine Band Concert
Hotel is closed for two weeks after Christmas
6th January – Curry Night at Royal Bengal
13th January – visit Carnegie Trust HQ, then decant to Glen Tavern for food and drink
More ideas coming down the pipeline, with a visit to Fire Station Creative hoped for February.
Appeal for inventory to be created / updated for Dunfermline or general Rotary paraphernalia that we have scattered across members. We are looking at maybe buying some feather flags with Rotary Club of Dunfermline branding, however conscious we could have lots of items scattered across Rotarians garages and lofts that may negate need. Please let Ronnie Pooke and David Fraser know if you have anything. Consideration will then be giving to bringing this all together into one location, so you may get some space in your garage / loft back again!
Royal Marine Band concert, a fantastic effort via John Haxton with 79/80 tickets allocated to our club sold. If there are Rotarians still wanting tickets, please purchase via rmbscotglen.eventbrite.co.uk
Donation Request – St Andrews Erskine Church defibrillator - £250 approved. Adaption of house for family in Pitcorthie with daughter who has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, who really needs a bedroom downstairs, being coordinated by Sullivans Heroes, £250 approved. Youth Group request not approved as not part of a charity.
November Draw –
1st with £60, Bill Spence
2nd with £40, Russell Matthews
Other Matters
Nothing raised
A warm welcome back to Alan Mutter after his health challenges, everyone was delighted to see him back with us.
Reports and announcements -
Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links “prizes” of great value and significance were awarded to the winner of the JC Thomson Trophy and Sclar. Ronnie Pooke won both with a stableford score of 40, second was Ralph McCran with 36, nudging ahead of David Walker who also scored 36 but lost on back nine count back. A fantastic day out for all and thanks got to Ronnie and Keith McFarlane for organising.
Santa Dash on Sunday just past was a great success after a year away. 70+ runners, and fantastic Press coverage with Santas being very prominent, considering we were part of the overall town Christmas kick-off events culminating in the Christmas lights switch on.
Recipe book in partnership with Inner Wheel. A reminder again to Rotarians for recipes. A lot of our better halves are members of Inner Wheel, so have submitted recipes, but please everyone look out your own personal favourites and send to Graham Steedman. graham@premierservicesfife.co.uk
Santas Sleigh is on the horizon now, at Tesco and on the High Street in the lead up to Christmas. Volunteer requests coming to create rota, so watch out for please.
Christmas Lunch, we have 51 attendees and final number goes into GHH today. For those who have not paid yet, please transfer £30 per person into Rotary General account - 82-62-19 60461378. Please make it clear what this payment is for.
Hospitality Evening, members being poled to get feedback on if return of this would be welcomed in 2022. Format is some Rotarians volunteer to be a host, and coordinator has two pairs of guests come to your house for dinner. The guests donate to charity. A great way to get to know Rotarians better who you may not normally spend a lot of time with at meetings. Gordon is looking for views on this returning - gblack5020@gmail.com
Cherry tree planting in Glen to mark centenary year, looking like will be planting w/c 6th December, with signage on 9th December. Remember, we do still need some Rotarians to turn out and help with final tidy up.
Our dynamic program continues to evolve as Ronnie and his team work through the challenges of arranging events in the current climate. These are some key dates for everyone to note –
2nd December – Fellowship
9th December – Christmas message from Rev MaryAnn Rennie from Dunfermline Abbey
16th December – no meeting as same evening as Royal Marine Band Concert
Hotel is closed for two weeks after Christmas
6th January – Curry Night at Royal Bengal
13th January – visit Carnegie Trust HQ, then decant to Glen Tavern for food and drink
More ideas coming down the pipeline, with a visit to Fire Station Creative hoped for February.
Appeal for inventory to be created / updated for Dunfermline or general Rotary paraphernalia that we have scattered across members. We are looking at maybe buying some feather flags with Rotary Club of Dunfermline branding, however conscious we could have lots of items scattered across Rotarians garages and lofts that may negate need. Please let Ronnie Pooke and David Fraser know if you have anything. Consideration will then be giving to bringing this all together into one location, so you may get some space in your garage / loft back again!
Royal Marine Band concert, a fantastic effort via John Haxton with 79/80 tickets allocated to our club sold. If there are Rotarians still wanting tickets, please purchase via rmbscotglen.eventbrite.co.uk
Donation Request – St Andrews Erskine Church defibrillator - £250 approved. Adaption of house for family in Pitcorthie with daughter who has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, who really needs a bedroom downstairs, being coordinated by Sullivans Heroes, £250 approved. Youth Group request not approved as not part of a charity.
November Draw –
1st with £60, Bill Spence
2nd with £40, Russell Matthews
Other Matters
Nothing raised
President Brian welcomed everyone to this evenings Reunion Dinner and was delighted like everyone to see some old faces attending. A thank you to “Ian Watson” and “Andrew Morris” for pulling the event together.
Our Bard turned in an excellent TFTD and must be getting good as constructive feedback was forthcoming from a few members!
Reports and announcements -
Postponement of Rotary Charity Quiz at McKane Park on Friday 12th November. Unfortunately, our Quiz Master has had to call off due to unexpected family treat he was obliged to attend.
Meeting on 11th November will be a fellowship, however Christine Evans from Poppy Scotland is coming along to deliver some words of thanks to Rotary for our support.
Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links on Saturday 13th November. All going to plan with a 50 / 50 split of members and guests allowing the two competitions to run.
SGM on 18th November meeting notice to members now issued.
Santa Dash on Sunday 21st November at 2pm. Flyer shared with all (please do not perform origami with this and share with your friends), details along with QR code and URL to web site. Every member encouraged to market this event, and if possible, take a poster and pin up in your local shops, clubs, hostelries. Attached is a scanned copy to let everyone share in social media or emails to friends and family.
David Lyth continues to recover from his horrific cycling crash. Now at home, however still very much drugged up with pain killers.
Tree planting in Glen to mark centenary year concluded on details in today’s meeting, as reported by Ian Wilson. Trees are now ordered for planting start December. Purvis Plant have been very generous and agreed to provide all equipment and labour free of charge for planting. We do still need some Rotarians to turn out and help with final tidy up.
………… at this point an interruption occurred, although not clear if polite or unexpected. It will be interesting if in next year’s Rotary year, the new President introduces a step in the meeting process to ask all members to make sure they phones are on silent!
………… back to the trees - Signage will now be progressed, as agreement was obtained in meeting that name would be Rotary Centenary Way. This will have reference to partnership with Rotary Club of Dunfermline and Carnegie Trust.
Data Protection, first stage is concluding after some welcome help from Matt Brown producing a solution that allows email addresses to not be disclosed in electronic correspondence. While bcc works for emails, that is not an option for meeting invite. Secretary intends to send details to all members in the coming week, as this is a solution members can also use if they want to send something to all members. The second stage will be Privacy authorisation gathering from members to keep including person details in Members Handbook, which will take a lot longer. This compliance need will also have to be included in new member onboarding going forward.
Other Matters
John Haxton reported to members that the Christmas Concerts unfortunately will not occur this year. However, the Marine Band do plan to host a one of concert in the Glen Pavilion on 16th December, that they are running 100%. Sea Cadets will be rattling buckets and they have generously decided all proceeds gathered will be passed to us. Members are encouraged to attend, as there is no meeting that evening, with tickets at £10 for children and OAP’s and £14 for others. Details of where to buy tickets not provided to Secretary, however John will have information.
Speaker – Ian Moir, Fire Station Creative
An excellent talk from Ian on both the art facility (and good for coffee and cake also) and talking us through the thoughts and structure of his painting depicting the link between Dunfermline and the formalising of Golf.
The Fire Station creative opened in 2015 after a 5 year campaign and lot of time and effort from volunteers, £190k raised for renovation of build by what is an independent charity receiving nothing like the £0.5m received by a City each year for similar facilities.
The building, built in 1934, has been successful bringing out the Dunfermline artistic community that was not expected to be so vibrant. They are now able to refresh the artwork on display monthly. As Ian said, art is like a campfire that brings people together, allowing for people to develop as artist, or use it for personal wellbeing.
VOT thanks delivered by Andrew Bathgate for a very informative and interesting presentation from Ian on two differing topics.
