Newsletter 303 - August 2018

Rotary Club of Stranraer

Monthly Newsletter No 303

 August 2018

Service above self

Meetings – unless otherwise advised

1^st and 3^rd Monday of month – 1pm

2^nd & 4^th Monday of month – 6pm

Imminent Activities

Mon 6^th Aug – 1pm- Fellowship

Mon 13^th Aug – 6pm - Kenny Paterson will be talking about ‘Getting older. Are your affairs in order?’ A very appropriate subject!

Sat 18^th & Sun 19^th Aug – Local Skiff Regatta in Loch Ryan. Volunteers are required to assist at this event.

Mon 20^th Aug –Steve Raphael will be telling us about The Gallowhill Community Woodland Project which he has been involved in since its inception.

Mon 27^th Aug – 6pm – Eric Wilson will use his piano playing expertise to illustrate his talk ‘Musical Moments’

Dates for your Diary  

July 2019 – Skiff World Championship in Loch Ryan

15^th & 16^th December – Christmas collections.

Recent Events                           

Mon 2^nd July – 1pm – Presidential handover with Neville Wright handing over after a very successful year to Ian McIntyre.

Mon 9^th July – 6pm – Fellowship including a quiz.

Mon 16^th July – 1pm – Phil Stewart, a former colleague of Gary Small, spoke about the various services provided D & G Citizens Advice Service. Afterwards, Phil, who played for Wigtownshire RFC at one time before moving to Dumfries, where he played for rivals Dumfries, engaged in friendly banter with members who had played for Wigtownshire.

Mon 23^rd July – 6pm – Hugh Parker delivered a very interesting talk about the construction and expansion of our industrial estate and the negative effect that this has had on the inadequate town drainage scheme and on nearby land including his farm. He also explained a planned slurry processing scheme which would convert slurry into gas.

Resignations

We regret to advise that 3 members have resigned. Brian Park was President in 2004 but is no longer able to attend and Mike Sheppard was President in 2014. Unfortunately, his retirement has not gone as planned as he has had to do considerable ongoing work due to the shortage of ministers in the area. Jim Burns, who was Secretary for some years, has also resigned.

New member

Gary Ferguson, who joined as an associate member last year, has been so impressed by the welcome he has received that he has applied for and been accepted as a full member. There is no doubt that he will play an active part in Club activities.

Charity Donations

Club Council has approved the following:

a) Niall Ryder, a promising young curler, has been awarded £100 to help with his expenses on a curling trip to Canada.

b) Wigtownshire Rugby Club minis section was awarded £200 towards its ‘Kit for Kids’ campaign.

c) The Performance Theatre Youth Group requested help with transport to go to the Theatre Royal at Dumfries, where they will perform, amounting to £230. Council agreed to donate the £230 and a member of the organisation is to be approached regarding speaking to the Club about their work.

d) The Coronation Day Centre is short of funds at the moment and Council agreed that it should be the beneficiary of our Christmas collections.

e) Help for various international charities was discussed and it was agreed that our International Committee should make appropriate recommendations to club Council up to a maximum of £2,000.

Rotary Shirts

 It was agreed by Club Council that we buy new Rotary shirts personalised with members names. These are expected to be on sale soon at a cost of £20. It is hoped that members will help the Club profile by wearing these at events where there is public interaction.

Rugby               

Our group of supporters and friends make good use of their season tickets to watch Glasgow Warriors. All of our group of 12 are renewing their season tickets last for next season.

Our season ticket holders are again making their tickets available to Club members for individual matches which they themselves are unable to attend.  It is essential that Tom Mitchell is contacted at an early stage before spares are offered to others.

Press Officer  

Members should get in touch with Tom Mitchell, in his role as Press Officer, if they have anything they wish included in the Newsletter or reported in the press. He particularly wishes photographs for publication and/or Club archives.  

We have articles in the Free Press and in our District Magazine on a regular basis.

Websites 

 Roger Johnson continues to manage our site. 

 http://rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=1383  Tom Stevenson continues to look after the Mull of Galloway Trail site.

http://www.mullofgallowaytrail.co.uk/  

Tom Stevenson has also ensured that the MGT is listed among Scotland’s Great trails

http://www.scotlandsgreattrails.com/

We are on Facebook with 23 members. It would be appreciated if members who use Facebook would join the group and forward any new content to their friends thus helping our public profile.

And finally: - thanks to Peter Baird for this contribution

Eye strike a quay and type a word

And weight four it two say

Weather eye am wrong oar write

It shows me strait a weigh

As soon as a mist ache is maid

It nose bee fore two long

And eye can put the error rite

Its rare lea ever wrong

Eye have run this poem threw it

I am shore yore pleased to no

Its letter perfect awl the weigh

My chequer tolled me sew!

P.S. The above passed the word checker!