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Reports of our meetings


Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting
Thursday 18 July 2024.
Garvock House Hotel
20 Club members, no guests this week

President David opened the meeting and, following the new format for our meetings, carried out the business of the day and many of the meeting formalities prior to dinner.

TFTD: presented by Ian Morris… after a short delay as we waited for Mr Steedman to take his seat…
Ian welcomed the inclusion in the club membership of Thomson Cooper & Co Corporate members; he described a busy week in Sport with the double Spanish victories at Wimbledon and in Germany at The Euros; and finally Ian reminded us of some political news: the resignation of the FM of the Welsh assembly, (challenging Liz Truss for the shortest time spent in office)… and there was something else…. Oh yes, a card carrying Republican (and member of the NRA and a local gun club) tried to shoot Candidate Trump at one of his rallies.

Reports
Alan Condie reminded the club of his call for volunteers for a Rotary / Inner Wheel choir, anyone interested please contact Alan.

Ian Morris covered the next few weeks’ program:
Ian referred to Wendy Spence’s talk on 1st August at a joint Rotary / Inner Wheel meeting where Wendy will recount her time as president of IW. As we are trying to get sufficient numbers to be able to use the Rosmalen suite Ian asked for members to make an effort to come along. If you haven’t already done so and wish to attend, please let Ian know ASAP.
Ian mentioned the proposed visit to see the Nina Conti show at The Alhambra next February (Friday 14th) , with a visit to one of the local restaurants as part of the evening, this replacing a normal Thursday meeting. As Ian will be purchasing tickets next week for those members who wish to go, please let Ian know, by Monday 22nd July at the latest, if you are interested in attending this (solo or with or your partner).

Pres. David reminded us of the group visit to a Fringe event on 15th August and an outside visit to Duncan Colliers on 29th August (5th Thursday Outing).
Sports
Keith reminded us of the draw for the upcoming Friendly Foursome Golf event, details of this are on a separate email from Keith.

Speaker
Tonight’s speaker was Andrew Croxford who recently became a fully-fledged member of the Club.
Andrew’s talk largely covered his two years at the helm of the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust as Chairman and was entitled “my name’s Croxford, not Carnegie”; a reference back to what his Father would reply when, growing up in Drumchapel, Andrew asked for something unaffordable.
Andrew commented that becoming Chair of the Trust reminded him of joining Round Table and Rotary club, in the end it was easier just to say yes.
Andrew took over the Chair from Fiona Robertson in the same year Dunfermline was officially recognised as a city; already well versed in the workings of the Trust, Andrew quickly immersed himself in the Chairman’s role. One of his first initiatives was to look at the original notes and minutes from the first trust meeting (chaired by Andrew Carnegie himself) to better understand what the original thinking and intentions were behind the establishment of the Trust. In simple terms: “here’s a ton of money, don’t mess it up”. Andrew used these thorough and complete notes to remind the Trustees of their responsibilities.

In addition to Chair of the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust Andrew took on the Chair for the Hero Trust. Andrew described the immense responsibility of the four Hero presentations he made in this position, most being particularly poignant as they are usually made posthumously.
Andrew went on to describe many of the people he met and places he visited over the next two years: including visits to New York and The Hague as well as meeting such diverse characters as Lord Bruce, Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and of course Dolly Parton.
Andrew described his opinion of taking part in anything like this: If you can make a difference then you should go do it, it was with that attitude that Andrew took on the Chairman’s role and is the same attitude that he brings to Rotary.

VOT: Tom Sunter
Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting
Thursday 18 July 2024.
Garvock House Hotel
20 Club members, no guests this week

President David opened the meeting and, following the new format for our meetings, carried out the business of the day and many of the meeting formalities prior to dinner.

TFTD: presented by Ian Morris… after a short delay as we waited for Mr Steedman to take his seat…
Ian welcomed the inclusion in the club membership of Thomson Cooper & Co Corporate members; he described a busy week in Sport with the double Spanish victories at Wimbledon and in Germany at The Euros; and finally Ian reminded us of some political news: the resignation of the FM of the Welsh assembly, (challenging Liz Truss for the shortest time spent in office)… and there was something else…. Oh yes, a card carrying Republican (and member of the NRA and a local gun club) tried to shoot Candidate Trump at one of his rallies.

Reports
Alan Condie reminded the club of his call for volunteers for a Rotary / Inner Wheel choir, anyone interested please contact Alan.

Ian Morris covered the next few weeks’ program:
Ian referred to Wendy Spence’s talk on 1st August at a joint Rotary / Inner Wheel meeting where Wendy will recount her time as president of IW. As we are trying to get sufficient numbers to be able to use the Rosmalen suite Ian asked for members to make an effort to come along. If you haven’t already done so and wish to attend, please let Ian know ASAP.
Ian mentioned the proposed visit to see the Nina Conti show at The Alhambra next February (Friday 14th) , with a visit to one of the local restaurants as part of the evening, this replacing a normal Thursday meeting. As Ian will be purchasing tickets next week for those members who wish to go, please let Ian know, by Monday 22nd July at the latest, if you are interested in attending this (solo or with or your partner).

Pres. David reminded us of the group visit to a Fringe event on 15th August and an outside visit to Duncan Colliers on 29th August (5th Thursday Outing).
Sports
Keith reminded us of the draw for the upcoming Friendly Foursome Golf event, details of this are on a separate email from Keith.

Speaker
Tonight’s speaker was Andrew Croxford who recently became a fully-fledged member of the Club.
Andrew’s talk largely covered his two years at the helm of the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust as Chairman and was entitled “my name’s Croxford, not Carnegie”; a reference back to what his Father would reply when, growing up in Drumchapel, Andrew asked for something unaffordable.
Andrew commented that becoming Chair of the Trust reminded him of joining Round Table and Rotary club, in the end it was easier just to say yes.
Andrew took over the Chair from Fiona Robertson in the same year Dunfermline was officially recognised as a city; already well versed in the workings of the Trust, Andrew quickly immersed himself in the Chairman’s role. One of his first initiatives was to look at the original notes and minutes from the first trust meeting (chaired by Andrew Carnegie himself) to better understand what the original thinking and intentions were behind the establishment of the Trust. In simple terms: “here’s a ton of money, don’t mess it up”. Andrew used these thorough and complete notes to remind the Trustees of their responsibilities.

In addition to Chair of the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust Andrew took on the Chair for the Hero Trust. Andrew described the immense responsibility of the four Hero presentations he made in this position, most being particularly poignant as they are usually made posthumously.
Andrew went on to describe many of the people he met and places he visited over the next two years: including visits to New York and The Hague as well as meeting such diverse characters as Lord Bruce, Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and of course Dolly Parton.
Andrew described his opinion of taking part in anything like this: If you can make a difference then you should go do it, it was with that attitude that Andrew took on the Chairman’s role and is the same attitude that he brings to Rotary.

VOT: Tom Sunter

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 22 August 2024.

Garvock House Hotel

21 Club members

1 guest: Kenny Fisher, Past District Governor for District 1160, Home Club Enniskillen.



Snr President-elect Ronnie’s expectation notwithstanding, President David opened the meeting, welcomed our Guest and the 21 Members present.

Dinner.



TFTD: With thanks from SeanD, TFTD was a joint presentation by Ronnie and David which touched upon sinking super-yachts, the ongoing saga of Tablet-gate and the story of a 73yo Great Grandad who has just passed his English GCSE, he was quoted as saying “you should always challenge yourself”, a great attitude.



Reports.

1. Visit to Festival Fringe (GS) on 15 August: an hour of Comedy from Jack Docherty (Scot-Squad), congratulations given to President David for organizing an excellent night and successfully getting everyone home (though many couldn’t remember exactly how they got home). It was pointed out how much more successful a visit to the Fringe this year was compared to 2023; it was also pointed out that the detailed spreadsheet created to organize the event may or may not have been produced by Mrs Walker….,:



2. Membership (DF).

a. David requested approval for the five nominated trustees of the Charity account – in past years these have been Pres, Snr VP, Jnr VP, Treasurer and Sec. The members present approved that this continues for the current year.

b. David advised that, due to the falling number of Members contributing to the 50:50 draw, the prizes would have to reduce accordingly. Proposed that the 50:50 draw prizes would change from £60 & £40 to £50 & £30. This was approved by those members present.

c. David went on to announce the recent winners of the 50:50 draw as follows:

i. July £50 – John Anderson £30 – Brian Blanchflower

ii. August £50 – Brian Steer £30 – David Somerville

d. David advised of a second Friend Of Rotary Applicant – John Ward – introduced by Mike Williams. David stated that the application had been accepted by Council and proposed that John’s application as a “Friend” be approved… This was approved by the Members present. A friend of rotary will pay £25 and will be expected to become a full member within 2 years.

e. David advised that we have corporate membership from Thomson Cooper and that we now have an application from Babcock (Rosyth Dockyard) for the same. George White (Dunfermline) will be the named person from Babcock. This was not proposed at this stage but will be at a subsequent meeting.





3. Fund Raising: Junior VP Ian Wilson gave a summary of the year’s fund-raising plans - for information:

a. Annual Rotary Pub Quiz: McKane Park 1st November.

b. Santa Dash 17th November (to coincide with the Christmas lights switch-on).

c. Marines Band Concert 11th & 12th December at The Abbey.

d. Christmas Collections (Santa Sleigh) 16 Dec High St, 18–22 Dec Tesco FS.

e. Charity Golf Day April – date to be finalised

f. Gin-Fest 15-18 May (event itself on 16 & 17 May) Thanks Ian.



4. Youth and Schools (AlanC)

a. Alan has a meeting arranged with Libby Seath et al on Monday 26 August to discuss the overall program and next steps; Alan will advise Members when there is more to say.

b. Rotary Choir: Alan has had positive interest in participation in a choir from 9 Rotarians and 8 Inner Wheel members. For those interested, firstly let Alan know, secondly download the app “ChoirPlayer” to help learn the parts for each song.



5. Sports (DW on behalf of KMcF)

a. Reminder of the Couples’ golf competition on Sunday 25 Aug.

b. Reminder that the “Friendly Fours golf competition is currently in progress.

c. Rotary Club of West Fife have talked about a “Scalextric” (TM) competition, to be followed up by Keith.



6. Secretary report.

a. The Rotary-branded apparel has been re-promoted with the link to the supplier being sent to members again. All members are encouraged to consider the apparel available through this link and purchase if you wish to participate https://www.printoutsidethebox.co.uk/collections/dunfermline-rotary-club

b. The Virtual Handbook is now live and has been sent to all members a couple of hard copies will be printed off and made available to members at the next internal meeting.



7. Program (RP) Senior VP Ronnie delivered the Program status update.

a. The next Couple’s Night Out is being planned just now, working on suitable dates. Currently likely to be a visit to Christie’s Scottish Tapas, Halbeath Leisure Park.

b. Next meeting: 29 August, will be an external visit to Collier’s Goathill Quarry (refreshments included). Names to Ian Morris if you are interested in this.

c. Following meeting is an internal one, speaker on the subject of Polio Plus.

d. Message from Ian Morris: Ian’s list of contacts for speakers is becoming exhausted and asks all members for ideas on potential speakers and activities for the Club. No idea is off the table, so all members are asked to think about this and come up with an idea or two. Consider that, with 46 active members (more coming), a single idea from each would populate an entire year of program. Ideas to Ian Morris please.

e. Member satisfaction survey: most members have completed the survey, Ronnie asks that anyone who hasn’t, please do so ASAP. Results and analysis will be advised at a forthcoming meeting.

f. Noel McKenna showed us a book donated by Irene Runciman: “From Chernobyl with Love”, Irene offers this to anyone who’d like to read it. Anyone interested please contact Noel directly.



8. Visitor Kenny Fisher. Although not listed as a speaker, or expected to be one, Kenny had the class and good form to offer a few words to the Club. Kenny offered greeting from his home club at Enniskillen and district 1160.



Kenny thanked us for our hospitality and fellowship and complimented us on being an active club engaged with our local community as well as with Rotary at a more global level. Kenny commented on the similarities between our club and his own as. being active parts of the “Celtic Cluster”.



Kenny told us of his own club’s Santa-mobile and the fund-raising efforts they support. Kenny also described the membership challenges that they face, same as our own.



Finally he expressed his interest in our 50:50 draw and our Rotary Branded clothing, saying that these are both things he will take back to his club.





President David closed the meeting with our usual toast.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 22 August 2024.

Garvock House Hotel

21 Club members

1 guest: Kenny Fisher, Past District Governor for District 1160, Home Club Enniskillen.



Snr President-elect Ronnie’s expectation notwithstanding, President David opened the meeting, welcomed our Guest and the 21 Members present.

Dinner.



TFTD: With thanks from SeanD, TFTD was a joint presentation by Ronnie and David which touched upon sinking super-yachts, the ongoing saga of Tablet-gate and the story of a 73yo Great Grandad who has just passed his English GCSE, he was quoted as saying “you should always challenge yourself”, a great attitude.



Reports.

1. Visit to Festival Fringe (GS) on 15 August: an hour of Comedy from Jack Docherty (Scot-Squad), congratulations given to President David for organizing an excellent night and successfully getting everyone home (though many couldn’t remember exactly how they got home). It was pointed out how much more successful a visit to the Fringe this year was compared to 2023; it was also pointed out that the detailed spreadsheet created to organize the event may or may not have been produced by Mrs Walker….,:



2. Membership (DF).

a. David requested approval for the five nominated trustees of the Charity account – in past years these have been Pres, Snr VP, Jnr VP, Treasurer and Sec. The members present approved that this continues for the current year.

b. David advised that, due to the falling number of Members contributing to the 50:50 draw, the prizes would have to reduce accordingly. Proposed that the 50:50 draw prizes would change from £60 & £40 to £50 & £30. This was approved by those members present.

c. David went on to announce the recent winners of the 50:50 draw as follows:

i. July £50 – John Anderson £30 – Brian Blanchflower

ii. August £50 – Brian Steer £30 – David Somerville

d. David advised of a second Friend Of Rotary Applicant – John Ward – introduced by Mike Williams. David stated that the application had been accepted by Council and proposed that John’s application as a “Friend” be approved… This was approved by the Members present. A friend of rotary will pay £25 and will be expected to become a full member within 2 years.

e. David advised that we have corporate membership from Thomson Cooper and that we now have an application from Babcock (Rosyth Dockyard) for the same. George White (Dunfermline) will be the named person from Babcock. This was not proposed at this stage but will be at a subsequent meeting.