Meeting closed this time with thanks to Ian Morris and management from afar from Andrew Watson
Next Week – Fellowship with brief talk from Poppy Scotland
Reception – David Somerville & Russell Matthews
Host – Ian Wilson
VOT – Gordon Black if he returns from his time in Spain
Our Bard turned in an excellent TFTD and must be getting good as constructive feedback was forthcoming from a few members!
Reports and announcements -
Postponement of Rotary Charity Quiz at McKane Park on Friday 12th November. Unfortunately, our Quiz Master has had to call off due to unexpected family treat he was obliged to attend.
Meeting on 11th November will be a fellowship, however Christine Evans from Poppy Scotland is coming along to deliver some words of thanks to Rotary for our support.
Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links on Saturday 13th November. All going to plan with a 50 / 50 split of members and guests allowing the two competitions to run.
SGM on 18th November meeting notice to members now issued.
Santa Dash on Sunday 21st November at 2pm. Flyer shared with all (please do not perform origami with this and share with your friends), details along with QR code and URL to web site. Every member encouraged to market this event, and if possible, take a poster and pin up in your local shops, clubs, hostelries. Attached is a scanned copy to let everyone share in social media or emails to friends and family.
David Lyth continues to recover from his horrific cycling crash. Now at home, however still very much drugged up with pain killers.
Tree planting in Glen to mark centenary year concluded on details in today’s meeting, as reported by Ian Wilson. Trees are now ordered for planting start December. Purvis Plant have been very generous and agreed to provide all equipment and labour free of charge for planting. We do still need some Rotarians to turn out and help with final tidy up.
………… at this point an interruption occurred, although not clear if polite or unexpected. It will be interesting if in next year’s Rotary year, the new President introduces a step in the meeting process to ask all members to make sure they phones are on silent!
………… back to the trees - Signage will now be progressed, as agreement was obtained in meeting that name would be Rotary Centenary Way. This will have reference to partnership with Rotary Club of Dunfermline and Carnegie Trust.
Data Protection, first stage is concluding after some welcome help from Matt Brown producing a solution that allows email addresses to not be disclosed in electronic correspondence. While bcc works for emails, that is not an option for meeting invite. Secretary intends to send details to all members in the coming week, as this is a solution members can also use if they want to send something to all members. The second stage will be Privacy authorisation gathering from members to keep including person details in Members Handbook, which will take a lot longer. This compliance need will also have to be included in new member onboarding going forward.
Other Matters
John Haxton reported to members that the Christmas Concerts unfortunately will not occur this year. However, the Marine Band do plan to host a one of concert in the Glen Pavilion on 16th December, that they are running 100%. Sea Cadets will be rattling buckets and they have generously decided all proceeds gathered will be passed to us. Members are encouraged to attend, as there is no meeting that evening, with tickets at £10 for children and OAP’s and £14 for others. Details of where to buy tickets not provided to Secretary, however John will have information.
Speaker – Ian Moir, Fire Station Creative
An excellent talk from Ian on both the art facility (and good for coffee and cake also) and talking us through the thoughts and structure of his painting depicting the link between Dunfermline and the formalising of Golf.
The Fire Station creative opened in 2015 after a 5 year campaign and lot of time and effort from volunteers, £190k raised for renovation of build by what is an independent charity receiving nothing like the £0.5m received by a City each year for similar facilities.
The building, built in 1934, has been successful bringing out the Dunfermline artistic community that was not expected to be so vibrant. They are now able to refresh the artwork on display monthly. As Ian said, art is like a campfire that brings people together, allowing for people to develop as artist, or use it for personal wellbeing.
VOT thanks delivered by Andrew Bathgate for a very informative and interesting presentation from Ian on two differing topics.
Meeting closed this time with thanks to Ian Morris and management from afar from Andrew Watson
Next Week – Fellowship with brief talk from Poppy Scotland
Reception – David Somerville & Russell Matthews
Host – Ian Wilson
VOT – Gordon Black if he returns from his time in Spain
President Brian welcomed and commented on the excellent turn out for our Fellowship Meeting, with only one seat vacant. Thank you all for turning out and the atmosphere in the room indicated everyone enjoyed the time catching up with their fellow Rotarians.
The Bard’s Apprentice yet again turned in an excellent TFTD, so I may have to drop Apprentice in the job title. Conclusion of the TFTD was encouragement for a response to the incidental with three golfers, a sign, and a car being impounded. Vice President Ralph obliged after some careful stalling to gather his thoughts, delivering some on the hoof excuses, with the report culminating in two Rotarians stepping back and let the man whose name was on the hire agreement to take the rap!
This may of helped avoid the episode - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Reports and announcements -
Reunion Dinner for Club Rotarians on Thursday 4th November, 6.45pm for 7pm. We have an excellent turn out expected based on people who have let Ian Morris know they are coming. To help with logistics can members please pay the £35 in advance to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378).
Rotary Charity Quiz at McKane Park on Friday 12th November at 7.45pm. Numbers restricted to only 60, so please get names / numbers to President Brian ASAP. So far two teams entered, however for this event to go ahead we need much more, so please do not delay.
Santa Dash on Sunday 21st November at 2pm running down High Street and round the Glen for those more fit runners. The website is up and running, with 10 runners already signed up. We really need members to publicise this across their friends and work networks. Target is 80 runners as we restart this previously very successful event. Flyer, URL to web site that includes payment options coming.
https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/19661155.dunfermlines-christmas-lights-switch-on-santa-reindeer/
https://www.fife.gov.uk/news/2021/countdown-to-christmas-in-dunfermline
Members were informed a club member had raised a Data Privacy concern with the President regarding Secretary email correspondence being addressed to all members direct, therefore allowing everyone to see members personal email addresses. This has been reviewed with District and discussed at this week’s Council. The outcome is each member will be contacted directly and asked if they would prefer their email address to not be included in the ‘To’ field of an email making it visible to all, instead having their address entered in the ‘Bcc’ field therefore keeping that not visible to other email recipients. The down side of this approach is, there is no option for members to use the Reply to all option, so in parallel we will explore distribution groups options round visibility, although that can be impacted by each person’s mail provider. Until all members are contacted to establish their preference, Secretary will default to using Bcc for all correspondence.
Centenary Charter Dinner details were shared by President Brian, including the discounted room rate at the Balmoral – please see information in attachment (please let me know if you cannot access this and I will send in email). Some members have been super organised and already booked accommodation at other hotels close to the Balmoral, at half the price.
David Lyth recent had an accident on his bicycle coming down Townhill Road-
"I wanted to let you know that Dave was knocked off his bicycle yesterday going down Townhill road. He has broken 5 ribs, and had a collapsed lung. He is in High Dependency Unit at the Vic where, as you can imagine, he is getting excellent care. I was able to spend most of the morning with him. As you can imagine he is in a lot of pain which they are keeping under control with oral morphine.
We are thankful to have our family all so close who have been wonderfully supportive.
Helen Lyth"
Change to Rotary Districts coming to make them smaller geographically. This will mean our region will be more along the lines of West Fife. It is hoped outcome will be more volunteers for District events, as will be closer to Rotarians home with less of a travel challenge. Please see notice from District with more background at end of this meeting note.
Friendly Foursomes report had been missed in previous meetings due to holidays. Keith McFarlane reported this competition had been re-instated, although this time as a one day event as opposed to knock out. Winners were Tom Arnott and Andrew Croxford. Since then, the awarded prize has been restored to its former glory via polishing with a banana skin!
Other Matters
Pittencrieff Park tree planting to create Rotary Avenue. Meeting scheduled for next week with gardeners and Purvis Plant Hire that Ian Wilson and President Brain will attend to conclude on final arrangements. Expect to be planting in December, so watch for the date as help required from members.
Keith McFarlane reminded everyone of the Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links on Saturday 13th November. 27 attending currently, aiming to get to 30. Hoping to run competitions to cover a couple of club Cups. Email with details to allow members to sign up coming.
Prize Draw for October winners announced –
1st Andrew Bathgate
2nd Jim Craig
Next Week – Reunion Dinner
Reception – Ralph McCran and Keith McFarlane
Host – Ian Morris
VOT – Andrew Bathgate
_______________________________________________________________________
As you know, it was agreed following a recent vote, to increase Assistant Governors from 8 to 13 across the District. This change will be from July 1st 2022.
Currently, we are all in Area 8 and there are 12 clubs within the area.
