President Graham Smith welcomed 14 other members. Douglas Dow reminded members that the first Bookstall in aid of Polioplus would be held on Saturday June 21 in a town centre venue yet to be confirmed. Adam Muggoch reported that the presentation of Young Writers medals and certificates to Lomond School pupils the previous morning marked the end of Youth Services activities in the current rotary year.
Alastair Wilson said that the opposite of following conventional wisdom was to take a radical approach, which could have spectacular results. As an example he chose the De Havilland World War Two design of the wooden Mosquito aircraft, which, with a crew of only two, flew very fast, at a time when large aircraft with big crews were favoured.
It took three years to persuade the powers that be that the very maneouvrable Mosquito would be a success, but in the end 7,600 were built. In terms of damage done versus weight, the Mosquito was five times more effective than the Lancaster. The Rolls Royce Merlin engine was a similar success story.
Hugh Sweeney proposed the vote of thanks, and the weekly raffle for a whisky miniature was won by John McCormick.