3. Fund Raising: Junior VP Ian Wilson gave a summary of the year’s fund-raising plans - for information:

a. Annual Rotary Pub Quiz: McKane Park 1st November.

b. Santa Dash 17th November (to coincide with the Christmas lights switch-on).

c. Marines Band Concert 11th & 12th December at The Abbey.

d. Christmas Collections (Santa Sleigh) 16 Dec High St, 18–22 Dec Tesco FS.

e. Charity Golf Day April – date to be finalised

f. Gin-Fest 15-18 May (event itself on 16 & 17 May) Thanks Ian.



4. Youth and Schools (AlanC)

a. Alan has a meeting arranged with Libby Seath et al on Monday 26 August to discuss the overall program and next steps; Alan will advise Members when there is more to say.

b. Rotary Choir: Alan has had positive interest in participation in a choir from 9 Rotarians and 8 Inner Wheel members. For those interested, firstly let Alan know, secondly download the app “ChoirPlayer” to help learn the parts for each song.



5. Sports (DW on behalf of KMcF)

a. Reminder of the Couples’ golf competition on Sunday 25 Aug.

b. Reminder that the “Friendly Fours golf competition is currently in progress.

c. Rotary Club of West Fife have talked about a “Scalextric” (TM) competition, to be followed up by Keith.



6. Secretary report.

a. The Rotary-branded apparel has been re-promoted with the link to the supplier being sent to members again. All members are encouraged to consider the apparel available through this link and purchase if you wish to participate https://www.printoutsidethebox.co.uk/collections/dunfermline-rotary-club

b. The Virtual Handbook is now live and has been sent to all members a couple of hard copies will be printed off and made available to members at the next internal meeting.



7. Program (RP) Senior VP Ronnie delivered the Program status update.

a. The next Couple’s Night Out is being planned just now, working on suitable dates. Currently likely to be a visit to Christie’s Scottish Tapas, Halbeath Leisure Park.

b. Next meeting: 29 August, will be an external visit to Collier’s Goathill Quarry (refreshments included). Names to Ian Morris if you are interested in this.

c. Following meeting is an internal one, speaker on the subject of Polio Plus.

d. Message from Ian Morris: Ian’s list of contacts for speakers is becoming exhausted and asks all members for ideas on potential speakers and activities for the Club. No idea is off the table, so all members are asked to think about this and come up with an idea or two. Consider that, with 46 active members (more coming), a single idea from each would populate an entire year of program. Ideas to Ian Morris please.

e. Member satisfaction survey: most members have completed the survey, Ronnie asks that anyone who hasn’t, please do so ASAP. Results and analysis will be advised at a forthcoming meeting.

f. Noel McKenna showed us a book donated by Irene Runciman: “From Chernobyl with Love”, Irene offers this to anyone who’d like to read it. Anyone interested please contact Noel directly.



8. Visitor Kenny Fisher. Although not listed as a speaker, or expected to be one, Kenny had the class and good form to offer a few words to the Club. Kenny offered greeting from his home club at Enniskillen and district 1160.



Kenny thanked us for our hospitality and fellowship and complimented us on being an active club engaged with our local community as well as with Rotary at a more global level. Kenny commented on the similarities between our club and his own as. being active parts of the “Celtic Cluster”.



Kenny told us of his own club’s Santa-mobile and the fund-raising efforts they support. Kenny also described the membership challenges that they face, same as our own.



Finally he expressed his interest in our 50:50 draw and our Rotary Branded clothing, saying that these are both things he will take back to his club.





President David closed the meeting with our usual toast.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 05 September 2024.

Garvock House Hotel



18 Club members

3 guests: Aileen North, local End-Polio-Now Ambassador & Past Pres. W. Fife Rotary Club

Robert North, Aileen’s Husband

Ian Watson (school friend of Keith McFarlane)

Apologies: Alan Condie.



President David opened the meeting, welcomed our Guests and the Members present.



TFTD: Delivered this week by Ian Morris; Ian focused on the Paralympics currently taking place in Paris, and shared his admiration for the Paralympian Athletes, Swimmers, Archers, Cyclists who compete at World-class-levels, while dealing with disabilities that would confine most people to a chair.

“Triumph Over Adversity” summed it up Ian, a great message for us all.



President David announced the sad news of recent passings that affect members of the club: Alan Mitchell’s Father and Andrew Croxford’s Brother. Our sympathies to both families.



Dinner. Unexpectedly generous portions were served to the delight of members and guests.

Still no Tablet though…





Reports.

1. Last week’s club visit to Colliers Goathill Quarry was reported; Pres. David described a fascinating and insightful visit to the Quarry, including a tour of some of the workings and a description of some of the equipment being used. It was good to hear of their approach to quarrying which is to “demolish a hill, rebuild it with the scalping, then plant hundreds of trees.

Also very welcome was the free food offered to the visitors. Our thanks to the Program Team for organising this and of course to Colliers’ for hosting us.



2. Next few meetings: Ian Morris gave us a precis of the next few upcoming meetings:

a. 12 Sept. Speaker David Brown on the subject of “iPads in the Air”

b. 19 Sept. Ken Robertson, Rotary Speaker on the “Global Sight Solutions”

c. 26 Sept. Fellowship meeting. Snr VP Ronnie will deliver the results of his recent Membership Survey.

d. 03 Oct. Aileen Wright: “Smell the Cheese”, Speaker from “Must Be Crackers” Cheese shop.

e. 10 Oct. Outside visit to Dunfermline Museum and Art Gallery plus Italian meal.



3. Christmas Meal booked, and deposit paid, more on this from Gordon Black nearer the time.



4. Charity Quiz booked, McKane Park Friday 8th November. Maximum 8. Teams max 6 persons, names to Brian Blanchflower.





5. Royal Marine Band Concert booked, 11th & 12th Dec. at Dunfermline Abbey. Ticket details in due course.



6. Golf competition (annual), Sunday 6th Oct. at Kinross golf course. 2 Course meal and prizes. Names to Keith McFarlane.



7. Upcoming Couples night Thursday 26th Sept. 7.30pm start. This year: Christie’s Scottish Tapas (Halbeath Leisure Park). As this is imminent, names to Ronnie ASAP please.



Speaker. Aileen North (West Fife Club Past Pres): Local End-Polio-Now Ambassador.

Using A PowerPoint presentation to expand upon her presentation, Aileen gave the members a short history of:

- What Polio (poliomyelitis) is – a debilitating and incurable disease affecting children of 5 and under which attacks joints and causes deformation of limbs and loss of function of the limbs.

- How long Polio has been known about (evidence of it at the time of the Pharaohs)

- Because it affects only infants and because it is incurable it was, and remains, vital that vaccines are developed and updated, and can reach every affected area.

Aileen described how the vaccine to treat Polio was first developed and deployed in 1955; and because of this rollout Aileen was able to demonstrate the progress in eradicating Polio from one country after another.

This progress has resulted on all but three regions in the world having no cases of Polio; those three areas being parts of Pakistan, parts of neighbouring Afghanistan and a new small number of cases in Gaza following the war there.

Aileen was able to show a short film of the work of a group of Women in Pakistan (Rotarians) who tour the rural areas of the country supporting the vaccination program; both educating the Women in each Village to have their children vaccinated, and trying to persuade the Men of the Village to not object or prevent it. The work of these Rotarians is vitally important and is not undertaken without personal risk.

Aileen described the breadth of the program to eradicate Polio worldwide and the major contributing organizations including WHO, Rotary International, US CDC, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (we are in illustrious company).

In the UK the Vaccination rollout started in the 1950’s and continues to this day, the vaccination program has been incredibly successful and has only been marred by a lunatic fringe of Vaccine-deniers who seem happy to put their children at risk for the sake of a conspiracy theory.

What is very evident is that if the vaccination program were to halt in the UK (or anywhere else) then Polio would reappear within roughly 10 years, so this program needs to remain live and supported.

Finally, Aileen described her current role in this which is to tour the local Primary Schools in Central Scotland to educate the children on what Polio is and the simple steps needed to prevent it.

There were no questions, and the Vote of Thanks was delivered by John Allan.





President David closed the meeting with our usual toast.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 05 September 2024.

Garvock House Hotel



18 Club members

3 guests: Aileen North, local End-Polio-Now Ambassador & Past Pres. W. Fife Rotary Club

Robert North, Aileen’s Husband

Ian Watson (school friend of Keith McFarlane)

Apologies: Alan Condie.



President David opened the meeting, welcomed our Guests and the Members present.



TFTD: Delivered this week by Ian Morris; Ian focused on the Paralympics currently taking place in Paris, and shared his admiration for the Paralympian Athletes, Swimmers, Archers, Cyclists who compete at World-class-levels, while dealing with disabilities that would confine most people to a chair.

“Triumph Over Adversity” summed it up Ian, a great message for us all.



President David announced the sad news of recent passings that affect members of the club: Alan Mitchell’s Father and Andrew Croxford’s Brother. Our sympathies to both families.



Dinner. Unexpectedly generous portions were served to the delight of members and guests.

Still no Tablet though…





Reports.

1. Last week’s club visit to Colliers Goathill Quarry was reported; Pres. David described a fascinating and insightful visit to the Quarry, including a tour of some of the workings and a description of some of the equipment being used. It was good to hear of their approach to quarrying which is to “demolish a hill, rebuild it with the scalping, then plant hundreds of trees.

Also very welcome was the free food offered to the visitors. Our thanks to the Program Team for organising this and of course to Colliers’ for hosting us.



2. Next few meetings: Ian Morris gave us a precis of the next few upcoming meetings:

a. 12 Sept. Speaker David Brown on the subject of “iPads in the Air”

b. 19 Sept. Ken Robertson, Rotary Speaker on the “Global Sight Solutions”

c. 26 Sept. Fellowship meeting. Snr VP Ronnie will deliver the results of his recent Membership Survey.

d. 03 Oct. Aileen Wright: “Smell the Cheese”, Speaker from “Must Be Crackers” Cheese shop.

e. 10 Oct. Outside visit to Dunfermline Museum and Art Gallery plus Italian meal.



3. Christmas Meal booked, and deposit paid, more on this from Gordon Black nearer the time.



4. Charity Quiz booked, McKane Park Friday 8th November. Maximum 8. Teams max 6 persons, names to Brian Blanchflower.





5. Royal Marine Band Concert booked, 11th & 12th Dec. at Dunfermline Abbey. Ticket details in due course.



6. Golf competition (annual), Sunday 6th Oct. at Kinross golf course. 2 Course meal and prizes. Names to Keith McFarlane.



7. Upcoming Couples night Thursday 26th Sept. 7.30pm start. This year: Christie’s Scottish Tapas (Halbeath Leisure Park). As this is imminent, names to Ronnie ASAP please.



Speaker. Aileen North (West Fife Club Past Pres): Local End-Polio-Now Ambassador.

Using A PowerPoint presentation to expand upon her presentation, Aileen gave the members a short history of:

- What Polio (poliomyelitis) is – a debilitating and incurable disease affecting children of 5 and under which attacks joints and causes deformation of limbs and loss of function of the limbs.

- How long Polio has been known about (evidence of it at the time of the Pharaohs)

- Because it affects only infants and because it is incurable it was, and remains, vital that vaccines are developed and updated, and can reach every affected area.

Aileen described how the vaccine to treat Polio was first developed and deployed in 1955; and because of this rollout Aileen was able to demonstrate the progress in eradicating Polio from one country after another.

This progress has resulted on all but three regions in the world having no cases of Polio; those three areas being parts of Pakistan, parts of neighbouring Afghanistan and a new small number of cases in Gaza following the war there.

Aileen was able to show a short film of the work of a group of Women in Pakistan (Rotarians) who tour the rural areas of the country supporting the vaccination program; both educating the Women in each Village to have their children vaccinated, and trying to persuade the Men of the Village to not object or prevent it. The work of these Rotarians is vitally important and is not undertaken without personal risk.

Aileen described the breadth of the program to eradicate Polio worldwide and the major contributing organizations including WHO, Rotary International, US CDC, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (we are in illustrious company).

In the UK the Vaccination rollout started in the 1950’s and continues to this day, the vaccination program has been incredibly successful and has only been marred by a lunatic fringe of Vaccine-deniers who seem happy to put their children at risk for the sake of a conspiracy theory.

What is very evident is that if the vaccination program were to halt in the UK (or anywhere else) then Polio would reappear within roughly 10 years, so this program needs to remain live and supported.

Finally, Aileen described her current role in this which is to tour the local Primary Schools in Central Scotland to educate the children on what Polio is and the simple steps needed to prevent it.

There were no questions, and the Vote of Thanks was delivered by John Allan.





President David closed the meeting with our usual toast.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 26 September 2024.

Garvock House Hotel



Club members: 21 No Guests



President David opened the meeting, welcomed the Members present.



TFTD: Delivered tonight by Sean Doran, Sean reminded us of the changes we are seeing around the world, political, social, climate and then subject of this evening’s meeting – the annual member’s survey - what will that tell us about how we, as Rotarians, need to change.



Dinner. Once again members were served with a tasty and generous dinner, reflecting perhaps the change in GHH kitchen staff as well as the increased price members are paying.



Reports.



1. Shoeboxes. Sean Doran reminded us that it is Shoebox time again; Sean has many of these in his garage and asked any member wishing to have one (or more) and fill it to let him know ASAP. The deadline to have them filled and sent to Perth is no later than 20th November. Any Member wishing to have pone please contact Sean.