Going forward, our 12 clubs will be split into two and become Areas 10 (Carnegie, Dunfermline, West Fife, Forth Bridge, IDB and Kinross & District) and 11 (Buckhaven & Methil, Burntisland & Kinghorn, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy and Leven). I will most likely remain as AG for Area 10.
This change was initiated to try to ensure a more equitable spread of clubs across the District for AGs, giving each area an average of 7 clubs and also to encourage more Rotarians into a District role i.e. reduced workload.
The role of AGs will remain the same and there need be no changes to collaborative working already underway by clubs or, in the future; in fact, as you know, it is recommended!
ACTION FOR PRESIDENTS
1. Please acknowledge receipt of this information
2. I would really appreciate any comments in managing this change
3. Consider your members and encourage those who you think might be interested to come forward. There is good quality training (February/March) and lots of support. I am happy to chat through the role, which I am really enjoying.
4. Attend the Open Forum on 22nd November (Zoom), hosted by Ken McLennon and Heather. There are also a few other District vacancies.
I look forward to seeing you on 15th November (Zoom), where we will discuss the above as well as other items. If you would like to raise any other specific matter at this meeting, please let me know by Friday 12th.
Thanks.
Libby
The Bard’s Apprentice yet again turned in an excellent TFTD, so I may have to drop Apprentice in the job title. Conclusion of the TFTD was encouragement for a response to the incidental with three golfers, a sign, and a car being impounded. Vice President Ralph obliged after some careful stalling to gather his thoughts, delivering some on the hoof excuses, with the report culminating in two Rotarians stepping back and let the man whose name was on the hire agreement to take the rap!
This may of helped avoid the episode - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate&hl=en_GB&gl=US
Reports and announcements -
Reunion Dinner for Club Rotarians on Thursday 4th November, 6.45pm for 7pm. We have an excellent turn out expected based on people who have let Ian Morris know they are coming. To help with logistics can members please pay the £35 in advance to the General Account (82-62-19 / 60461378).
Rotary Charity Quiz at McKane Park on Friday 12th November at 7.45pm. Numbers restricted to only 60, so please get names / numbers to President Brian ASAP. So far two teams entered, however for this event to go ahead we need much more, so please do not delay.
Santa Dash on Sunday 21st November at 2pm running down High Street and round the Glen for those more fit runners. The website is up and running, with 10 runners already signed up. We really need members to publicise this across their friends and work networks. Target is 80 runners as we restart this previously very successful event. Flyer, URL to web site that includes payment options coming.
https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/19661155.dunfermlines-christmas-lights-switch-on-santa-reindeer/
https://www.fife.gov.uk/news/2021/countdown-to-christmas-in-dunfermline
Members were informed a club member had raised a Data Privacy concern with the President regarding Secretary email correspondence being addressed to all members direct, therefore allowing everyone to see members personal email addresses. This has been reviewed with District and discussed at this week’s Council. The outcome is each member will be contacted directly and asked if they would prefer their email address to not be included in the ‘To’ field of an email making it visible to all, instead having their address entered in the ‘Bcc’ field therefore keeping that not visible to other email recipients. The down side of this approach is, there is no option for members to use the Reply to all option, so in parallel we will explore distribution groups options round visibility, although that can be impacted by each person’s mail provider. Until all members are contacted to establish their preference, Secretary will default to using Bcc for all correspondence.
Centenary Charter Dinner details were shared by President Brian, including the discounted room rate at the Balmoral – please see information in attachment (please let me know if you cannot access this and I will send in email). Some members have been super organised and already booked accommodation at other hotels close to the Balmoral, at half the price.
David Lyth recent had an accident on his bicycle coming down Townhill Road-
"I wanted to let you know that Dave was knocked off his bicycle yesterday going down Townhill road. He has broken 5 ribs, and had a collapsed lung. He is in High Dependency Unit at the Vic where, as you can imagine, he is getting excellent care. I was able to spend most of the morning with him. As you can imagine he is in a lot of pain which they are keeping under control with oral morphine.
We are thankful to have our family all so close who have been wonderfully supportive.
Helen Lyth"
Change to Rotary Districts coming to make them smaller geographically. This will mean our region will be more along the lines of West Fife. It is hoped outcome will be more volunteers for District events, as will be closer to Rotarians home with less of a travel challenge. Please see notice from District with more background at end of this meeting note.
Friendly Foursomes report had been missed in previous meetings due to holidays. Keith McFarlane reported this competition had been re-instated, although this time as a one day event as opposed to knock out. Winners were Tom Arnott and Andrew Croxford. Since then, the awarded prize has been restored to its former glory via polishing with a banana skin!
Other Matters
Pittencrieff Park tree planting to create Rotary Avenue. Meeting scheduled for next week with gardeners and Purvis Plant Hire that Ian Wilson and President Brain will attend to conclude on final arrangements. Expect to be planting in December, so watch for the date as help required from members.
Keith McFarlane reminded everyone of the Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links on Saturday 13th November. 27 attending currently, aiming to get to 30. Hoping to run competitions to cover a couple of club Cups. Email with details to allow members to sign up coming.
Prize Draw for October winners announced –
1st Andrew Bathgate
2nd Jim Craig
Next Week – Reunion Dinner
Reception – Ralph McCran and Keith McFarlane
Host – Ian Morris
VOT – Andrew Bathgate
_______________________________________________________________________
As you know, it was agreed following a recent vote, to increase Assistant Governors from 8 to 13 across the District. This change will be from July 1st 2022.
Currently, we are all in Area 8 and there are 12 clubs within the area.
Going forward, our 12 clubs will be split into two and become Areas 10 (Carnegie, Dunfermline, West Fife, Forth Bridge, IDB and Kinross & District) and 11 (Buckhaven & Methil, Burntisland & Kinghorn, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy and Leven). I will most likely remain as AG for Area 10.
This change was initiated to try to ensure a more equitable spread of clubs across the District for AGs, giving each area an average of 7 clubs and also to encourage more Rotarians into a District role i.e. reduced workload.
The role of AGs will remain the same and there need be no changes to collaborative working already underway by clubs or, in the future; in fact, as you know, it is recommended!
ACTION FOR PRESIDENTS
1. Please acknowledge receipt of this information
2. I would really appreciate any comments in managing this change
3. Consider your members and encourage those who you think might be interested to come forward. There is good quality training (February/March) and lots of support. I am happy to chat through the role, which I am really enjoying.
4. Attend the Open Forum on 22nd November (Zoom), hosted by Ken McLennon and Heather. There are also a few other District vacancies.
I look forward to seeing you on 15th November (Zoom), where we will discuss the above as well as other items. If you would like to raise any other specific matter at this meeting, please let me know by Friday 12th.
Thanks.
Libby
We experienced some delays caused by laptop / projector / Powerpoint challenges for our speaker, resulting in dinner being served before resolved. So, the Secretary was off the hook for opening the meeting, as our Just in Time President arrived just as dinner was concluding and was able to welcome members and our guest speaker, Captain Paul Wibberley.
The Bard’s Apprentice returned from his well deserved holiday, delivering an excellent thought for the day covering current events, concluding with mention of some serious goings on with three golfers, a sign, and a car being impounded. No doubt we can look forward to a full report next week to remove any doubt on some peoples professional standing in the community being affected.
Reports and announcements -
Further reminder about our “Reunion Dinner” for Club Rotarians on Thursday 4th November at 6.45pm. Definite names are required in advance to Ian Morris. It is hoped that virtually all Rotarians will be able to attend this “Post Lockdown Reunion Dinner” (which will not be on Zoom). The speaker is Ian Moir from Fire Station Creative.
Thursday 28th Oct is a Fellowship Meeting at which details about our Centenary Charter Dinner at The Balmoral on 05/03/22 will be shared with all members.
Rotary Charity Quiz at McKane Park on Friday 12th November at 7.45pm. Numbers restricted to only 70, so please get names President Brian
Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links on Saturday 13th November. Ronnie Pook will circulate details
SGM on Thursday 18th November. Details will circulate by end of October.
Santa Dash on Sunday 21st November at 2pm down High Street. Further details from Graham Steedman coming on 28th.
Other Matters
None
Presentation
Paul Wibberley first went to sea in 1978 at the age of 17 on container ships.
At age 31, he got his Class 1 Masters Ticket and in 1999 he came to Scotland as a Pilot on the Forth.
