Report of Friday 16th August meeting
At Friday's meeting of the Rotary Club of Stirling one visitor was announced by visitors' host Allan Cheetham and he was Scott Leslie from the Rotary Club of Broughty Ferry (formerly known as the Abertay Club). Scott presented a very handsome Claret Jug to our club as winners of the Broughty Ferry AM AM golf tournament. The players responsible for this excellent result were Derek and Fiona Anderson with Don and Susan MacLeod.
Frank Kelly and Peter Mehta drew our attention to the forthcoming 900th Anniversary of the Guildry of the City of Stirling, to be celebrated with a dinner at the Castle. Peter undertook to secure a table for club members who were interested in attending.
Friday's talk was given by Rotarian Alex Galloway. His subject, interest being sparked by a recent visit, was the history behind the development of the "Disney" theme parks in America.
Disneyland was founded as a single park by Walt Disney at Anaheim, California in 1955. It was an immediate success and by the late '60s the corporation was giving consideration to opening in Florida at Orlando. The operation was kept secret to prevent speculators inflating the land prices. Pockets of land were purchased separately under assumed names and only at the beginning of development did the Disney Corporation reveal its intentions.
The Orlando development was an enormous success and the original Magic Kingdom was quickly followed by the Epcot Centre, "Disney's Animal Kingdom" and many other attractions.
In 1998 Walt Disney Attractions added Disneyland Paris to its portfolio and with cruise lines, golf courses and myriad other events and attractions under its banner, controls an amazing proportion of the world's leisure facilities.
Alex's talk was well received by members and a vote of thanks by Frank Kelly was heartily endorsed.
Next week's meeting is to be a business meeting following a Council Meeting on Monday. Visitor’s host is Alex Galloway.
Report by Crawford Gordon