2. Golf. Keith McFarlane reminded members of the next Golf event on Sunday 6th October to be held at Kinross Golf Club. Keith has nine names so far but believes new Friend of Rotary John Ward may be interested in making it ten. Mike Williams agreed to get in touch with John and then advise Keith. Keith will email all those involved with further details.



3. Fundraising events.

a. The Charity Quiz at McKane Park Friday 8th November. Maximum 80 participants have been reached, indeed there is now a waiting list beyond the 80. Obviously, this is a great success in terms of interest in the event, but Brian asks that we consider (a) a larger venue for the Quiz next year and (b) more events like this as they are so popular. Finally, Brian put in another request for Raffle prizes to be donated for the evening; if Members have a prize that they can donate please pass it to Brian or to Ian Wilson.



b. Royal Marine Band Concert booked, 11th & 12th Dec. at Dunfermline Abbey. Ticket details in due course. Tickets will be £15pp (same as last year) and Brian asks that Members now start pushing these.



c. Santa dash. Ian Wilson reminded Members that the Dash will be held in the High Street on Sunday 17th November, again this will coincide with the switch-on of the City’s Christmas lights. In an effort to further boost numbers the Publicising of the event through social media has started, the website is now live, and leaflets are ready to distribute.



4. Program, next few meetings: President David gave us a precis of the next few upcoming meetings:



a. 03 Oct. Aileen Wright: “Smell the Cheese”, Speaker from “Must Be Crackers” Cheese shop. Ian is chasing up more information on this, he advised that those members wishing to have the cheese will have to pay an additional £4pp for it.



b. 10 Oct. Outside visit to Dunfermline Museum and Art Gallery plus Italian meal, only 15 places available with 10 already taken, if you’d like to go please let Ian Morris know ASAP.



c. 17 Oct. Speaker John Ward, our first Friend of Rotary – “something different”



d. 24 Oct: Speaker Pete Agnew of Nazareth – “Confessions of a Rock Star – What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour”



5. Monthly draw. Treasurer David Fraser advised that, in the September draw, the £50 prize went to David Gemmel and the £30 prize to Gordon Black.



Speaker.

Senior Vice President Ronnie Pook presented the findings and conclusions from this year’s Members’ Survey. Ronnie gave us a thorough set of results from the survey which can be summarised as follows:

GHH Menu: most members are happy with the catering, particularly in the last couple of months.

Themed Dinners: most members are interested in having more of these: EG, Chinese night, Indian night, USA night.

Increasing the cost of the weekly meeting to £25 to include a starter: most members are not interested in this and happy to stay with the current single course.

Should the Speakers’ slot also be given to Charity presentations: most members agreed this is a reasonable thing to include in the program.

Do we have enough speakers across the annual program: most members believe the balance of Speakers to other matters and outside events is about right – keep it as is.

Activities: most members would like to see more activity events on a Thursday evening instead of on other nights of the week.

External visits to events and shows: most members enjoy these and prefer to participate in them as part of a group.

Wine and Whisky tasting events: Most members enjoy these and would like to see them stay as part of the Thursday evening meetings program. However, most members are also interested in taking part in external events like this; EG: the wine tasting evening at Juniper Wines.

Thursday meetings at alternative venues (for some variety): most members enjoy these and would want them to continue, EG: our annual quiz night at The Canmore House Bar & Restaurant in January (Ronnie’s Quiz).

Should we have a New Members evening: this topic raised some discussion around the room and got the members into a discussion on membership generally. Regarding a new members’ night, we had two alternative suggestions:

(A) having a nominated night (or two) in the annual program specifically for bringing along prospective new members; or

(B) getting into the habit of bringing friends along on an ad hoc basis throughout the year to introduce them to Rotary.

No final decision was reached on this, and it is now a matter for Council to look at options.

It was suggested that a small stall might be set up where Rotary flyers could be handed out, at the Farmer’s Market and at the Abbey during the Royal Marine Band Concerts.

It was also suggested that all members be asked what it is they like about Rotary and that these comments be pulled together into an “elevator pitch”. Again, a topic for the Council to consider.



VOT. Alan Condie delivered the vote of thanks to Ronne and gave us all a neat summary:
Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 26 September 2024.

Garvock House Hotel



Club members: 21 No Guests



President David opened the meeting, welcomed the Members present.



TFTD: Delivered tonight by Sean Doran, Sean reminded us of the changes we are seeing around the world, political, social, climate and then subject of this evening’s meeting – the annual member’s survey - what will that tell us about how we, as Rotarians, need to change.



Dinner. Once again members were served with a tasty and generous dinner, reflecting perhaps the change in GHH kitchen staff as well as the increased price members are paying.



Reports.



1. Shoeboxes. Sean Doran reminded us that it is Shoebox time again; Sean has many of these in his garage and asked any member wishing to have one (or more) and fill it to let him know ASAP. The deadline to have them filled and sent to Perth is no later than 20th November. Any Member wishing to have pone please contact Sean.



2. Golf. Keith McFarlane reminded members of the next Golf event on Sunday 6th October to be held at Kinross Golf Club. Keith has nine names so far but believes new Friend of Rotary John Ward may be interested in making it ten. Mike Williams agreed to get in touch with John and then advise Keith. Keith will email all those involved with further details.



3. Fundraising events.

a. The Charity Quiz at McKane Park Friday 8th November. Maximum 80 participants have been reached, indeed there is now a waiting list beyond the 80. Obviously, this is a great success in terms of interest in the event, but Brian asks that we consider (a) a larger venue for the Quiz next year and (b) more events like this as they are so popular. Finally, Brian put in another request for Raffle prizes to be donated for the evening; if Members have a prize that they can donate please pass it to Brian or to Ian Wilson.



b. Royal Marine Band Concert booked, 11th & 12th Dec. at Dunfermline Abbey. Ticket details in due course. Tickets will be £15pp (same as last year) and Brian asks that Members now start pushing these.



c. Santa dash. Ian Wilson reminded Members that the Dash will be held in the High Street on Sunday 17th November, again this will coincide with the switch-on of the City’s Christmas lights. In an effort to further boost numbers the Publicising of the event through social media has started, the website is now live, and leaflets are ready to distribute.



4. Program, next few meetings: President David gave us a precis of the next few upcoming meetings:



a. 03 Oct. Aileen Wright: “Smell the Cheese”, Speaker from “Must Be Crackers” Cheese shop. Ian is chasing up more information on this, he advised that those members wishing to have the cheese will have to pay an additional £4pp for it.



b. 10 Oct. Outside visit to Dunfermline Museum and Art Gallery plus Italian meal, only 15 places available with 10 already taken, if you’d like to go please let Ian Morris know ASAP.



c. 17 Oct. Speaker John Ward, our first Friend of Rotary – “something different”



d. 24 Oct: Speaker Pete Agnew of Nazareth – “Confessions of a Rock Star – What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour”



5. Monthly draw. Treasurer David Fraser advised that, in the September draw, the £50 prize went to David Gemmel and the £30 prize to Gordon Black.



Speaker.

Senior Vice President Ronnie Pook presented the findings and conclusions from this year’s Members’ Survey. Ronnie gave us a thorough set of results from the survey which can be summarised as follows:

GHH Menu: most members are happy with the catering, particularly in the last couple of months.

Themed Dinners: most members are interested in having more of these: EG, Chinese night, Indian night, USA night.

Increasing the cost of the weekly meeting to £25 to include a starter: most members are not interested in this and happy to stay with the current single course.

Should the Speakers’ slot also be given to Charity presentations: most members agreed this is a reasonable thing to include in the program.

Do we have enough speakers across the annual program: most members believe the balance of Speakers to other matters and outside events is about right – keep it as is.

Activities: most members would like to see more activity events on a Thursday evening instead of on other nights of the week.

External visits to events and shows: most members enjoy these and prefer to participate in them as part of a group.

Wine and Whisky tasting events: Most members enjoy these and would like to see them stay as part of the Thursday evening meetings program. However, most members are also interested in taking part in external events like this; EG: the wine tasting evening at Juniper Wines.

Thursday meetings at alternative venues (for some variety): most members enjoy these and would want them to continue, EG: our annual quiz night at The Canmore House Bar & Restaurant in January (Ronnie’s Quiz).

Should we have a New Members evening: this topic raised some discussion around the room and got the members into a discussion on membership generally. Regarding a new members’ night, we had two alternative suggestions:

(A) having a nominated night (or two) in the annual program specifically for bringing along prospective new members; or

(B) getting into the habit of bringing friends along on an ad hoc basis throughout the year to introduce them to Rotary.

No final decision was reached on this, and it is now a matter for Council to look at options.

It was suggested that a small stall might be set up where Rotary flyers could be handed out, at the Farmer’s Market and at the Abbey during the Royal Marine Band Concerts.

It was also suggested that all members be asked what it is they like about Rotary and that these comments be pulled together into an “elevator pitch”. Again, a topic for the Council to consider.



VOT. Alan Condie delivered the vote of thanks to Ronne and gave us all a neat summary:

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 03 October 2024.

Garvock House Hotel



- Club members: 18

- Guests: Speaker: Aileen Wright - New Cheese shop in town - Must Be Crackers

- Guests: 6 from Inner Wheel, here for the cheese…

o Norma Condie, Carol Pook, Helen Doran, Margaret Wilson, Isa Anderson & Wendy Spence

- George White: Prospective new Corporate Member from Babcock Rosyth.



President David opened the meeting, welcomed Guests and Members present.



TFTD: Delivered tonight by Sean Doran, an epistle on current sporting “catastrophe” (which turned out to be a 2:2 draw), a fair number of cheesy puns and, in what has become a weekly feature, a lamentation on the absence of Tablet.



Dinner. Once again Guests and Members were served a generous dinner, which one might have thought would be eaten with due consideration of the impending cheese round. Nevertheless little self-control was evident as members and guests alike hoovered up a respectable portion of steak Pie or a more modest Scampi and chips.



Business Reports.



1. Shoeboxes. Sean Doran brought a number of shoeboxes with him and asked any member wishing one to take one (or more), fill it and return it to him ASAP. The deadline to have them filled and sent to Perth is 20th November.





2. Golf. Snr. VP Ronnie reminded members again of the next Golf event on Sunday 6th October (SCLAR & JC Thompson trophies) to be held at Kinross Golf Club. Ronnie advised that he has eight names for the golf and asked Members to be at the Course by 11.30 am on Sunday for a first Tee Time of 11.52.





3. Fundraising events.

a. The Charity Quiz will be held at McKane Park Friday 8th November. Maximum 80 participants have been reached, indeed there is now a waiting list beyond the 80. Brian put in another request for Raffle prizes to be donated for the evening; if Members have a prize that they can donate please pass it to Brian or to Ian Wilson.



b. Royal Marine Band Concert booked, 11th & 12th Dec. at Dunfermline Abbey. Ticket details in due course. Tickets will be £15pp (same as last year) and Brian asks that Members now start pushing these.



c. Santa dash: Jnr. VP Ian Wilson reminded Members that the Dash will be held in the High Street on Sunday 17th November, again this will coincide with the switch-on of the City’s Christmas lights. To further boost numbers the Publicising of the event through social media has started, the website is now live, and leaflets are being distributed.



d. Ian also advised that The Kingsgate have offered us a spot to set up a stall for two days (dates TBA) where we can collect for the Club and also distribute leaflets on Rotary. Ian will be asking for volunteers to man the stall and will advise us when there is more information on this



e. In Keith McFarlane’s absence President David advised that this year’s poppy collection will again take place but will require support from members. Anyone able to support the Poppy appeal please let Keith know.





4. Social.

a. The Social / Couples’ night planned for Friday 25th October at Christie’s Scottish Tapas will require a new venue as Christie’s have gone into liquidation. Ronnie is scouting out alternative venues (Tapas Ducal being a possibility) and will advise members when he has a suitable candidate.



b. President David was a visitor to a recent meeting of WF Rotary at The Keavil House Hotel, during which they mentioned:



i. A recent race night fund raiser, David advised them that this is the sort of event our club would be very interested in collaborating on in future.

ii. Spec-sort, a project where WF club collected old / unused spectacles from local opticians to send them where they might be needed for re-use rather than sending them to landfill. Members agreed this was a great idea and something we might want to consider for ourselves next year – a topic for the next Council meeting



c. Mike Williams and Keith McFarlane are in the process of organising a fresh round of Gavel contests for the 2024/2 season, meanwhile we await the final round of the 2023/24 season between RC of Thurso and RC of Dunfermline.





5. Program, next few meetings: President David gave us a precis of the next few upcoming meetings:

a. 10 Oct. Outside visit to Dunfermline Museum and Art Gallery plus Italian meal, only 15 places available with 10 already taken, if you’d like to go please let Ian Morris know ASAP.



b. 17 Oct. Speaker John Ward, our first Friend of Rotary – “something different”



c. 24 Oct: Speaker Pete Agnew of Nazareth – “Confessions of a Rock Star – What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour”



d. 31 Oct: Outside visit to Fire Station Creative – Presentation. Tour and meal



e. In a change to the current Program, the planned Fellowship meeting of 14 November will now feature Magician Dusty Miller delivering a talk and a few tricks.



Speaker: Aileen Wright from new Cheese shop in town,” Must Be Crackers”

Aileen hails from the Republic of Ireland a little-known area “just to the North of the middle of nowhere”. Aileen has held many jobs and roles in her 30-year career, starting as a child, and as a result has developed a firm work-ethic and no fear of getting her hands dirty.

Aileen described a wide range of roles and jobs she has held; a notable one being working as an events and leisure manager aboard a cruise ship for six years. During Aileen’s time on the cruise ship (a luxurious existence by the sound of things) she found herself helping to dress “Strictly” Dancers who were on board as part of the entertainment.

When this job came to an end Aileen received an offer to support the TV show Strictly in the same way, however she was already running a small craft shop back in her hometown and decided to not go into TV.

This proved a catalyst for Aileen to find something new that would enable her to bring her creative and selling skills to the fore. As she wanted to leave Ireland but not leave the Celtic culture Aileen opted to move to Scotland, she and her family moved to Dunfermline in 2013. Aileen spent the next ten years working out what she wanted to do, and the answer was obvious: open a cheese shop.