Relatively recently, Paul worked for 10 years as Lead Pilot for both HMS Queen Elizabeth & HMS Prince of Wales Aircraft Carriers – the largest vessels ever built for the Royal Navy.
Paul told us about the work of a Pilot on the Forth but with particular emphasis on “A Pilot’s Perspective of the Aircraft Carriers” and the huge logistical challenge these two new enormous ships presented to him and his team.
For the Secretary who likes all this boaty stuff, the comment that got his attention was one of the team tracking the aircraft carrier position as they manoeuvred it within the dockyard to fit through a lock gate, that had 30cm clearance each side, with his Ipad! That and the admiralty charts for one of HM Dockyards being wrong.
VOT of thanks delivered by Tom Arnott (Sunter/ Ed.), who initially had our speaker rocked (in a friendly way) due to past professional experience, provided an excellent VOT complimenting the UK’s highlight qualified Pilots. High praise from a person who experienced Pilots from all over the world during his working life.
The Bard’s Apprentice returned from his well deserved holiday, delivering an excellent thought for the day covering current events, concluding with mention of some serious goings on with three golfers, a sign, and a car being impounded. No doubt we can look forward to a full report next week to remove any doubt on some peoples professional standing in the community being affected.
Reports and announcements -
Further reminder about our “Reunion Dinner” for Club Rotarians on Thursday 4th November at 6.45pm. Definite names are required in advance to Ian Morris. It is hoped that virtually all Rotarians will be able to attend this “Post Lockdown Reunion Dinner” (which will not be on Zoom). The speaker is Ian Moir from Fire Station Creative.
Thursday 28th Oct is a Fellowship Meeting at which details about our Centenary Charter Dinner at The Balmoral on 05/03/22 will be shared with all members.
Rotary Charity Quiz at McKane Park on Friday 12th November at 7.45pm. Numbers restricted to only 70, so please get names President Brian
Golf Event at Dumbarnie Links on Saturday 13th November. Ronnie Pook will circulate details
SGM on Thursday 18th November. Details will circulate by end of October.
Santa Dash on Sunday 21st November at 2pm down High Street. Further details from Graham Steedman coming on 28th.
Other Matters
None
Presentation
Paul Wibberley first went to sea in 1978 at the age of 17 on container ships.
At age 31, he got his Class 1 Masters Ticket and in 1999 he came to Scotland as a Pilot on the Forth.
Relatively recently, Paul worked for 10 years as Lead Pilot for both HMS Queen Elizabeth & HMS Prince of Wales Aircraft Carriers – the largest vessels ever built for the Royal Navy.
Paul told us about the work of a Pilot on the Forth but with particular emphasis on “A Pilot’s Perspective of the Aircraft Carriers” and the huge logistical challenge these two new enormous ships presented to him and his team.
For the Secretary who likes all this boaty stuff, the comment that got his attention was one of the team tracking the aircraft carrier position as they manoeuvred it within the dockyard to fit through a lock gate, that had 30cm clearance each side, with his Ipad! That and the admiralty charts for one of HM Dockyards being wrong.
VOT of thanks delivered by Tom Arnott (Sunter/ Ed.), who initially had our speaker rocked (in a friendly way) due to past professional experience, provided an excellent VOT complimenting the UK’s highlight qualified Pilots. High praise from a person who experienced Pilots from all over the world during his working life.
President Brian welcome members, along with guests / visitors to this week’s meeting, including Area Governor Libby Seath.
The Alloway Poet Laureate provided us with another excellent thought for this day, with the stand out line “Our dear Queen herself – she is such a brick” left some of us wondering where this was going, only to go on and make mention of her new walking stick. We will leave that there!
The Bards Apprentice returns next week
Reports and announcements -
President Brian met with The Balmoral on 8th October, which was a successful meeting. He intends to brief members more fully on final arrangements for Centenary Charter on 5th March (check your diaries) in fellowship meeting scheduled for 28th October, that will include details of the “discounted” accommodation offers.
Please everyone remember the Reunion Dinner on 4th November. It is vital everyone lets Ian Morris know if you will be attending - ianmorris62@me.com
Charity Quiz at McKane Park (7.45pm) on Friday 12th November, we have been made aware there will be a restriction on numbers due to Covid reducing venue capacity. There will be an email coming soon for names.
Other Matters
The charity cycle ride, Sean Doran let members know we raised £1700 for prostate cancer. A great outcome and thank you to all who sponsored our cyclists.
Santa Dash on Sunday 21st November, we need everyone available to help with marshalling and processing entrants. Please please put the date in your diary.
Recipe Book in partnership with Inner Wheel is close to publication, however the team are still looking for more recipes. If you have any, please let Graham Steedman know - graham@premierservicesfife.co.uk.
PS – a great Christmas present that will not be at risk due to distribution challenges
Presentation
Steven Mitchell from Buffalo Farm near Kirkcaldy was our speaker this evening, who had already won his audience over by providing buffalo ice cream for sweet with tonight’s dinner. He is an Auchtertool boy, attending the local primary school where his mother worked as a teacher, followed by Balwearie High School. A challenging pupil, which by all accounts was even more challenging for his mother in primary school days.
Moved onto Agricultural collage which was much more to his liking and family upbringing. Like all good students, took some time out after completing his degree and visited New Zealand as a back packer, following a Rugby Tour. The need for Beer Tokens caused him to work in a call centre selling web sites, finding a farming niche that others had not considered (was able to persuade farmers they needed a website), boosting his commissions. However, he came a cropper when moved as a top salesman to bridal sales, which was more the white dress flavour as opposed to horse attire.
We all know of Puddledub, which is Steven’s uncle, who inspired him to do something different when it came to farming. He liked the focus on quality product at Puddledub and delivery straight to customer, receiving feedback direct. That made him consider other options and come up with the buffalo idea. TV appearance on Tricky Business caused his bank manager to think again about his business plan for setting up the business, so funding secured. He then had his farm covered on The F Word, where the mozzarella epiphany moment occurred. Not done there, his was one of the farms on This Farming Life on the BBC.
His business continues to grow and thrive despite all the challenges faced, now employing 80 people. He is particularly proud of the crowd funding to get the mozzarella part of his business up and running, raising £800k via the Founder Club to go along with a grant – no doubt helped by that success getting close to his customers.
VOT of thanks delivered by John Anderson who like most of us enjoyed a presentation from a person who is very passionate and successful in what he does, and sometimes a risk taker. We all learnt a lot about Buffalo based products, and selling web sites in New Zealand!
Next Week – Captain Paul Wibberley from Forth Ports is giving a talk on "A Pilot's View of the Aircraft Carrier Project".
Reception – Ian Morris, Eric Keenan
Host – Jack Wardell
VOT – Tom Arnott
Secretary addendum –
I was approach at the end of the meeting by a couple of people regarding the Christmas Lunch, as we have communicated this is scheduled for Sunday 5th December, however club book says Christmas Meal on the evening of 9th December. I did check with reception and Sunday 5th December is confirmed for Christmas Lunch and the meeting on 9th will be usual format, unless we want to get creative for our last meeting of 2021!
PS – sorry the speaker summary was so long, but he has had an interesting and varied life, so could have been a lot longer. Those not in attendance only got a glimpse of what Steven spoke about.
This week’s meeting attendance was impacted somewhat by some members being part of the 288 people attending the Pitfirrane Golf Club AGM, arguing over an increase in membership fees. Who would be a volunteer committee member!
The Bard and his Apprentice were absent this week, so the Nameless Poet stepped up to the mark again. I fine piece of work, and who knew Captain James T Kirk had NOT been into space before now - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58792761.
Reports and announcements -
14th October talk by Stephen Mitchell who is the General Manager of Buffalo Farm. Libby Seath, Area Governor, will be joining us on a social basis and we are sure will as usual be made more than welcome.
21st October Captain Paul Wibberley from Forth Ports is giving a talk on "A Pilot's View of the Aircraft Carrier Project".
4th November "Reunion Dinner" with guest speaker Ian Moir who is the Curator of Fire Station Creative. Please note this is a Reunion of members, so there will be NO Zoom facilities. Also, it is vital everyone takes some time to let Ian Morris or Andrew Watson know of attendance please, as they must inform the Hotel of final numbers three days in advance, so no late arrival options. a.watson@watinvest.com ianmorris62@hotmail.com
12th November @ 7:45pm we have the Charity Quiz at McKane Park
18th November will be an SGM, and notice will be issued in advance
21st November (it will be here before we know it) is Santa Dash
President Brian is attending a meeting with The Balmoral on 8th October, so more details to follow on Centenary Charter Dinner along with hopefully some room rates for those planning to stay over.
