Jim Walker: Another Collection!

On 8^th May, Hawick Rotary met at Mansfield House Hotel, chaired by President Iain Smith who welcomed fellow Rotarians and club guest, Keith Wight.

An informal discussion was held on plans for fund raising through the summer.

After supper, Rotarian Jim Walker spoke and gave a presentation on the archives of the club of which he is the custodian.

Jim was invited to join Hawick Rotary in 2007 and ran through a number of events that he had been involved in, including planting crocuses for the town and obtaining donations from townsfolk. He said that he was always impressed by the generosity of the people of Hawick when it came to charity.

Among the archives shown were a number of framed certificates including the Inaugural Certificate of the founding of the Hawick Club in 1936 when Dr Andrew Simpson, the well-known GP became the first President. The Rotary Club of Edinburgh sponsored Hawick and is their “Mother Club”. Several other certificates were on display including the 80^thAnniversary one from Rotary, Edinburgh and a 1996 Commemoration Certificate from Roxburgh District Council signed by Provost Myra Turnbull.

The display included the original chain of office fully loaded with name plates and a dozen banners from Rotary clubs in Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, Canada, Holland, only a few of the 50 plus held in the archives.

George Hogg gave a vote of thanks after the talk and in-depth discussion that followed.

On Saturday 10^thMay, our annual Coffee Morning was held in the Evergreen Hall, and over £400 was raised for international humanitarian charities.

The Club's involvement with the Lend With Care scheme continues with three loans recently made to support farmers in the Philippines and Rwanda and a farming women's group in Malawi.