“Must be Crackers” opened in the High Street September 2023 and is now a well-established and successful business; all of which may be ascribed to Aileen’s ethos of hard graft and the work put in by Aileen and her family.

All members are encouraged to visit Must be Crackers.

Aileen brought along sampling portions of cheese and some crackers and chutney for members to sample.

A Cashell Blue from Ireland and a St Andrew’s Cheddar were offered along with a chutney, some honey (locally sourced in Crossgates) and some excellent crackers. Aileen described her sourcing methods – as local as possible and as fresh as possible – and this was evident in the taste of what she provided.

Its fair to say the Cheese and Crackers all rapidly disappeared.

Throughout her talk Aileen mentioned her love of Scotland and her enthusiasm for Dunfermline which she described in glowing terms, so much so that the members all admitted to not really appreciating what is around us in the same way that a newcomer would. A healthy and timely reminder to us all of the positive aspects of where we live.

So, in the end a great speaker, some great cheese and great to hear Aileen say she is here for the long-term.



VOT. Brian Blanchflower delivered a fulsome and well-deserved VOT to Aileen; like Sean before him however, the urge to drop in a few truly painful cheese puns proved irresistible.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 03 October 2024.

Garvock House Hotel



- Club members: 18

- Guests: Speaker: Aileen Wright - New Cheese shop in town - Must Be Crackers

- Guests: 6 from Inner Wheel, here for the cheese…

o Norma Condie, Carol Pook, Helen Doran, Margaret Wilson, Isa Anderson & Wendy Spence

- George White: Prospective new Corporate Member from Babcock Rosyth.



President David opened the meeting, welcomed Guests and Members present.



TFTD: Delivered tonight by Sean Doran, an epistle on current sporting “catastrophe” (which turned out to be a 2:2 draw), a fair number of cheesy puns and, in what has become a weekly feature, a lamentation on the absence of Tablet.



Dinner. Once again Guests and Members were served a generous dinner, which one might have thought would be eaten with due consideration of the impending cheese round. Nevertheless little self-control was evident as members and guests alike hoovered up a respectable portion of steak Pie or a more modest Scampi and chips.



Business Reports.



1. Shoeboxes. Sean Doran brought a number of shoeboxes with him and asked any member wishing one to take one (or more), fill it and return it to him ASAP. The deadline to have them filled and sent to Perth is 20th November.





2. Golf. Snr. VP Ronnie reminded members again of the next Golf event on Sunday 6th October (SCLAR & JC Thompson trophies) to be held at Kinross Golf Club. Ronnie advised that he has eight names for the golf and asked Members to be at the Course by 11.30 am on Sunday for a first Tee Time of 11.52.





3. Fundraising events.

a. The Charity Quiz will be held at McKane Park Friday 8th November. Maximum 80 participants have been reached, indeed there is now a waiting list beyond the 80. Brian put in another request for Raffle prizes to be donated for the evening; if Members have a prize that they can donate please pass it to Brian or to Ian Wilson.



b. Royal Marine Band Concert booked, 11th & 12th Dec. at Dunfermline Abbey. Ticket details in due course. Tickets will be £15pp (same as last year) and Brian asks that Members now start pushing these.



c. Santa dash: Jnr. VP Ian Wilson reminded Members that the Dash will be held in the High Street on Sunday 17th November, again this will coincide with the switch-on of the City’s Christmas lights. To further boost numbers the Publicising of the event through social media has started, the website is now live, and leaflets are being distributed.



d. Ian also advised that The Kingsgate have offered us a spot to set up a stall for two days (dates TBA) where we can collect for the Club and also distribute leaflets on Rotary. Ian will be asking for volunteers to man the stall and will advise us when there is more information on this



e. In Keith McFarlane’s absence President David advised that this year’s poppy collection will again take place but will require support from members. Anyone able to support the Poppy appeal please let Keith know.





4. Social.

a. The Social / Couples’ night planned for Friday 25th October at Christie’s Scottish Tapas will require a new venue as Christie’s have gone into liquidation. Ronnie is scouting out alternative venues (Tapas Ducal being a possibility) and will advise members when he has a suitable candidate.



b. President David was a visitor to a recent meeting of WF Rotary at The Keavil House Hotel, during which they mentioned:



i. A recent race night fund raiser, David advised them that this is the sort of event our club would be very interested in collaborating on in future.

ii. Spec-sort, a project where WF club collected old / unused spectacles from local opticians to send them where they might be needed for re-use rather than sending them to landfill. Members agreed this was a great idea and something we might want to consider for ourselves next year – a topic for the next Council meeting



c. Mike Williams and Keith McFarlane are in the process of organising a fresh round of Gavel contests for the 2024/2 season, meanwhile we await the final round of the 2023/24 season between RC of Thurso and RC of Dunfermline.





5. Program, next few meetings: President David gave us a precis of the next few upcoming meetings:

a. 10 Oct. Outside visit to Dunfermline Museum and Art Gallery plus Italian meal, only 15 places available with 10 already taken, if you’d like to go please let Ian Morris know ASAP.



b. 17 Oct. Speaker John Ward, our first Friend of Rotary – “something different”



c. 24 Oct: Speaker Pete Agnew of Nazareth – “Confessions of a Rock Star – What Goes on Tour, Stays on Tour”



d. 31 Oct: Outside visit to Fire Station Creative – Presentation. Tour and meal



e. In a change to the current Program, the planned Fellowship meeting of 14 November will now feature Magician Dusty Miller delivering a talk and a few tricks.



Speaker: Aileen Wright from new Cheese shop in town,” Must Be Crackers”

Aileen hails from the Republic of Ireland a little-known area “just to the North of the middle of nowhere”. Aileen has held many jobs and roles in her 30-year career, starting as a child, and as a result has developed a firm work-ethic and no fear of getting her hands dirty.

Aileen described a wide range of roles and jobs she has held; a notable one being working as an events and leisure manager aboard a cruise ship for six years. During Aileen’s time on the cruise ship (a luxurious existence by the sound of things) she found herself helping to dress “Strictly” Dancers who were on board as part of the entertainment.

When this job came to an end Aileen received an offer to support the TV show Strictly in the same way, however she was already running a small craft shop back in her hometown and decided to not go into TV.

This proved a catalyst for Aileen to find something new that would enable her to bring her creative and selling skills to the fore. As she wanted to leave Ireland but not leave the Celtic culture Aileen opted to move to Scotland, she and her family moved to Dunfermline in 2013. Aileen spent the next ten years working out what she wanted to do, and the answer was obvious: open a cheese shop.

“Must be Crackers” opened in the High Street September 2023 and is now a well-established and successful business; all of which may be ascribed to Aileen’s ethos of hard graft and the work put in by Aileen and her family.

All members are encouraged to visit Must be Crackers.

Aileen brought along sampling portions of cheese and some crackers and chutney for members to sample.

A Cashell Blue from Ireland and a St Andrew’s Cheddar were offered along with a chutney, some honey (locally sourced in Crossgates) and some excellent crackers. Aileen described her sourcing methods – as local as possible and as fresh as possible – and this was evident in the taste of what she provided.

Its fair to say the Cheese and Crackers all rapidly disappeared.

Throughout her talk Aileen mentioned her love of Scotland and her enthusiasm for Dunfermline which she described in glowing terms, so much so that the members all admitted to not really appreciating what is around us in the same way that a newcomer would. A healthy and timely reminder to us all of the positive aspects of where we live.

So, in the end a great speaker, some great cheese and great to hear Aileen say she is here for the long-term.



VOT. Brian Blanchflower delivered a fulsome and well-deserved VOT to Aileen; like Sean before him however, the urge to drop in a few truly painful cheese puns proved irresistible.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 26 September 2024.

Outside meeting – Joseph Noel Paton exhibition

Club members: 13 Guests: Lesley Lettuce – Art Exhibition Curator, Wendy Spence (IW)



Members assembled at The Public Library and were treated to an excellent talk by Lesley about the Life and Art of Joseph Noel Paton followed by an opportunity to look at some of his collected works, ranging from preliminary sketches and fine pencil drawings to fully realised paintings as well as designs for stained-glass works.

An excellent evening and a great insight into the work of one of Dunfermline’s lesser-known sons. For anyone who hasn’t seen this exhibit I Strongly recommend you head along to the library and take it in.

TFTD: Not required

Dinner. The group then headed to Carlucci’s Italian Restaurant for an excellent dinner and drinks. All in all, a great outside visit and thanks are due to Ian Morris for organizing it.

VOT. Ronnie Pook delivered the vote of thanks to Lesley



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 26 September 2024.

Outside meeting – Joseph Noel Paton exhibition

Club members: 13 Guests: Lesley Lettuce – Art Exhibition Curator, Wendy Spence (IW)



Members assembled at The Public Library and were treated to an excellent talk by Lesley about the Life and Art of Joseph Noel Paton followed by an opportunity to look at some of his collected works, ranging from preliminary sketches and fine pencil drawings to fully realised paintings as well as designs for stained-glass works.

An excellent evening and a great insight into the work of one of Dunfermline’s lesser-known sons. For anyone who hasn’t seen this exhibit I Strongly recommend you head along to the library and take it in.

TFTD: Not required

Dinner. The group then headed to Carlucci’s Italian Restaurant for an excellent dinner and drinks. All in all, a great outside visit and thanks are due to Ian Morris for organizing it.

VOT. Ronnie Pook delivered the vote of thanks to Lesley



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 17 October 2024.

Speaker: John Ward (Friend of Rotary)

Club members: 26

Guests: Ian Grieve (WF Rotary), Alyn Steedman (cousin of…)



TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us an eclectic mix of topics to ponder this evening including:

- King Charles’ visit to Australia but their own dignitaries are unwilling to meet him.

- One of New Zealand’s naval surface vessels turning into a submarine

- The passing of Alex Salmond: love him or hate him he was a huge figure in British Politics

- The great success of last week’s visit to the Joseph Noel Paton exhibition, at which Ian had his own epiphany in discovering that the 15th Century German Theologian Martin Luther was in fact not black… (“who knew?”)

- Ian went on to mention this evening’s speaker, affectionately known as “Tesco John”

- With these last two notes Ian successfully managed to steal some of both Pres David’s and SVP Ronnie’s thunder.



Business.

Social:

- SVP Ronnie reminded us of the success of last Thursday’s visit to Dunfermline Museum to attend a presentation of the works of local Artist Joseph Noel Paton. A highly talented son of Dunfermline, painter for Queen Victoria, who, while famous and wealthy through his art in his lifetime, seems to have now faded into not-quite obscurity. The exhibition is well worth a visit and Paton’s work needs to be more widely recognised and appreciated again.



Fund raising:

- JVP Ian reminded members about the Santa Dash (Sunday 17 Nov), asking for volunteers to help set up, tear down and act as Marshalls for the 10K through the Glen. All to be at MJM car park on the day by 12 noon.

- Next Ian covered the RMB Concert to be held at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec, members are asked to start pushing ticket sales to friends and family.

- Next Ian reminded members about the upcoming Charity Quiz Fri 8 Nov. Unfortunately, the Quiz itself is sold out but we are still looking for donations of raffle prizes, if any Member has something they’d like to donate please contact Ian or Brian Blanchflower asap.

- Ian then mentioned the Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street, Tesco Fire station as well as the opportunity this year to set up a stall in the Kingsgate to tell people about Rotary. The stall will be manned on 9/10 Dec and will be a key place to drive membership.



Membership:

- As per Ian’s comments there will be an opportunity for a membership drive at The Kingsgate 9/10 Dec. Pres David than advised us that five members attended a Rotary Membership Seminar on Wed 16 Oct. While there was a lot of useful information provided, the main thrust of the Seminar was to confirm that the actions our club is currently taking are the right ones.



Community / International:

- Ian Morris reminded us of Rotary’s own internal food drive – either food or cash donations is fine – please have your donations to Ian no later than 24 Oct to give Ian time to pass them on to the Foodbank.

- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the food bank will take place 28-30 November. More information on this will come from Sean Doran in due course.

- Sean brought more Shoeboxes and asked that all members try to fill one and return it to Sean. All donations to be with Sean no later than 14 Nov.

- Saving Lives:

o There will be a donation of £1600 for Raising Futures, this will fund 600+ counselling and suicide prevention sessions in Kenya.

o There is likely to be a similar donation to The Samaritans later in the year

o Global Sight Solutions: after the presentation to the Club by Ken Robertson on 19 Sept, there is likely to be a drive to support one of these projects. More to come on this from Sean.



Program: Ian Morris (again) reminded us of the next couple of weeks

- A talk from Pete Agnew (Bass Player with Nazareth) on 24 Oct

- An outside meeting on 31 Oct at The Fire Station Creative which will include a presentation, a tour and a meal. Menu options will be advised in the next couple of weeks.

- Finally, Ian issued a first call for names and ticket sales for the Burns Supper – Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2 course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment.

- Pres David also reminded members that the meeting on Thu 28 Nov will be a talk by Gordon McInally (recent past President of RI). We are expecting visitors from across District 1010 for this one and Pres. David asked that as many of our own club members as possible also attend.



Social: SVP Ronnie.

- Members are reminded there will be a Couples night on Friday 25 Oct at the New Noble’s in Eastport. Seats are £30pp, names to Ronnie ASAP if anyone else is interested.

- Golf Friendly 4’s will now be held in November, date and venue to be advised by SVP Ronnie.

- SCLAR Golf trophy was awarded to Pres David Walker (well done)

- JC Thompson trophy was awarded to SVP Ronnie Pook (also well done)

- It’s worth noting that Past President Ralph has been hanging on to the SCLAR trophy (for safekeeping) and when it was taken out of the box was revealed to be the head of a golf club engraved for Round Table. I suspect RT has often wondered “whatever happened to that old golf trophy?”



Dinner. Served, unusually, after business was conducted, members were given another decent portion from three decent offerings, GHH are definitely trying to up their game.