Other Matters
Nothing raised
Presentation
Fellowship evening
The Bard and his Apprentice were absent this week, so the Nameless Poet stepped up to the mark again. I fine piece of work, and who knew Captain James T Kirk had NOT been into space before now - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58792761.
Reports and announcements -
14th October talk by Stephen Mitchell who is the General Manager of Buffalo Farm. Libby Seath, Area Governor, will be joining us on a social basis and we are sure will as usual be made more than welcome.
21st October Captain Paul Wibberley from Forth Ports is giving a talk on "A Pilot's View of the Aircraft Carrier Project".
4th November "Reunion Dinner" with guest speaker Ian Moir who is the Curator of Fire Station Creative. Please note this is a Reunion of members, so there will be NO Zoom facilities. Also, it is vital everyone takes some time to let Ian Morris or Andrew Watson know of attendance please, as they must inform the Hotel of final numbers three days in advance, so no late arrival options. a.watson@watinvest.com ianmorris62@hotmail.com
12th November @ 7:45pm we have the Charity Quiz at McKane Park
18th November will be an SGM, and notice will be issued in advance
21st November (it will be here before we know it) is Santa Dash
President Brian is attending a meeting with The Balmoral on 8th October, so more details to follow on Centenary Charter Dinner along with hopefully some room rates for those planning to stay over.
Other Matters
Nothing raised
Presentation
Fellowship evening
Vice President Ralph welcomed members to this week’s meeting, covering for President Brian while he is Ireland for a “Walking” Holiday.
Mention was made to members in attendance regarding David Gemmell losing his wife Claire. As reported to members via email there will be no funeral. David has been touched and helped by the support of his fellow Rotarians. We all look forward to David’s return to Rotary hopefully shortly after his return from Spain.
The Interim Club Bard delivered thought for the day, taking on board “constructive feedback” with a shorter pitch, finishing with a limerick.
As part of VP Ralph’s delegated duties, he will be taking one for the team and rising early on Sunday to attend a District Council meeting via Zoom at 10am! He will report pertinent points to members.
Reports and announcements -
Reunion Dinner on Thursday 4th November, Rotarians only event, with very interesting speaker from The Fire Station Creative on establishing this new art hub in Dunfermline, and the benefits it brings. Please let Ian Morris know ASAP if you are coming - ianmorris62@hotmail.com.
Great performance by our team in the foursome event at Brunsfield, right up to the 14th hole! Advised we should leave it there as fatigue started to set in, and there was talk of hooks and slices, whatever those are!
Crazy Golf event ran on 16th, with dinner at Toni Macaronis
The results –
3 members with a score of 50+
9 members with a score of 40+
However, the winner with a score of 34, that included 5 holes in one, was Mike Williams.
Shoe Boxes continue to be available to pick up from Sean. Please note deadline for returning to him is 28th October.
Monthly Prize Draw returned this month, as approved by members previously. Winners for September are –
1st with £60 - Ian McDermid
2nd with £40 Alan Condie
Other Matters
A correction to what was communicated on the evening of 9th September reflecting what was issued in meeting notes reported this evening by VP Ralph. Trustees changing for 2021/22 - reported in the meeting was Immediate Past President (IPP) would be a Trustee, that was incorrect and Junior Vice President will replace IPP to become Trustee. This means the following will be Trustees going forward - President, Vice-President, Junior Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. All members in attendance were agreeable to that.
Presentation
A very interesting and enlightening presentation from Jon Anderson on Drones and training users. The virtual reality content as part of pilot training was fascinating for fellow geeks. His description of people’s perception of Drones as one of the three C’s – Criminal, Careless, Clueless struck a core, followed by showing what a drone can capture when high in the sky.
Vote of Thanks from Ken Young on a topic he was new to and learned a lot. Members questions from military use to personal transportation via Drome showed the presentation sparked a lot of interest across our number.
Next Week –
No presentation next week, so will be fellowship only. Note, Zoom is only run when we have a presenter.
Can the first two members who come to GHH on the evening please cover reception duties.
President Brian welcomed members to weekly meeting that was noticeably well attended this week, so lots of Pars supporters in our club. He also welcomed guests Ian Clark and Eileen Runciman. We also had a brief visit from Bedford Park Rotary Chair who was attending a wedding in the hotel and past on his best wishes to the club.
The new Club Bard delivered another excellent thought for the day, covering a multitude of current club and news points – Owen Millers excellent performance at The Paralympics, Boris and his Bikes and mention of the Charity Quiz.
Reports and announcements -
The Rotary Charity Cycle Ride was a big and enjoyable success for all participants. Special mention made of Inner Wheeler Helen Doran taking part. Lots of talk of becoming an annual event and a Rotary Cycling Group being formed. Amazing what a difference a lovely sunny day makes! Thank you to Sean Doran for pulling this together. At time of meeting, £921 raised for Prostate Cancer, a very worthy cause, and members asked to consider donating to get us through £1000.
Donations @ https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rotary-ride-2021-ps
Jim Payne took pictures on the day and is helping us with a Press article.
As mentioned previously, the 2021 Club Directory was available for everyone to pick up from the Garvock House Hotel. Anyone who may need a copy sent to them, please let John Sim know and he will put a copy in the post to you.
Walking Group next outing is 4th October, more details to come nearer the time
Show Boxes available to pick up on the night and most members took the opportunity. Please email Sean Doran if you require delivery, to pick for his home, or more boxes.
Next week we cannot meet at the Hotel as they are fully booked, which will not be convenient for some car sharing on the same evening as Inner Wheel. Alternative event has been arranged, which is the Crazy Golf event that was postponed earlier in the year.
6:30pm at Tony Macaroni’s
8pm into crazy golf
Note this time it is not a Couples event
Please let Ronnie Pooke know by Sunday if you plan to come along, if he is not aware already.
Christmas Lunch is booked, for 5th December at Garvock House Hotel. Please put in your diaries.
Trustees for the club need changed to reflect the new office bearers, which are new people holding posts in 2021/22 as President, Vice-President, Junior Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. All members in attendance were agreeable to that.
International / Foundation. Budget of £5400 finalised, with £2600 coming from District and £2800 from our Centenary account. David Chalmers and Sean Doran have put lots of work into this to allow project in Kenya to start with immediate effect. Press release being pulled together.
Meeting Notes of 2nd September Correction
Charity Quiz at McKane Park, now on 12th November at 7:45pm – update your copy of the new Club Handbook.
Point raised –
None
Presentation
Ross McArthur gave a very enlightening and for most Pars supports reassuring presentation, going over challenges and plans for the future. Much debate followed with members on the two possible locations for the new training facilities.
Vote of Thanks delivered by Neil Wilson, who despite not being a football fan gave a great response based on him being a very close neighbour of East End Park and can always track the highs and lows of The Pars based on the noise from the stadium, and the class of car blocking his drive on match days. President Brian did steal a chunk of his planned response by mentioning Keith McFarlane was once Ross’s Scout Leader!
Next Week –
Tony Macaroni’s as mentioned above.
Next meeting at Garvock House Hotel will be 23rd September, where Jon Anderson (not our one) will be presenting.
President Brian welcomed members to weekly meeting that for the first time is a hybrid meeting, giving members opportunity to hear our speaker via Zoom, or attend in person. Personal attendance at GHH is of course preferred approach and recommendation to all members.
A very eloquent and thorough thought for the day from our Apprentice who no doubt made John Anderson proud. The Paralympics to Lama Jumpers, and everything in between.
Reminder to all on face coverings always required in Hotel unless people are seated eating / drinking.
Reports and announcements -
As mentioned, tonight’s meeting was first Hybrid event, so asking to those who attended for any feedback on audio and video quality. It appeared all was good when we checked during meeting.
The 2021 Club Directory was available for everyone to pick up this evening and going forward. Anyone who may need a copy delivered, please let Brian know,
Ralph McCran gave a report on the Couples Golf, which was a tremendous success with twelve pairs attending this year. The winners prize went to Anne Payne and Keith McFarlane, and the trophy has pride of place in the Payne household for the next twelve months.