Speaker: John Ward (Friend of Rotary) AKA “Tesco John”

- John, a new Friend of Rotary gave an extensive and detailed account of his life, from growing up in Kenya, being in the British Army, and then a wide range of positions with Tesco and (latterly) Morrissons.

- John’s energy, creativity and commonsense were evident throughout his talk; John will be a great asset to the club in whatever manner he remains a member.

VOT. David Chalmers

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 17 October 2024.

Speaker: John Ward (Friend of Rotary)

Club members: 26

Guests: Ian Grieve (WF Rotary), Alyn Steedman (cousin of…)



TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us an eclectic mix of topics to ponder this evening including:

- King Charles’ visit to Australia but their own dignitaries are unwilling to meet him.

- One of New Zealand’s naval surface vessels turning into a submarine

- The passing of Alex Salmond: love him or hate him he was a huge figure in British Politics

- The great success of last week’s visit to the Joseph Noel Paton exhibition, at which Ian had his own epiphany in discovering that the 15th Century German Theologian Martin Luther was in fact not black… (“who knew?”)

- Ian went on to mention this evening’s speaker, affectionately known as “Tesco John”

- With these last two notes Ian successfully managed to steal some of both Pres David’s and SVP Ronnie’s thunder.



Business.

Social:

- SVP Ronnie reminded us of the success of last Thursday’s visit to Dunfermline Museum to attend a presentation of the works of local Artist Joseph Noel Paton. A highly talented son of Dunfermline, painter for Queen Victoria, who, while famous and wealthy through his art in his lifetime, seems to have now faded into not-quite obscurity. The exhibition is well worth a visit and Paton’s work needs to be more widely recognised and appreciated again.



Fund raising:

- JVP Ian reminded members about the Santa Dash (Sunday 17 Nov), asking for volunteers to help set up, tear down and act as Marshalls for the 10K through the Glen. All to be at MJM car park on the day by 12 noon.

- Next Ian covered the RMB Concert to be held at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec, members are asked to start pushing ticket sales to friends and family.

- Next Ian reminded members about the upcoming Charity Quiz Fri 8 Nov. Unfortunately, the Quiz itself is sold out but we are still looking for donations of raffle prizes, if any Member has something they’d like to donate please contact Ian or Brian Blanchflower asap.

- Ian then mentioned the Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street, Tesco Fire station as well as the opportunity this year to set up a stall in the Kingsgate to tell people about Rotary. The stall will be manned on 9/10 Dec and will be a key place to drive membership.



Membership:

- As per Ian’s comments there will be an opportunity for a membership drive at The Kingsgate 9/10 Dec. Pres David than advised us that five members attended a Rotary Membership Seminar on Wed 16 Oct. While there was a lot of useful information provided, the main thrust of the Seminar was to confirm that the actions our club is currently taking are the right ones.



Community / International:

- Ian Morris reminded us of Rotary’s own internal food drive – either food or cash donations is fine – please have your donations to Ian no later than 24 Oct to give Ian time to pass them on to the Foodbank.

- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the food bank will take place 28-30 November. More information on this will come from Sean Doran in due course.

- Sean brought more Shoeboxes and asked that all members try to fill one and return it to Sean. All donations to be with Sean no later than 14 Nov.

- Saving Lives:

o There will be a donation of £1600 for Raising Futures, this will fund 600+ counselling and suicide prevention sessions in Kenya.

o There is likely to be a similar donation to The Samaritans later in the year

o Global Sight Solutions: after the presentation to the Club by Ken Robertson on 19 Sept, there is likely to be a drive to support one of these projects. More to come on this from Sean.



Program: Ian Morris (again) reminded us of the next couple of weeks

- A talk from Pete Agnew (Bass Player with Nazareth) on 24 Oct

- An outside meeting on 31 Oct at The Fire Station Creative which will include a presentation, a tour and a meal. Menu options will be advised in the next couple of weeks.

- Finally, Ian issued a first call for names and ticket sales for the Burns Supper – Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2 course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment.

- Pres David also reminded members that the meeting on Thu 28 Nov will be a talk by Gordon McInally (recent past President of RI). We are expecting visitors from across District 1010 for this one and Pres. David asked that as many of our own club members as possible also attend.



Social: SVP Ronnie.

- Members are reminded there will be a Couples night on Friday 25 Oct at the New Noble’s in Eastport. Seats are £30pp, names to Ronnie ASAP if anyone else is interested.

- Golf Friendly 4’s will now be held in November, date and venue to be advised by SVP Ronnie.

- SCLAR Golf trophy was awarded to Pres David Walker (well done)

- JC Thompson trophy was awarded to SVP Ronnie Pook (also well done)

- It’s worth noting that Past President Ralph has been hanging on to the SCLAR trophy (for safekeeping) and when it was taken out of the box was revealed to be the head of a golf club engraved for Round Table. I suspect RT has often wondered “whatever happened to that old golf trophy?”



Dinner. Served, unusually, after business was conducted, members were given another decent portion from three decent offerings, GHH are definitely trying to up their game.



Speaker: John Ward (Friend of Rotary) AKA “Tesco John”

- John, a new Friend of Rotary gave an extensive and detailed account of his life, from growing up in Kenya, being in the British Army, and then a wide range of positions with Tesco and (latterly) Morrissons.

- John’s energy, creativity and commonsense were evident throughout his talk; John will be a great asset to the club in whatever manner he remains a member.

VOT. David Chalmers

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 24 October 2024.

Special General Meeting & Weekly / Fellowship.

Attending: 23

Guests: 1 Brian Mitchell

Apologies: 3 Brian Blanchflower, John Allan, Ronnie Pook,

President David welcomed members to our Weekly meeting and to our annual SGM.



TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us a poignant reading of one of the remembrance poems (“Lest we Forget”) in this Remembrance Week.

Ian also gave us some musings on (i) the Budget, in which our new Labour government seem to view all money as theirs to give to who they deem fit. And (ii) the inexplicable re-election of Donald Trump, with its commensurate dashing of hope and raising of fears across the Western World.



Special General Meeting: See separate Minutes attached.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- Santa dash will be featured in the Dunfermline Press next week; promotion has been successful and is ongoing up to the day of the event. The dash is planned for Sunday 17 Nov, and we are asking for volunteers to help set up, tear down and act as Marshalls for the 10K through the Glen.

o Those able to support set up and selling of costumes etc please be at MJM car park on the day by 12.00.

o Those able to support marshalling duties for the 5K in the Glen please come along around 13.00



- Rotary Stall in the Kingsgate 9/10 Dec to promote Rotary membership, this will need to be manned, Ian W and his team are looking to fill the last few slots



o Saturday 12.00 – 14.00 and 14.00 – 16.00

o Sunday 14.00 – 16.00

o Names to Ian if you can support.



- Charity Quiz – 8 Nov at McKane Park, this event was sold out, however due to a late cancellation there is now room for another team of six, names to Jim Leggat or Brian Blanchflower asap please.



- RMB Concert to be held at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec, members are asked to continue pushing ticket sales to friends and family. NB: there will be a Membership table manned at the Abbey for both evenings.



- Ian Wilson handed out the first Membership fold-out leaflet sample, this was passed around for review. Great piece of work on this that has produced something simple to use and hand out, which is full of information.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station is going ahead, planning and permissions have been granted and the Sleigh has been taken out of storage. Volunteers will be needed to support the collections; Mike Williams will publish a rota and start pushing for volunteers to support it. The management at the Kingsgate have kindly agreed to have the collection continue inside the Kingsgate if the weather turns.



Community / International:

- Ian Morris thanked members for the Rotary Club’s own collection for the Foodbank, £1,461.62 was raised and donated. Foodbank management were delighted and extremely grateful. Nice one Ian.



- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the food bank will take place 28-30 November. A rota has been published by the Foodbank Management and many members have added their names to the rota in support of the food drive, either in the Stores or in the Vans.



- Shoe Boxes. Sean Doran was able to collect a decent number of Shoe Boxes at the meeting, donated by members; as always more will be very welcome, so any member looking to donate please contact Sean ASAP. NB: the deadline for these is 14th November (next week).



Program:

- Christmas Lunch will be at GHH on Sunday 8th December, 2pm for a 2.30 start. £37.50 per head, names please to Andrew Watson & Graham Steedman.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 66 names so far, always looking for more, if you haven’t already, names please to Jim Leggat.



- Pres David also reminded members that the meeting on Thu 28 Nov will be a talk by Gordon McInally (recent past President of RI). We are expecting visitors from across District 1010 for this one and Pres. David asked that as many of our own club members as possible also attend.



Social:

- Gavel Challenge.

o The first round of the 2024/25 competition was held on Wednesday 6 November at The Sands Hotel Burntisland: a 4-way knockout event between Burntisland, Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline Carnegie and Dunfermline. As expected, Dunfermline emerged victorious and now await the completion of the remaining first round matches to see who the team are up against next.



o The 2023/24 Final will be held on 16 November in Inverness, a three way final between Thurso, Dunfermline and Peterhead. A venue in equidistant Inverness will host the event.



- Prize Draw.

o October: £50 to Eric Keenan £30 to Andrew Watson

o November: £50 to Jim Craig £30 to John Allen



- Autumn edition of the Rotary Newsletter will be published and distributed by President David over the next few days.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 24 October 2024.

Special General Meeting & Weekly / Fellowship.

Attending: 23

Guests: 1 Brian Mitchell

Apologies: 3 Brian Blanchflower, John Allan, Ronnie Pook,

President David welcomed members to our Weekly meeting and to our annual SGM.



TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us a poignant reading of one of the remembrance poems (“Lest we Forget”) in this Remembrance Week.

Ian also gave us some musings on (i) the Budget, in which our new Labour government seem to view all money as theirs to give to who they deem fit. And (ii) the inexplicable re-election of Donald Trump, with its commensurate dashing of hope and raising of fears across the Western World.



Special General Meeting: See separate Minutes attached.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- Santa dash will be featured in the Dunfermline Press next week; promotion has been successful and is ongoing up to the day of the event. The dash is planned for Sunday 17 Nov, and we are asking for volunteers to help set up, tear down and act as Marshalls for the 10K through the Glen.

o Those able to support set up and selling of costumes etc please be at MJM car park on the day by 12.00.

o Those able to support marshalling duties for the 5K in the Glen please come along around 13.00



- Rotary Stall in the Kingsgate 9/10 Dec to promote Rotary membership, this will need to be manned, Ian W and his team are looking to fill the last few slots



o Saturday 12.00 – 14.00 and 14.00 – 16.00

o Sunday 14.00 – 16.00

o Names to Ian if you can support.



- Charity Quiz – 8 Nov at McKane Park, this event was sold out, however due to a late cancellation there is now room for another team of six, names to Jim Leggat or Brian Blanchflower asap please.



- RMB Concert to be held at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec, members are asked to continue pushing ticket sales to friends and family. NB: there will be a Membership table manned at the Abbey for both evenings.



- Ian Wilson handed out the first Membership fold-out leaflet sample, this was passed around for review. Great piece of work on this that has produced something simple to use and hand out, which is full of information.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station is going ahead, planning and permissions have been granted and the Sleigh has been taken out of storage. Volunteers will be needed to support the collections; Mike Williams will publish a rota and start pushing for volunteers to support it. The management at the Kingsgate have kindly agreed to have the collection continue inside the Kingsgate if the weather turns.



Community / International:

- Ian Morris thanked members for the Rotary Club’s own collection for the Foodbank, £1,461.62 was raised and donated. Foodbank management were delighted and extremely grateful. Nice one Ian.



- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the food bank will take place 28-30 November. A rota has been published by the Foodbank Management and many members have added their names to the rota in support of the food drive, either in the Stores or in the Vans.



- Shoe Boxes. Sean Doran was able to collect a decent number of Shoe Boxes at the meeting, donated by members; as always more will be very welcome, so any member looking to donate please contact Sean ASAP. NB: the deadline for these is 14th November (next week).



Program:

- Christmas Lunch will be at GHH on Sunday 8th December, 2pm for a 2.30 start. £37.50 per head, names please to Andrew Watson & Graham Steedman.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 66 names so far, always looking for more, if you haven’t already, names please to Jim Leggat.



- Pres David also reminded members that the meeting on Thu 28 Nov will be a talk by Gordon McInally (recent past President of RI). We are expecting visitors from across District 1010 for this one and Pres. David asked that as many of our own club members as possible also attend.



Social:

- Gavel Challenge.

o The first round of the 2024/25 competition was held on Wednesday 6 November at The Sands Hotel Burntisland: a 4-way knockout event between Burntisland, Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline Carnegie and Dunfermline. As expected, Dunfermline emerged victorious and now await the completion of the remaining first round matches to see who the team are up against next.



o The 2023/24 Final will be held on 16 November in Inverness, a three way final between Thurso, Dunfermline and Peterhead. A venue in equidistant Inverness will host the event.



- Prize Draw.

o October: £50 to Eric Keenan £30 to Andrew Watson

o November: £50 to Jim Craig £30 to John Allen



- Autumn edition of the Rotary Newsletter will be published and distributed by President David over the next few days.






Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 21 November 2024.

Members: 25

Guests: 6 This evening’s Speakers George Riley & Brendan Innes from Dunfermline Whiskey. Ian Grieve (RC of W. Fife). Malcolm Slora (RC of Cowdenbeath). Carl Dennis. David Brown.

President David welcomed Members and Guests to our Weekly meeting.



TFTD: Keith McFarlane. Bearing a remarkable similarity to Keith’s report for the evening, Keith advised us of:

- The Club’s 7th victory in the Gavel challenge, winning the 3-way Final (2023/24) at a venue in Inverness; trouncing 6-man teams from RC of Peterhead and RC of Thurso. Great Job guys

- The successful Remembrance Poppy appeal and collection s that Keith is heavily involved in.

- The TFTD was essentially that we have fun and support the community – an apposite point well-made.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- Santa dash Sunday 17 Nov, report from Ian W.

o A huge new record of 186 Santas dashed down the High Street on Sunday, with a healthy number of them going on to complete in the 5K fun run around the Glen. 186 compared to last year’s 90 dashers….

o Event was a great success in the main due to Ian and his team driving this to a successful conclusion. Ian expressed his thanks to everyone who was able to support the ev1ent on Sunday.



- RMB Concert to be held at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec, members are asked to continue pushing ticket sales to friends and family, ticket requests to Brian Blanchflower.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station is on track. Volunteers will be needed to support the collections; Mike Williams will advise dates & times and will publish a rota and start pushing for volunteers to support it.



Membership:

- The manned stall / table used recently in the Kingsgate will be set up and manned at The Abbey during the RMB Concert on 11 / 12 December.



- Application / Proposal form received from David Brown (proposer Andrew Croxford), email circulated for comments prior to induction next week.



Community / International:

- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the foodbank will take place 28-30 November. A rota has been published by the Foodbank Management and many members have added their names to the rota in support of the food drive, either in the Stores or in the Vans.



Program:

- Pres David reminded members that the meeting on Thu 28 Nov will be a talk by Gordon McInally (recent past President of RI). We are expecting visitors from across District 1010 for this one; Pres. David asks that as many of our own club members as possible also attend.



Social:

- Gavel Challenge, as mentioned above…

o The 2023/24 Final was held on 16 November in Inverness, a three-way final between Thurso, Dunfermline and Peterhead.

o RC of Dunfermline won the final and collected the trophy for the 7th time

o Congratulations to Keith and the team for another victory.




image.png



- Christmas Lunch will be at GHH on Sunday 8th December, 2pm for a 2.30 start. £37.50 per head. 60 Names confirmed so far but there’s plenty of room for more: names please to Andrew Watson & Graham Steedman. Payment please to Rotary General account



- President David has arranged a Whisky event (afternoon and evening, some food and perhaps a dram). Planned for Wed 18 December, event is currently fully subscribed.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 66 names so far, always looking for more, if you haven’t already, names please to Jim Leggat.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.







Speaker: Brendan Innes & George Riley Dunfermline Whisky Society, talk and “sampling”

Brendan and George firstly distributed three whiskies and a sheet showing what they were:

- A 1990 Tomatin Legacy Single Malt 43% abv

- A Thomson Bros. blend 45.7% abv

- A 12 yo Caol Ila Single Malt 52.1% abv

It’s fair to say that the early placement of these lovely whiskies proved an irresistible distraction to some members who may now remember little of what the speakers had to say.

Nevertheless Brendan and George kicked off by describing how they personally “got into” whisky (everyone’s journey is different).

George and Brendan then went on to describe the origins of their Whisky “Community”; emphasising the fact that they don’t consider it a club, a society, an association, an organisation or a company. They refer to Dunfermline Whisky as a Community.

There are four founders: George, Brendan, Jason and Adam, and between them they find new whiskies, and those that might be beyond our reach, and then organise tastings at venues in the Dunfermline area. A typical tasting event is around £30 pp and involves six drams.

They want to expand the knowledge of whisky, they want to develop the social aspects of enjoying whisky (many of us had already started this part), they want to enable access to new and unusual whiskies, they want to promote local businesses (Pubs etc.)

Any money (profit) raised through these tasting events is handed on to the local community, this year £1,500 was donated to two small local charities in the Abbeyview area.

Dunfermline Whisky’s goals are to increase the awareness of whiskies, to bring new whiskies to our attention and to support the community where possible.

They meet 2nd Thursday of each month; they have a website and Facebook page.

Their interest in, and enthusiasm for our other national drink was infectious and highly entertaining.

So finally, to the tasting…

George and Brendan described all three drams and encouraged us to firstly nose the dram, then sip it neat, and then finally to add water to enjoy the fully opened flavours. Everyone described their own most and least preferred drink, and there were very few glasses left untouched by the end of the evening. (my personal thanks to Alan Condie who wasn’t enjoying the Caol Ila and asked me to polish it off).



As they had described the whiskies and how their community operates and then hosted this tasting it was an obvious next step to ask if they would be interested in doing the same during our Gin-Fest, perhaps on the Saturday afternoon. This will be further explored by the Gin-Fest team with some prompting from President David Walker.

A thoroughly enjoyable “talk”.



VOT: Graham Steedman. An outstanding VOT delivered by Graham, every bit as entertaining as the whisky presentation itself.

Graham thanked Brendan and George for their talk and their samples, as well as the advice during the tasting.

Graham went on to ask the room to sympathise with Jim Leggat who would have loved to be at a whisky tasting but was instead booked to speak to Inner Wheel about the War-Graves Commission. It’s fair to say that some sympathy was displayed.

Graham even managed to squeeze in some insights from Rotary’s own Master Blender (ret’d) Ian Grieve with thoughts of Orchestras and Soloists and of Roses and Water (poetic or what?). Much of the room felt that the VOT deserved its own VOT.


Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 21 November 2024.

Members: 25

Guests: 6 This evening’s Speakers George Riley & Brendan Innes from Dunfermline Whiskey. Ian Grieve (RC of W. Fife). Malcolm Slora (RC of Cowdenbeath). Carl Dennis. David Brown.

President David welcomed Members and Guests to our Weekly meeting.



TFTD: Keith McFarlane. Bearing a remarkable similarity to Keith’s report for the evening, Keith advised us of:

- The Club’s 7th victory in the Gavel challenge, winning the 3-way Final (2023/24) at a venue in Inverness; trouncing 6-man teams from RC of Peterhead and RC of Thurso. Great Job guys

- The successful Remembrance Poppy appeal and collection s that Keith is heavily involved in.

- The TFTD was essentially that we have fun and support the community – an apposite point well-made.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- Santa dash Sunday 17 Nov, report from Ian W.

o A huge new record of 186 Santas dashed down the High Street on Sunday, with a healthy number of them going on to complete in the 5K fun run around the Glen. 186 compared to last year’s 90 dashers….

o Event was a great success in the main due to Ian and his team driving this to a successful conclusion. Ian expressed his thanks to everyone who was able to support the ev1ent on Sunday.



- RMB Concert to be held at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec, members are asked to continue pushing ticket sales to friends and family, ticket requests to Brian Blanchflower.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station is on track. Volunteers will be needed to support the collections; Mike Williams will advise dates & times and will publish a rota and start pushing for volunteers to support it.



Membership:

- The manned stall / table used recently in the Kingsgate will be set up and manned at The Abbey during the RMB Concert on 11 / 12 December.



- Application / Proposal form received from David Brown (proposer Andrew Croxford), email circulated for comments prior to induction next week.



Community / International:

- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the foodbank will take place 28-30 November. A rota has been published by the Foodbank Management and many members have added their names to the rota in support of the food drive, either in the Stores or in the Vans.



Program:

- Pres David reminded members that the meeting on Thu 28 Nov will be a talk by Gordon McInally (recent past President of RI). We are expecting visitors from across District 1010 for this one; Pres. David asks that as many of our own club members as possible also attend.



Social:

- Gavel Challenge, as mentioned above…

o The 2023/24 Final was held on 16 November in Inverness, a three-way final between Thurso, Dunfermline and Peterhead.

o RC of Dunfermline won the final and collected the trophy for the 7th time

o Congratulations to Keith and the team for another victory.




image.png



- Christmas Lunch will be at GHH on Sunday 8th December, 2pm for a 2.30 start. £37.50 per head. 60 Names confirmed so far but there’s plenty of room for more: names please to Andrew Watson & Graham Steedman. Payment please to Rotary General account



- President David has arranged a Whisky event (afternoon and evening, some food and perhaps a dram). Planned for Wed 18 December, event is currently fully subscribed.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 66 names so far, always looking for more, if you haven’t already, names please to Jim Leggat.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.







Speaker: Brendan Innes & George Riley Dunfermline Whisky Society, talk and “sampling”

Brendan and George firstly distributed three whiskies and a sheet showing what they were:

- A 1990 Tomatin Legacy Single Malt 43% abv

- A Thomson Bros. blend 45.7% abv

- A 12 yo Caol Ila Single Malt 52.1% abv

It’s fair to say that the early placement of these lovely whiskies proved an irresistible distraction to some members who may now remember little of what the speakers had to say.

Nevertheless Brendan and George kicked off by describing how they personally “got into” whisky (everyone’s journey is different).

George and Brendan then went on to describe the origins of their Whisky “Community”; emphasising the fact that they don’t consider it a club, a society, an association, an organisation or a company. They refer to Dunfermline Whisky as a Community.

There are four founders: George, Brendan, Jason and Adam, and between them they find new whiskies, and those that might be beyond our reach, and then organise tastings at venues in the Dunfermline area. A typical tasting event is around £30 pp and involves six drams.

They want to expand the knowledge of whisky, they want to develop the social aspects of enjoying whisky (many of us had already started this part), they want to enable access to new and unusual whiskies, they want to promote local businesses (Pubs etc.)

Any money (profit) raised through these tasting events is handed on to the local community, this year £1,500 was donated to two small local charities in the Abbeyview area.

Dunfermline Whisky’s goals are to increase the awareness of whiskies, to bring new whiskies to our attention and to support the community where possible.

They meet 2nd Thursday of each month; they have a website and Facebook page.

Their interest in, and enthusiasm for our other national drink was infectious and highly entertaining.

So finally, to the tasting…

George and Brendan described all three drams and encouraged us to firstly nose the dram, then sip it neat, and then finally to add water to enjoy the fully opened flavours. Everyone described their own most and least preferred drink, and there were very few glasses left untouched by the end of the evening. (my personal thanks to Alan Condie who wasn’t enjoying the Caol Ila and asked me to polish it off).



As they had described the whiskies and how their community operates and then hosted this tasting it was an obvious next step to ask if they would be interested in doing the same during our Gin-Fest, perhaps on the Saturday afternoon. This will be further explored by the Gin-Fest team with some prompting from President David Walker.

A thoroughly enjoyable “talk”.



VOT: Graham Steedman. An outstanding VOT delivered by Graham, every bit as entertaining as the whisky presentation itself.

Graham thanked Brendan and George for their talk and their samples, as well as the advice during the tasting.

Graham went on to ask the room to sympathise with Jim Leggat who would have loved to be at a whisky tasting but was instead booked to speak to Inner Wheel about the War-Graves Commission. It’s fair to say that some sympathy was displayed.

Graham even managed to squeeze in some insights from Rotary’s own Master Blender (ret’d) Ian Grieve with thoughts of Orchestras and Soloists and of Roses and Water (poetic or what?). Much of the room felt that the VOT deserved its own VOT.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 28 November 2024.

Members: 27

Guests: 25 This evening’s Speaker Gordon McInally – Past President Rotary International.

District 1010 DG: Brian Stewart & Sally Stewart

RC of Burntisland & Kinghorn: George Hudson & Ena Hudson.

RC of Cowdenbeath: Hank John, Tom Russel, Craig Bennet, John Gilfillan & Ronnie Campbell

RC of West Fife: Brian Mitchell & Douglas Scott

RC of Dunfermline Carnegie: Libby Seath, David Robertson & Charlie Clark

RC of Inverkeithing & Dalgety Bay: David Scott, Alisdair Rafkan, Hamish Hardie, David McPherson, John Lister, Julie Sullivan, Diane Scott & Fred Housego



President David welcomed Members and Guests to our Weekly meeting, with a special welcome to this evening’s speaker and the large representation from many of our Rotary neighbours.

An excellent turnout totalling 52 Rotarians, including a DG, an AG and a Past President of Rotary International.



TFTD: Was presented by Ralph McCran (although Sean Doran had one ready too). Ralph treated us to musings on public holidays that we do not seem to recognise quite as much as we used to / ought to; we are currently within range of Thanksgiving and St Andrews Day and should observe them. That said this evening’s fare will not include Turkey… or alcohol… or Tablet (sigh).



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- Santa dash Sunday 17 Nov, report from Ian W.

o A huge new record of 186 Santas dashed down the High Street on Sunday, with a healthy number of them going on to complete in the 5K fun run around the Glen. 186 compared to last year’s 90 dashers….

o Event was a remarkable success and, although isn’t intended as fund raiser (more a profile raiser for Rotary) we did end up with a surplus of £240 which will go into our Charitable funds.



- RMB Concert to take place at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec. So far 561 tickets have been sold so we could still sell another 200 or so. Members are asked to continue pushing ticket sales to friends and family, ticket requests to Brian Blanchflower. Preferred payment method is on-line direct to Rotary Charity account.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station, new details from Mike Williams: The dates for the Santa Sleigh collection this year are.

o High Street - Saturday 14th December

o Tesco Fire Station - Tuesday 17th Dec through to Saturday 21st December.

o Previous experience has indicated that after 5 pm there is much reduced traffic at Tesco so we will not collect beyond this time. Mike suggests that we will have two collection slots on each day 12:00 to 2:30; and 2:30 to 5:00. We are looking for four Volunteers per slot. The slots are 30 mins longer than previously employed but there will be fewer slots to fill.

o Please advise what times and dates you would like to volunteer for. If you are flexible but wish to volunteer for a number of sessions, please let me know which dates you would be available. Please use WhatsApp or my email michaelwilliams57x@gmail.com.



Membership:

- President David welcomed and inducted David Brown (proposed by Andrew Croxford) with a formal speech and induction to Rotary Club of Dunfermline.



- The manned stall / table used recently in the Kingsgate will be set up and manned at The Abbey during the RMB Concert on 11 / 12 December.



- To support these membership desks a large Rotary Banner was provided by District, we plan to hang onto it until they ask for it back, so if any of our Neighbouring clubs want to borrow it – let President David know.



Community / International:

- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the foodbank will take place 28-30 November. A rota has been published by the Foodbank Management and many members have added their names to the rota in support of the food drive, either in the Stores or in the Vans.



Social:

- Christmas Lunch will be at GHH on Sunday 8th December, 2pm for a 2.30 start. £37.50 per head. 60 Names confirmed so far but there is plenty of room for more: names please to Andrew Watson & Graham Steedman. Payment please to Rotary General account



- President David has arranged a Whisky event (afternoon and evening, some food and perhaps a dram). Planned for Wed 18 December, event is fully subscribed.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 66 names so far, always looking for more, if you haven’t already, names please to Jim Leggat.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.