The Rotary Charity Cycle Ride is on Sunday and all are encouraged to participate. Start & Finish at Limekilns harbour carpark on the promenade. 30km route targeting a 10:30am start, with 100km route starting time of 9am. It is hoped both groups will be able to meet in the Ship Inn in Limekilns at the end. Come out for a pedal challenge to raise some funds for a worthwhile cause at the same time.
Donations @ https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rotary-ride-2021-ps
Walking Group this coming week are meeting at North Queensferry Pier on Monday at 10am
Show Boxes, as mentioned in Thought For The Day, please let Sean Doran know ASAP your intentions with regards to number of boxes you require.
Charity Quiz at McKane Park, now on 21st November at 7:45pm – update your copy of the new Club Handbook.
Santa Dash, date set with Fife Council for 21st November which will be a joint event as Christmas kicks off in The Town, with lights switch on being the same day.
Point raised –
None
A very eloquent and thorough thought for the day from our Apprentice who no doubt made John Anderson proud. The Paralympics to Lama Jumpers, and everything in between.
Reminder to all on face coverings always required in Hotel unless people are seated eating / drinking.
Reports and announcements -
As mentioned, tonight’s meeting was first Hybrid event, so asking to those who attended for any feedback on audio and video quality. It appeared all was good when we checked during meeting.
The 2021 Club Directory was available for everyone to pick up this evening and going forward. Anyone who may need a copy delivered, please let Brian know,
Ralph McCran gave a report on the Couples Golf, which was a tremendous success with twelve pairs attending this year. The winners prize went to Anne Payne and Keith McFarlane, and the trophy has pride of place in the Payne household for the next twelve months.
The Rotary Charity Cycle Ride is on Sunday and all are encouraged to participate. Start & Finish at Limekilns harbour carpark on the promenade. 30km route targeting a 10:30am start, with 100km route starting time of 9am. It is hoped both groups will be able to meet in the Ship Inn in Limekilns at the end. Come out for a pedal challenge to raise some funds for a worthwhile cause at the same time.
Donations @ https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rotary-ride-2021-ps
Walking Group this coming week are meeting at North Queensferry Pier on Monday at 10am
Show Boxes, as mentioned in Thought For The Day, please let Sean Doran know ASAP your intentions with regards to number of boxes you require.
Charity Quiz at McKane Park, now on 21st November at 7:45pm – update your copy of the new Club Handbook.
Santa Dash, date set with Fife Council for 21st November which will be a joint event as Christmas kicks off in The Town, with lights switch on being the same day.
Point raised –
None
President Brian welcomed members to weekly meeting that includes the Gavel Competition.
A very creative thought for the day delivered by President Brian, written by the “Mysterious Bard”
Reports and announcements -
The 2021 Club Directory final; proof and expect to complete in next couple of weeks. Thank you to Andrew Watson for the work he has put into this. Hopefully we will see distributed to members in a few weeks’ time.
Programme – 16th September Garvock House Hotel cannot accommodate us for usual Thursday meeting. Ronnie is working on an alternative for that evening. Watch this space.
Sports – slight change to note issued on behalf of Keith, start time is 4pm, so meet up time is 3:30pm (30 minute earlier). Reminder to let Keith know in advance if your coming - togmcf@hotmail.com
Sclar and FC Thomson, this is looking like will probably move to 3rd October.
Next week is the Douglas Scott Quiz. Please let Ronnie know if you’re coming and guest, as this is an open event. Ronnie needs to inform Garvock HH of numbers by Monday, so deadline is Sunday evening. ronnie@scotland-tours.com
Disaster in Haiti where Secretary issued note from Rotary, this will be discussed at Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday next week and may choose support shelterbox appeal. Commitment to report back to members of decision.
Next Walking Group event is Monday 23rd with 10am start. Meeting at Limekilns Pier car park
Treasurer thanked everyone for their prompt payment of subscriptions.
Point raised –
None
President Brian welcomed 23 members to our return to Garvock House Hotel, with a lot of smiling happy faces once masks were removed. The hotel set up four tables in the Rosemalen Suite, sitting six each and welcome feedback from anyone on how they have can improve. They have promised the bar in the Rosemalen Suite will be open next week.
Announcements
Wee Course Golf event on 29th August, Keith McFarlane will issue more details soon.
The Centenary International project, final submission submitted, however, needs £240 more – all in attendance agreed acceptable.
Show Boxes sounds a long way off. However, planning has to start now. If people could give some kind of indication to Sean Doran on boxes required that would be very helpful.
West Fife FTSE 100 virtual investment completion returns as part of their fund raising efforts. Details sent via email to all, and members encouraged to support.
Cycle event at start September, everyone will have seen emails from National. Sean Doran is finalising the 100km route (is everyone training?) and will by popular demand be pulling together a shorter alternative route.
Next walking group event is 23rd August, 10am, meeting at Limekilns Promenade Car Park.
And finally, some people may want to factor into their day this coming Saturday, the Royal Marine Band will be providing a free to all event in front of The Glen Museum, performing Beat the Retreat.
Upcoming
Reminder to all next week is the Gavel Night, with 4 / 5 games being lined up and no doubt some discreet talent spotting for future district competitions!
Douglas Scott from West Fife will be coming along in two weeks to deliver a quiz, which we are told will mainly be on local history.
Announcements
Wee Course Golf event on 29th August, Keith McFarlane will issue more details soon.
The Centenary International project, final submission submitted, however, needs £240 more – all in attendance agreed acceptable.
Show Boxes sounds a long way off. However, planning has to start now. If people could give some kind of indication to Sean Doran on boxes required that would be very helpful.
West Fife FTSE 100 virtual investment completion returns as part of their fund raising efforts. Details sent via email to all, and members encouraged to support.
Cycle event at start September, everyone will have seen emails from National. Sean Doran is finalising the 100km route (is everyone training?) and will by popular demand be pulling together a shorter alternative route.
Next walking group event is 23rd August, 10am, meeting at Limekilns Promenade Car Park.
And finally, some people may want to factor into their day this coming Saturday, the Royal Marine Band will be providing a free to all event in front of The Glen Museum, performing Beat the Retreat.
Upcoming
Reminder to all next week is the Gavel Night, with 4 / 5 games being lined up and no doubt some discreet talent spotting for future district competitions!
Douglas Scott from West Fife will be coming along in two weeks to deliver a quiz, which we are told will mainly be on local history.
President Brian welcomed 25 members to the weekly Zoom meeting of Rotary Club of Dunfermline.
Thought for the day was ably delivered by Ian Morris, with a masterful rhyme covering all areas of life this week, from flowers in the garden to the Olympics.
Reports and announcements -
President Brian reported that Alan Muter is arranging this coming Mondays walk starting from Blairadam carpark (the car park in the forest, not by the main road), kicking off at 10:30am sharp.
Next week we have a 6:15pm for 6:30pm start, so half an hour earlier than normal, and afterwards people will move onto The Ballroom for darts and pool….. see comments below on need for advanced attendance confirmation to Ronnie.
The Cycle Challenge on 5th September. Finalising currently, including a recce of the route. Final details coming next week from Sean.
Thanks, from Ann Short to Rotarian’s who attended Hugh’s funeral. Flowers delivered to Margaret Dean and thank you for the kind words from Rotarians. Please note, Brian’s upcoming funeral is strictly private.
David Scott from Dumbarnie Links gave an insightful talk on this new Fife golf course, especially interesting (and no doubt tempting for a visit) for the golfers in our community.
345 acres along a mile and a half of Fife coast near Elie. A beautiful slide show as David gave us some background on the design, construction, covid impact negative and positive, and paying of this course that often requires careful consideration of a golfers next shot. Not forgetting hosting of the Women’s Scottish Open in the coming week, starting 12th August that is been screened on Sky TV.
Vote of thanks was given by Ralph McCran, who has already played the course, although not seeing at it’s best in the rain. He is dying to return, as all the messages coming back are highly complementary.
Business Meeting Matters
Face to Face Meetings
Reminder of notice issued by our President in advance of the meeting –
a. On 12th August, the previously circulated programme intimated a meal at the Garvock at 6.15pm for 6.30pm followed by The Ball Room in Dunfermline for pool, snooker & darts at 8pm. Proposal is this goes ahead on a trial basis. The Garvock will put all necessary measures in place, including table sizes, table distribution & masks etc.