- The Social element of Rotary was very visible this evening with members of different clubs chatting, networking and remembering old friendships. The evening would have been a great success even without a speaker. But we also had a speaker….



Speaker: Gordon McInally Past President Rotary International (2023/24).

Club Pres briefly introduced our speaker and then District Governor Brian Stewart provided a more detailed formal introduced for Gordon.

Gordon thanked dour club for hosting this event and the other clubs who were represented here this evening. Gordon went on to express how impressed he is with Ian Morris’ persistence and determination in getting Gordon to come speak to us.

Gordon had recently retired from his career as a dentist in Edinburgh and wanted to find a new reason to get out of bed in the morning – this was ideal.

Gordon’s journey to President of Rotary International for the year 2023/24 began in August 2021 with a series of virtual meetings and assessments (“interviews”), and a Digital Conclave.

During the period between his final interview and the white smoke from the “Papal Lum” Gordon started to have doubts, had they got his name by mistake? But no, it was real, and they wanted him.

Gordon shared two images of how he dressed for the event.

For the interviews a shirt, tie, suit jacket, shorts and flip-flops.

For his acceptance, a hasty change from waders and a butchers’ apron to a suit & tie.



For his year as President Gordon adopted the Theme of Create Hope in the World, it was a “year like no other” – the title of the imaginary book he may write one day.

Gordon wanted there to be 3 strands to his theme: Empowering Girls / Women, Peace and Mental Health.

It was with these three themes in mind that Gordon literally travelled the world, both to attend Rotary events & meet Rotarians but more importantly to meet those we do the work for. To this end Gordon travelled to Thailand, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Malawi and Rwanda.

It was in Rwanda that Gordon discovered both the depths and heights of human experience.

The darkness of the Rwandan national Genocide Memorial describing the barbarity and the horrors of the genocide in which 1,000,000 people were murdered over a period of 100 days (10,000 each day).

Then the light of meeting two people Janette and Tasian – who were on either side of the genocide – one hiding to escape the brutality that took her entire family, and other who had taken part in the killing. These two people now reconciled and living as neighbours in a time of renewed Peace.

To express this Gordon played for us a short video of the speech he made on this, a powerful message that in even the most horrifying of conflicts - peace it still possible.

(Perhaps someone should let Vlad know).

At the end of an eventful, busy, and rewarding year Gordon, in a peaceful transfer of power, gratefully handed the Presidency on to Stephanie Urchick (2024/25).

Gordon advised us that President Stephanie plans to visit Scotland in June 2025, perhaps RC Dunfermline should get Ian Morris on the case again?

So, what next now it is over?

Gordon still needs things to get him into his boots in the morning (not his slippers). Gordon is a Trustee of Rotary Foundation and keeping himself busy.

In wrapping up Gordon thanked our Club for inviting him to speak and for laying on such a broad audience from six local Rotary Clubs; and more emphatically thanks every member of Rotary for what we do every day.



There were good questions for Gordon which enabled him to talk about the demographics of a Rotary club.

A successful Club does not always need to be chasing younger members (though it’s good to have some), any club will work with any membership provided they are committed and enabled.

Gordon agreed that Rotary is a well-kept secret in USA & UK while it is widely recognised elsewhere in the world; he reminded us that it is up to us to fix this.

VOT. Jim Leggat delivered a well-structured and apposite VOT which Gordon clearly appreciated.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 28 November 2024.

Members: 27

Guests: 25 This evening’s Speaker Gordon McInally – Past President Rotary International.

District 1010 DG: Brian Stewart & Sally Stewart

RC of Burntisland & Kinghorn: George Hudson & Ena Hudson.

RC of Cowdenbeath: Hank John, Tom Russel, Craig Bennet, John Gilfillan & Ronnie Campbell

RC of West Fife: Brian Mitchell & Douglas Scott

RC of Dunfermline Carnegie: Libby Seath, David Robertson & Charlie Clark

RC of Inverkeithing & Dalgety Bay: David Scott, Alisdair Rafkan, Hamish Hardie, David McPherson, John Lister, Julie Sullivan, Diane Scott & Fred Housego



President David welcomed Members and Guests to our Weekly meeting, with a special welcome to this evening’s speaker and the large representation from many of our Rotary neighbours.

An excellent turnout totalling 52 Rotarians, including a DG, an AG and a Past President of Rotary International.



TFTD: Was presented by Ralph McCran (although Sean Doran had one ready too). Ralph treated us to musings on public holidays that we do not seem to recognise quite as much as we used to / ought to; we are currently within range of Thanksgiving and St Andrews Day and should observe them. That said this evening’s fare will not include Turkey… or alcohol… or Tablet (sigh).



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- Santa dash Sunday 17 Nov, report from Ian W.

o A huge new record of 186 Santas dashed down the High Street on Sunday, with a healthy number of them going on to complete in the 5K fun run around the Glen. 186 compared to last year’s 90 dashers….

o Event was a remarkable success and, although isn’t intended as fund raiser (more a profile raiser for Rotary) we did end up with a surplus of £240 which will go into our Charitable funds.



- RMB Concert to take place at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec. So far 561 tickets have been sold so we could still sell another 200 or so. Members are asked to continue pushing ticket sales to friends and family, ticket requests to Brian Blanchflower. Preferred payment method is on-line direct to Rotary Charity account.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station, new details from Mike Williams: The dates for the Santa Sleigh collection this year are.

o High Street - Saturday 14th December

o Tesco Fire Station - Tuesday 17th Dec through to Saturday 21st December.

o Previous experience has indicated that after 5 pm there is much reduced traffic at Tesco so we will not collect beyond this time. Mike suggests that we will have two collection slots on each day 12:00 to 2:30; and 2:30 to 5:00. We are looking for four Volunteers per slot. The slots are 30 mins longer than previously employed but there will be fewer slots to fill.

o Please advise what times and dates you would like to volunteer for. If you are flexible but wish to volunteer for a number of sessions, please let me know which dates you would be available. Please use WhatsApp or my email michaelwilliams57x@gmail.com.



Membership:

- President David welcomed and inducted David Brown (proposed by Andrew Croxford) with a formal speech and induction to Rotary Club of Dunfermline.



- The manned stall / table used recently in the Kingsgate will be set up and manned at The Abbey during the RMB Concert on 11 / 12 December.



- To support these membership desks a large Rotary Banner was provided by District, we plan to hang onto it until they ask for it back, so if any of our Neighbouring clubs want to borrow it – let President David know.



Community / International:

- All members please note that the next Tesco Food drive for the foodbank will take place 28-30 November. A rota has been published by the Foodbank Management and many members have added their names to the rota in support of the food drive, either in the Stores or in the Vans.



Social:

- Christmas Lunch will be at GHH on Sunday 8th December, 2pm for a 2.30 start. £37.50 per head. 60 Names confirmed so far but there is plenty of room for more: names please to Andrew Watson & Graham Steedman. Payment please to Rotary General account



- President David has arranged a Whisky event (afternoon and evening, some food and perhaps a dram). Planned for Wed 18 December, event is fully subscribed.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 66 names so far, always looking for more, if you haven’t already, names please to Jim Leggat.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.



- The Social element of Rotary was very visible this evening with members of different clubs chatting, networking and remembering old friendships. The evening would have been a great success even without a speaker. But we also had a speaker….



Speaker: Gordon McInally Past President Rotary International (2023/24).

Club Pres briefly introduced our speaker and then District Governor Brian Stewart provided a more detailed formal introduced for Gordon.

Gordon thanked dour club for hosting this event and the other clubs who were represented here this evening. Gordon went on to express how impressed he is with Ian Morris’ persistence and determination in getting Gordon to come speak to us.

Gordon had recently retired from his career as a dentist in Edinburgh and wanted to find a new reason to get out of bed in the morning – this was ideal.

Gordon’s journey to President of Rotary International for the year 2023/24 began in August 2021 with a series of virtual meetings and assessments (“interviews”), and a Digital Conclave.

During the period between his final interview and the white smoke from the “Papal Lum” Gordon started to have doubts, had they got his name by mistake? But no, it was real, and they wanted him.

Gordon shared two images of how he dressed for the event.

For the interviews a shirt, tie, suit jacket, shorts and flip-flops.

For his acceptance, a hasty change from waders and a butchers’ apron to a suit & tie.



For his year as President Gordon adopted the Theme of Create Hope in the World, it was a “year like no other” – the title of the imaginary book he may write one day.

Gordon wanted there to be 3 strands to his theme: Empowering Girls / Women, Peace and Mental Health.

It was with these three themes in mind that Gordon literally travelled the world, both to attend Rotary events & meet Rotarians but more importantly to meet those we do the work for. To this end Gordon travelled to Thailand, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Malawi and Rwanda.

It was in Rwanda that Gordon discovered both the depths and heights of human experience.

The darkness of the Rwandan national Genocide Memorial describing the barbarity and the horrors of the genocide in which 1,000,000 people were murdered over a period of 100 days (10,000 each day).

Then the light of meeting two people Janette and Tasian – who were on either side of the genocide – one hiding to escape the brutality that took her entire family, and other who had taken part in the killing. These two people now reconciled and living as neighbours in a time of renewed Peace.

To express this Gordon played for us a short video of the speech he made on this, a powerful message that in even the most horrifying of conflicts - peace it still possible.

(Perhaps someone should let Vlad know).

At the end of an eventful, busy, and rewarding year Gordon, in a peaceful transfer of power, gratefully handed the Presidency on to Stephanie Urchick (2024/25).

Gordon advised us that President Stephanie plans to visit Scotland in June 2025, perhaps RC Dunfermline should get Ian Morris on the case again?

So, what next now it is over?

Gordon still needs things to get him into his boots in the morning (not his slippers). Gordon is a Trustee of Rotary Foundation and keeping himself busy.

In wrapping up Gordon thanked our Club for inviting him to speak and for laying on such a broad audience from six local Rotary Clubs; and more emphatically thanks every member of Rotary for what we do every day.



There were good questions for Gordon which enabled him to talk about the demographics of a Rotary club.

A successful Club does not always need to be chasing younger members (though it’s good to have some), any club will work with any membership provided they are committed and enabled.

Gordon agreed that Rotary is a well-kept secret in USA & UK while it is widely recognised elsewhere in the world; he reminded us that it is up to us to fix this.

VOT. Jim Leggat delivered a well-structured and apposite VOT which Gordon clearly appreciated.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 19 December 2024.

Members: 24

Guest: Reverend Doctor MaryAnn Rennie: Christmas Message

President David welcomed Members and Guests to our weekly meeting, the last for Calendar 2024

David had invited Members who have been unable to attend meetings during the year to connect via Zoom to hear this year’s Christmas message, however only one member was able to do so.



Grace: Replacing the usual Thought-for-The-Day, Rev MaryAnn delivered Grace before the evening’s dinner.

Dinner was then served, followed by a festive mince pie and some almost-mulled wine.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- RMB Concert took place at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec. A sell out on both evenings resulted in some impressive numbers in terms of seats filled and charitable takings collected. Brian Blanchflower thanked all members who had sold tickets or helped during the event. Brian went on to thank The Members of The Abbey as well as the main sponsors for the event.

o Total Revenue from tickets and collections: £10,754

o Total costs for Abbey, Transportation, etc: £3,422

o Gross Profit for the event: £7,332

o NB: we were given a 100% abatement from the Royal Marines Band (MoD)

o Lessons learned from the event were

§ (i) more Helpers next time and

§ (ii) many more Members need to be able to use the Zettle card payment machines in future.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station, were progressing well at the time of writing this

o High Street - Saturday 14th December

o Tesco Fire Station - Tuesday 17th Dec through to Saturday 21st December.

o JVP Ian Wilson thanked all those members who have been available to support the collections.

o Ian advised that takings for each day (especially the High Street collection) were somewhat down on last year and again commented that more could have been made of Card payments if more members were able to use the Zettle App.

o Final takings will be advised once the collection dates are completed.



Membership:

- No reports



Community / International:

- No report



Social:

- President David arranged a Whisky event on Wednesday 18th Dec - afternoon and evening. Using a private room, 8 Rotarians enjoyed some food, some beer (or lager for Mr Condie) and 6 or more drams. An excellent evening which, as time progressed got louder and louder, to the point when one of our more sober members closed the door. It is likely that this event will be repeated in future as well as the possibility of a whisky afternoon during the upcoming Gin-fest in May.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 70 tickets sold so far.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.





Speaker: Reverend Doctor MaryAnn Rennie – Christmas message

President David introduced our speaker.

MaryAnn gave us a brief history of her experience which culminated in her becoming Reverend for The Abbey in 2012.

MaryAnn thanked our Club for again organizing the Annual RMB Concert and told us it was one of the highlights of her year, enjoyed again this year.

MaryAnn then told us about the somewhat dire straits the Abbey finds itself in, with crumbling masonry in need of repair, higher costs all round and a more sectarian society; she expressed her fears that, at the current rate The Abbey could have to close it’s doors by 2027.

Maryann then went on to speak about and compare the fates of the two David’s cities:

- David of Judea who ruled from Bethlehem, a city being devastated in this war-torn part of the Middle East.

- David 1 of Scotland who ruled from Dunfermline, a city currently expanding and this year named as Scotland’s (and the UK’s) newest city.

- A sobering message.

VOT. Noel McKenna delivered our Vote of Thanks



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 19 December 2024.

Members: 24

Guest: Reverend Doctor MaryAnn Rennie: Christmas Message

President David welcomed Members and Guests to our weekly meeting, the last for Calendar 2024

David had invited Members who have been unable to attend meetings during the year to connect via Zoom to hear this year’s Christmas message, however only one member was able to do so.



Grace: Replacing the usual Thought-for-The-Day, Rev MaryAnn delivered Grace before the evening’s dinner.