As this will be a "step into the unknown" for us all, we have agreed it is only fair to give the Garvock at least approximate numbers asap.
It is therefore imperative that you inform Ronnie Pook by the end of the day Friday 6th August
(i) if you will attend the meal at Garvock on 12th August at 6.15pm for 6.30pm and
(ii) if you wish to attend The Ballroom at 8pm on the same evening
(The Garvock will retain a copy of our weekly meal attendance list for 21days after each meeting and will contact me for individual contact details if necessary re Track & Trace)
b. On Thursday 19th August we have our internal Club Gavel Evening which will be in the spacious Rosemalen Suite. Our meal will be at 6.45pm for 7pm. Again, in the short term we have agreed to give approximate numbers in advance.
c. Details re 26th August onwards will be circulated after our "trial meeting" on 12th August. However, it is still intended that, when we have a Speaker, this will also be broadcast on Zoom in a hybrid manner.
Point raised -
How we gather money for meals from people, as we have moved to more of a cashless society. For now, we will stick with cash and people on reception will be issued with gloves.
The club does have two Paypal card readers, although there is a commission paid to Paypal.
We also need to consider charging £1 more than meal price to cover speaker meals, as we did before. All in attendance agreed.
Those on reception will need to remember the need to capture names for track and trace. Two list of members will just be marked to show attendance, one for us and the other for track and trace.
The request from the club to members, for next week please bring £17 CASH for meal. We will not at this stage be accommodating payment by card.
Agreement reached via those attending to start face to face meetings, with first being as suggested on 12th August.
Chairman Brian welcomed 25 members to the weekly Zoom meeting of Rotary Club of Dunfermline.
John gave us his thought for the day, highlighting concerns due to lack of rain (despite forecast) to help with his green grass challenges that a lot of us face after the recent hot spell.
Reports and announcements -
Sad week where two of our long standing and valued members passed away, Hugh Short & Brian Dean. Condolence cards sent on behalf of Rotary members and our thoughts go out to their families.
Regarding Hugh’s funeral, there are no known restrictions on outside attendance of funeral, so time to note is 1:15pm on 3rd August @ Dunfermline Cemetery.
David Walker’s daughter gave birth to twins in the last week. Congratulations Grandad.
Tree planting in The Glen, Ian Wilson let everyone know talks with The Council continue. Looking more like 35 big trees to get the avenue started, with possible extension later. Rotary using their network to help keep within budget and mechanise where possible (some able bodies still required though in November).
Program upcoming. David Scott from Dumbarnie Links talk next week on 5th, and in two weeks the Ball Room outdoor even comes along. Not clear yet if we will finally meet in The Garvock on 12th August for dinner prior to The Ball Room.
Diary note for everyone, 6th September, Prostrate Cancer Charity ride. A 100km loop around The Forth. Limited to Rotarians and friends. The main aim is centenary publicity with a bit fund raising and fun….. and promise it will not be a race!
At end of meeting, after breakout rooms, members invited to share memories of Hugh’s life.
Quick reminder, next weeks meeting is still on Zoom.
John gave us his thought for the day, highlighting concerns due to lack of rain (despite forecast) to help with his green grass challenges that a lot of us face after the recent hot spell.
Reports and announcements -
Sad week where two of our long standing and valued members passed away, Hugh Short & Brian Dean. Condolence cards sent on behalf of Rotary members and our thoughts go out to their families.
Regarding Hugh’s funeral, there are no known restrictions on outside attendance of funeral, so time to note is 1:15pm on 3rd August @ Dunfermline Cemetery.
David Walker’s daughter gave birth to twins in the last week. Congratulations Grandad.
Tree planting in The Glen, Ian Wilson let everyone know talks with The Council continue. Looking more like 35 big trees to get the avenue started, with possible extension later. Rotary using their network to help keep within budget and mechanise where possible (some able bodies still required though in November).
Program upcoming. David Scott from Dumbarnie Links talk next week on 5th, and in two weeks the Ball Room outdoor even comes along. Not clear yet if we will finally meet in The Garvock on 12th August for dinner prior to The Ball Room.
Diary note for everyone, 6th September, Prostrate Cancer Charity ride. A 100km loop around The Forth. Limited to Rotarians and friends. The main aim is centenary publicity with a bit fund raising and fun….. and promise it will not be a race!
At end of meeting, after breakout rooms, members invited to share memories of Hugh’s life.
Quick reminder, next weeks meeting is still on Zoom.
Vice Chairman Ralph welcomed 28 members to the Zoom meeting on yet another hot and glorious Sottish summers day.
John gave us his thought for the day, with hope and prayers for continued good weather and echo’d earlier comments from Mr Watson on suitable attire regardless of how hot it may get.
Reports and announcements -
Members informed of Erick Maxwell, former member, passing this week.
Subscriptions we are getting close the rouges gallery being shared, so please be quick to avoid public humiliation!
“Golf” tournament on 22nd, 10 couples so far signed up for the event. Meeting is 6:30pm at Tony Macaroni’s next door to the “golf course”. Further entrants can be accommodated, just let Ronnie Pook know. It’s payment on the night, £10 per person, plus your meal cost.
Hamish is on the mend after a long illness, out and about…. Hopes to be making an appearance on Zoom soon.
Our VP made special mention of Ian Wilson becoming a grandad for the 4th time, with new grandson arriving on Monday this week. Appropriate reminder of protocol for new births with fresh bottle of whisky required for next Rotary face to face meeting. Ian assured all he was aware of procedures in such events and would keep on his to do list.
John Allan mentioned he had telephone conversation with to Hugh while he remains in hospital. Receiving good care, he is comfortable, with shortness of breath symptoms only. Our Treasurer reported despite his predicament, he has paid his subs!
Jim Paynes (AKA as The Press Photographer) vocational enlighten us to his to his past pursuits.
He did break the family mould of not becoming a coal miner. One of his claims to fame was first pupil in 1st year to get the belt, no doubt talking to Sean in class.
Dunfermline Press was his first job, as a compositor. He came across lots of characters at The Press, mentioning what appeared to a young man as a lot of agitated big bad printers under pressure with print deadlines. As technology changed the print industry manual overhead in late 80’s and 90’s Jim took the opportunity to become the technical lead for inhouse photographers moving to Digital devices, allowing him to progress becoming a Press Photographer, his ideal job.
A Pars supporter, so pass there. However, while on Press duty he first struggled to contain is passion for the team, although quickly learned need to control his passion while sat at the opposition support end.
The test to top of Kilimanjaro was passed and Anne agreed to marry him. Not sure many of us would have risen to that test. A brief five years in the big smoke in Glasgow during first years of marriage but. returned to Fifes green and pleasant land after children came on the scene.
Now freelance photographer after 26 years at The Press and delighted with the outcome. The pandemic presented some challenges though, with Jim volunteering for Dunfermline Foodbank to keep himself busy, which lead to some gentle persuasion from Sean to join Rotary. Despite not having much face to face contact with people, he is delighted to join our number, has been made warmly welcomed and looks forward to future as a Rotarian.
Vote of thanks was delivered by Sean, who is a long time since primary school and now cycling buddy of Jim, with him now being a fellow Rotarian (and Dunfermline paparazzi joins our club). He is delighted his friend has joined Rotary, knowns he can contribute a lot to our club, and thank everyone to for making him so welcome.
Next week is the Adventure Golf event, so remember no Zoom next week. Watch out for Zoom meeting invite for 29th July.
P.S
Following the death of Past President Eric Maxwell the following was conributed by David Fraser
Few current members will remember Eric, though his late wife Rae was very active in Inner Wheel up to her death a few months ago.
Eric joined Rotary Club of Dunfermline in 1979 on his appointment as Director of Finance in Dunfermline District Council, having previously been a member and Treasurer of Cowdenbeath Rotary Club for many years.
I have no record of when he resigned.
He was born 26/9/1922, so would have celebrated his 100 birthday in our Centenary year if he had survived (as pointed out to me by Eric Keenan).
I was appointed an Elder in Dunfermline Abbey to Eric’s team in 1983 and regarded him as my mentor thereafter. I was therefore proud to be District Elder to him and his family in the last few years.
Chairman Brian bid 29 members a very warm welcome. A great turn out on another warm and dry Thursday where outside pursuits may be tempting. The new Secretaries first Zoom meeting and opening (process end to end) now works – phew! Euros were mentioned, specifically the 55 years of hurt, but no mention on what could be coming home!
Brian let members know of Hugh and Ann Short recent Covid diagnosing, with Hugh taking longer to shake off and having to spend some time in hospital. He is on the mend, and grateful to be double vaccinated.
Thought from the day from John Anderson, with continued future uncertainty on “life returning to normal”, whatever that will be. Smile smile smile everyone was his advice.
David Lyth confirmed walks are back, with next one being on Monday 12th July, and will be from Kingseat to Loch Fitty and return. Please let David know if you plan to join.
For golf on 22nd (crazy golf), we have had a good response, but deadline for signing up is start next week. Emphasis is on a fun evening, with an event aimed at the non-golfer competitors.
Ian McDermid vocational presentation skilfully delivered, outlining his youth as a Paisley boy, but thankfully no mention of the buddies. His big career opportunity came along to join Axminister Carpets, despite his colour blindness! Dealing with various multinationals he met a certain Mr Morris. Illustrious career in an industry leader, despite changing market challenges, rising to become a director with Axminster. Life changed in a major way for Ian due to health, with change in priorities. Now like a good Scottish crofter, has multiple jobs to keep him busy, but not gardening. St Mirren did come up later though, letting himself down on what was a good presentation up to that point. However, as another golfer in Rotary, that will be forgiven, and he will fit in very well.
Vote of thanks from Mr Morris, that was a pleasure giving for his Best Buddie.
Break out rooms followed to allow usual analysis of current events!
Apologies to Jim Craig, we must figure out why you’re not moved to a breakout room when they are triggered. Not helped by secretary trying to fix, resulting in placed in a waiting room we could not rescue him from.
Brian let members know of Hugh and Ann Short recent Covid diagnosing, with Hugh taking longer to shake off and having to spend some time in hospital. He is on the mend, and grateful to be double vaccinated.
Thought from the day from John Anderson, with continued future uncertainty on “life returning to normal”, whatever that will be. Smile smile smile everyone was his advice.
David Lyth confirmed walks are back, with next one being on Monday 12th July, and will be from Kingseat to Loch Fitty and return. Please let David know if you plan to join.
For golf on 22nd (crazy golf), we have had a good response, but deadline for signing up is start next week. Emphasis is on a fun evening, with an event aimed at the non-golfer competitors.
Ian McDermid vocational presentation skilfully delivered, outlining his youth as a Paisley boy, but thankfully no mention of the buddies. His big career opportunity came along to join Axminister Carpets, despite his colour blindness! Dealing with various multinationals he met a certain Mr Morris. Illustrious career in an industry leader, despite changing market challenges, rising to become a director with Axminster. Life changed in a major way for Ian due to health, with change in priorities. Now like a good Scottish crofter, has multiple jobs to keep him busy, but not gardening. St Mirren did come up later though, letting himself down on what was a good presentation up to that point. However, as another golfer in Rotary, that will be forgiven, and he will fit in very well.
Vote of thanks from Mr Morris, that was a pleasure giving for his Best Buddie.
Break out rooms followed to allow usual analysis of current events!
Apologies to Jim Craig, we must figure out why you’re not moved to a breakout room when they are triggered. Not helped by secretary trying to fix, resulting in placed in a waiting room we could not rescue him from.
Initial teething problems with Zoom opening, however, did not cause delay opening. Let's just say it's a work in progress.
Chairman Brian bid 27 members a very warm welcome, on the warmest day of the year so far, to the first weekly meeting of our 100th year.
Thought from the day from John as always skilfully considered and delivered, with reference to all our hopes of ending Zoom and meeting face to face - here here.
Updates on coming years priorities from Chairman Brian - getting back to normal ASAP and meet face to face, getting our social aspect of membership moving again, sports / schools and international projects re-energised and of course celebrating our 100th year. Please make sure the key events are in your diary - Charter Dinner on 5th March & Summer Centenary Ball on 18th June.
A very complete and varied Programme is nearing completion, as best can be achieved while still living with restrictions. Watch out for final version. We hope to know come August when we can get back to Garvock House via upcoming meeting with Pamela at GHH. For those still not sure about face to face just yet, we are looking at meeting guidance from District and hybrid meeting approaches.
Ian Morris let everyone know about event on 22nd July where we are all going to Crazy Golf for some competitive fun. Dinner at Tony Macaroni's at 6:30pm, followed by 18 holes...... rules, “5 clubs maximum and no range finder”. It is important people respond to invite quickly to allow numbers to concluded for both venues booking - partners and friend's welcome.
David reported on foundation grant approval subject to supplying final details on work / costs / project to improve toilet facilities in Kenya, in partnership with local club who will manage on our behalf. Thank you David for your skilful coordination on another successful grant approval and international project.
Some suggested changes to format of Cherry Tree project for The Glen to what was presented to us. We are looking to try and keep scope and approach the same as agreed. It does however give some options for members to sponsor a tree, with plaque. We will also be running a competition for a name of this area of the Glen when planted, two formats, final name and funny name. I am sure our Chairman will come up with a suitable prize (a cherry pie maybe).
Capital Quach was run again and a 2 all draw was outcome, so as holders Dunfermline retained Quach. This despite one of the pairs being royally thumped, supposably by people in sombreros! A great win for our talented golfers. We think that is to date, 12 for Dunfermline to Edinburgh's 10.
Graham and his Fundraising team have a selection of interesting new ideas, some hatched via innovative and interesting brain storming sessions. The recipe book in partnership with Inner Wheel went down well, not so sure on one of the calendar formats. More to come,
Branding is coming, from updated plaque at Garvock house to new polo shirts.
Our treasurer reminded everyone annual membership fees are due as per email sent to everyone earlier this week. Thank you to the 34 who have already paid.
Break out rooms were successfully created for the first time by our new Secretary (assisted by Chairman Brian), much to his relief!
Chairman Brian bid 27 members a very warm welcome, on the warmest day of the year so far, to the first weekly meeting of our 100th year.
Thought from the day from John as always skilfully considered and delivered, with reference to all our hopes of ending Zoom and meeting face to face - here here.
Updates on coming years priorities from Chairman Brian - getting back to normal ASAP and meet face to face, getting our social aspect of membership moving again, sports / schools and international projects re-energised and of course celebrating our 100th year. Please make sure the key events are in your diary - Charter Dinner on 5th March & Summer Centenary Ball on 18th June.
A very complete and varied Programme is nearing completion, as best can be achieved while still living with restrictions. Watch out for final version. We hope to know come August when we can get back to Garvock House via upcoming meeting with Pamela at GHH. For those still not sure about face to face just yet, we are looking at meeting guidance from District and hybrid meeting approaches.
Ian Morris let everyone know about event on 22nd July where we are all going to Crazy Golf for some competitive fun. Dinner at Tony Macaroni's at 6:30pm, followed by 18 holes...... rules, “5 clubs maximum and no range finder”. It is important people respond to invite quickly to allow numbers to concluded for both venues booking - partners and friend's welcome.
David reported on foundation grant approval subject to supplying final details on work / costs / project to improve toilet facilities in Kenya, in partnership with local club who will manage on our behalf. Thank you David for your skilful coordination on another successful grant approval and international project.
Some suggested changes to format of Cherry Tree project for The Glen to what was presented to us. We are looking to try and keep scope and approach the same as agreed. It does however give some options for members to sponsor a tree, with plaque. We will also be running a competition for a name of this area of the Glen when planted, two formats, final name and funny name. I am sure our Chairman will come up with a suitable prize (a cherry pie maybe).
Capital Quach was run again and a 2 all draw was outcome, so as holders Dunfermline retained Quach. This despite one of the pairs being royally thumped, supposably by people in sombreros! A great win for our talented golfers. We think that is to date, 12 for Dunfermline to Edinburgh's 10.
Graham and his Fundraising team have a selection of interesting new ideas, some hatched via innovative and interesting brain storming sessions. The recipe book in partnership with Inner Wheel went down well, not so sure on one of the calendar formats. More to come,
Branding is coming, from updated plaque at Garvock house to new polo shirts.
Our treasurer reminded everyone annual membership fees are due as per email sent to everyone earlier this week. Thank you to the 34 who have already paid.
Break out rooms were successfully created for the first time by our new Secretary (assisted by Chairman Brian), much to his relief!
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