Dinner was then served, followed by a festive mince pie and some almost-mulled wine.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising:

- RMB Concert took place at Dunfermline Abbey on 11 / 12 Dec. A sell out on both evenings resulted in some impressive numbers in terms of seats filled and charitable takings collected. Brian Blanchflower thanked all members who had sold tickets or helped during the event. Brian went on to thank The Members of The Abbey as well as the main sponsors for the event.

o Total Revenue from tickets and collections: £10,754

o Total costs for Abbey, Transportation, etc: £3,422

o Gross Profit for the event: £7,332

o NB: we were given a 100% abatement from the Royal Marines Band (MoD)

o Lessons learned from the event were

§ (i) more Helpers next time and

§ (ii) many more Members need to be able to use the Zettle card payment machines in future.



- Santa Sleigh and collection in The High Street and at Tesco Fire station, were progressing well at the time of writing this

o High Street - Saturday 14th December

o Tesco Fire Station - Tuesday 17th Dec through to Saturday 21st December.

o JVP Ian Wilson thanked all those members who have been available to support the collections.

o Ian advised that takings for each day (especially the High Street collection) were somewhat down on last year and again commented that more could have been made of Card payments if more members were able to use the Zettle App.

o Final takings will be advised once the collection dates are completed.



Membership:

- No reports



Community / International:

- No report



Social:

- President David arranged a Whisky event on Wednesday 18th Dec - afternoon and evening. Using a private room, 8 Rotarians enjoyed some food, some beer (or lager for Mr Condie) and 6 or more drams. An excellent evening which, as time progressed got louder and louder, to the point when one of our more sober members closed the door. It is likely that this event will be repeated in future as well as the possibility of a whisky afternoon during the upcoming Gin-fest in May.



- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 70 tickets sold so far.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.





Speaker: Reverend Doctor MaryAnn Rennie – Christmas message

President David introduced our speaker.

MaryAnn gave us a brief history of her experience which culminated in her becoming Reverend for The Abbey in 2012.

MaryAnn thanked our Club for again organizing the Annual RMB Concert and told us it was one of the highlights of her year, enjoyed again this year.

MaryAnn then told us about the somewhat dire straits the Abbey finds itself in, with crumbling masonry in need of repair, higher costs all round and a more sectarian society; she expressed her fears that, at the current rate The Abbey could have to close it’s doors by 2027.

Maryann then went on to speak about and compare the fates of the two David’s cities:

- David of Judea who ruled from Bethlehem, a city being devastated in this war-torn part of the Middle East.

- David 1 of Scotland who ruled from Dunfermline, a city currently expanding and this year named as Scotland’s (and the UK’s) newest city.

- A sobering message.

VOT. Noel McKenna delivered our Vote of Thanks



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 9 January 2025.

Members:

Guest: Speaker James Pettigrew - Mission Aviation Fellowship – humanitarian aid operator



TFTD: Ian Morris.

- Ian’s first TFTD since his return from an extended holiday, he mused (in rhyme) on the fact that the world is still stuck with Donald Trump but regardless wished us all a successful 2025.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising. In Ian Wilson’s absence David presented a status on the Dec ‘24 collections

- High Street: £ 424.00 (£ 392 cash + £ 32 card)

- Tesco: £ 1,967 (£1,856 cash + £ 111 card)

- Overall total £ 2,391 (£2,248 cash + £ 143 card)



- Very similar to last year which was £ 2,032 but we had the extra Saturday this year that brought in £ 374



- Main point to note is that card payments have fallen over 3 years

o 2022 - £ 183

o 2023 - £ 176

o 2024 - £ 143



- I believe this is more a function of not having enough people able to use the Zettle machine or having the app on their phone rather than a reduction in the generosity of the public.



- So would like to consider 2 things:



o Use a Fellowship night to setup more “willing” members to have Zettle on their phone and knowing how to use it (this will also help for Thursday night meal payment rotas rather than David F having to always be present)



o Look into other ways we can quickly take card/phone payments from the public such as a QR code taking them to a just giving page.





- RMB Concert, final collections for this event to be advised upon the return of Brian Blanchflower.





Youth and Schools: Alan Condie advised the date for this year’s Primary School Quiz, Wednesday 19th March, to be held at TBA. Starting at TBA.



Membership:

- No reports



Community / International:

- No report



Social:

- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 74 tickets sold so far, still some seats available. Names to Jim Leggat if you’re interested.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.



- Monthly draw: December winners Ken Young (£50) and Mike Williams (£30). January draw to be announced at next meeting.





Speaker: James Pettigrew, Mission Aviation Fellowship – humanitarian aid operator.

James was introduced by Pres, David. James has had a multi-faceted career, including Open-top-bus Tour Guide, Police officer and Ordained Minister. James has been heavily involved in the Mission Aviation Foundation (MAF) for many years now and has come to tell us about a charity we have probably never heard of although we should all be familiar with the work they do.

Started in 1945 by two RAF pilots (both religious men) who had a desire to beat their swords (bomber aircraft) into ploughshares (rescue aircraft). Having seen the destruction wrought by aeroplanes in wartime they wanted to see the same used for peaceful means in peacetime.

Using small / light aircraft and exceptional pilots MAF are able to fly aid to very remote and inaccessible locations around the world. They can fly into a place with Medicines. Medical teams, Development aid, experts in engineering and reconstruction; and equally they can fly out people needing medical help elsewhere (“Medevac”).

Working with over 1,400 organizations (including the UN) MAF are able to keep this work going globally. In the past they provided the transportation that took Journalist Michael Burke into Ethiopia which resulted in the Band Aid efforts responding to the famine in that country.

MAF charges a nominal fee to either the organizations or the countries that request their services, however the majority of their funding for what can be a very expensive service comes from donations. Churches, charitable organizations, some Companies and some Government Organizations.

James took this opportunity to describe one of the key initiatives MAF is asked to support which is delivering eye surgery to people in remote areas; he gave the example that a donation as small as £17 would enable transporting a small medical team so that an eyesight-saving operation could be carried out. Clearly MAF would like to look to Rotary International to also contribute to the operations of this peaceful Air Force



VOT. Andrew Croxford delivered a fulsome VOT in which he praised the efforts of MAF as well as the presentation by James which told us a lot about something most of us were completely unaware of.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 9 January 2025.

Members:

Guest: Speaker James Pettigrew - Mission Aviation Fellowship – humanitarian aid operator



TFTD: Ian Morris.

- Ian’s first TFTD since his return from an extended holiday, he mused (in rhyme) on the fact that the world is still stuck with Donald Trump but regardless wished us all a successful 2025.



Business / Reports.

Fund raising. In Ian Wilson’s absence David presented a status on the Dec ‘24 collections

- High Street: £ 424.00 (£ 392 cash + £ 32 card)

- Tesco: £ 1,967 (£1,856 cash + £ 111 card)

- Overall total £ 2,391 (£2,248 cash + £ 143 card)



- Very similar to last year which was £ 2,032 but we had the extra Saturday this year that brought in £ 374



- Main point to note is that card payments have fallen over 3 years

o 2022 - £ 183

o 2023 - £ 176

o 2024 - £ 143



- I believe this is more a function of not having enough people able to use the Zettle machine or having the app on their phone rather than a reduction in the generosity of the public.



- So would like to consider 2 things:



o Use a Fellowship night to setup more “willing” members to have Zettle on their phone and knowing how to use it (this will also help for Thursday night meal payment rotas rather than David F having to always be present)



o Look into other ways we can quickly take card/phone payments from the public such as a QR code taking them to a just giving page.





- RMB Concert, final collections for this event to be advised upon the return of Brian Blanchflower.





Youth and Schools: Alan Condie advised the date for this year’s Primary School Quiz, Wednesday 19th March, to be held at TBA. Starting at TBA.



Membership:

- No reports



Community / International:

- No report



Social:

- Burns Supper at GHH on Thu 23 Jan 2025, £40pp, price includes a 2-course meal, a welcome drink, a dram for toasting the haggis, and some high-end Burns entertainment. 74 tickets sold so far, still some seats available. Names to Jim Leggat if you’re interested.



- Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 27th April (2025), event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Names and teams please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



- Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.



- Monthly draw: December winners Ken Young (£50) and Mike Williams (£30). January draw to be announced at next meeting.





Speaker: James Pettigrew, Mission Aviation Fellowship – humanitarian aid operator.

James was introduced by Pres, David. James has had a multi-faceted career, including Open-top-bus Tour Guide, Police officer and Ordained Minister. James has been heavily involved in the Mission Aviation Foundation (MAF) for many years now and has come to tell us about a charity we have probably never heard of although we should all be familiar with the work they do.

Started in 1945 by two RAF pilots (both religious men) who had a desire to beat their swords (bomber aircraft) into ploughshares (rescue aircraft). Having seen the destruction wrought by aeroplanes in wartime they wanted to see the same used for peaceful means in peacetime.

Using small / light aircraft and exceptional pilots MAF are able to fly aid to very remote and inaccessible locations around the world. They can fly into a place with Medicines. Medical teams, Development aid, experts in engineering and reconstruction; and equally they can fly out people needing medical help elsewhere (“Medevac”).

Working with over 1,400 organizations (including the UN) MAF are able to keep this work going globally. In the past they provided the transportation that took Journalist Michael Burke into Ethiopia which resulted in the Band Aid efforts responding to the famine in that country.

MAF charges a nominal fee to either the organizations or the countries that request their services, however the majority of their funding for what can be a very expensive service comes from donations. Churches, charitable organizations, some Companies and some Government Organizations.

James took this opportunity to describe one of the key initiatives MAF is asked to support which is delivering eye surgery to people in remote areas; he gave the example that a donation as small as £17 would enable transporting a small medical team so that an eyesight-saving operation could be carried out. Clearly MAF would like to look to Rotary International to also contribute to the operations of this peaceful Air Force



VOT. Andrew Croxford delivered a fulsome VOT in which he praised the efforts of MAF as well as the presentation by James which told us a lot about something most of us were completely unaware of.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 20 February 2025.

Members: 25

Guest: 14. Shona McRae Director of Rules for the “Royal and Ancient”

Ian Grieve (W. Fife), Jack Wardell, Rachel Hogg, Fiona Harrow, Ross Skinner,

Eric Spreng, Daryl Hutchison, Tim Richmond, Robyn Caldow, Henry Murray,

Brian Robb, Andrew Gordon, Craig Smith.



TFTD: Keith Mc Farlane.

Keith Remembered dearly departed Charlie Downie, an active and enthusiastic RC member for over 47 years, whose funeral took place this week,

Keith went on to give us a few golf-related quotes, in keeping with this evening’s speaker:

“…it’s called golf because all the other four-letter-words were used up…” (Raymond Floyd)

“…I like Golf, I just don’t like playing it…” (George Carlin)

“…Golf was invented by a race that thinks music comes out of bagpipes…” (Lee Trevino)

“…Golf is a game that needlessly prolongs the lives of useless Citizens…” (Bob Hope)

“…I win at Golf… I WIN AT GOLF…” (Donald Trump)





Business / Reports.

Fund raising.

1. Gin Fest scheduled for 16/17 May with a Whisky afternoon on Saturday 17th.

Tickets go on sale week commencing 24 February. Early bird tickets £20pp then £25pp thereafter.

As usual members are requested for supporting this key fund-raising event, as well as the set up-period before and the tear-down period afterwards. Names please to Ralph McCran.



2. Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 29 April, event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Price £30 for Club members and £50 for non-members. Names and teams for this great fund-raiser please to SVP Ronnie Pook.





Youth and Schools:

1. Primary Schools quiz scheduled for 19 March; Alan Condie has some willing support for the quiz but is looking for some more members to get involved, names please to Alan Condie.

2. Young Musician / Writer / Photographer / Etc. competition details being put in place, more to follow from Alan.



Membership: No reports

Community / International: No report



Social:

1. Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.

2. Gavel competition, next meeting with RC of Anstruther on Monday 10 March. Venue in Anstruther and team TBA (Keith McFarlane).





Speaker: Shona McRae R&A on her career and route to her current role leading the R&A.

Graduating in Edinburgh with a BA in Commerce, Shona took a job at Gleneagles Hotel working at the Golf Club. Intended as a short-term role, Shona ended up staying at Gleneagles for 4 years as Trainee Manager of Golf operations.

Shona then went to Emirates Golf Club in Dubai where she performed much the same role of Management of Golf Operations. Coming from Fife (the home of Golf), the locals assumed Shona was an expert on the rules of Golf, so she decided to become one as well as develop her Refereeing skills.

After 7 years Shona returned to Scotland with a view to taking a break from Golf, returning to her hometown of Cupar. However, within six weeks of coming back she was approached by the R&A and hired to work with the Rules committee.

Fast forward to today and Shona is now Director of Rules for the R&A, the ruling body for golf worldwide. Shona manages the committee that writes and reviews the rules for Golf that are used on every course and in every competition around the world.

A lot of the committee’s work is to continually review and update the rules to keep them relevant. The committee includes 24 representatives from clubs and associations around the world, they meet 3 times each year to discuss and agree what changes (if any) are needed; the rule book is updated every 4 years.

The rule book itself is a modest tome, dwarfed by the guidance and application notes that accompany it.

The reason for this is that, unlike most sports which are played on a regulated and pre-specified court / ground / diamond / field / track / pool / course / etc., every golf Club is different from every other one. Additionally individual Golf Courses change through the seasons, so even “the same Golf Course” isn’t always the same.

Consequently, the rules for the game need to be able accommodate all these variations.

In addition to Chairing the Rules Committee Shona will often find herself on the refereeing team for major Golfing events, this role has taken her around the world and had her officiating at Masters, Open, Solheim Cup, Championships and even The Olympic Games.

Shona is also involved in teaching and training referee skills to other clubs and organizations who then go on to teach others.

Shona has been fortunate enough to have a major role in a sport she loves and continues to challenge herself on the course as well as on the committee.

Shona asked for any questions… she really didn’t need to ask and could have still been answering questions the next morning.



VOT. Ronnie Pook. SVP Ronnie delivered a well thought out vote of thanks.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 20 February 2025.

Members: 25

Guest: 14. Shona McRae Director of Rules for the “Royal and Ancient”

Ian Grieve (W. Fife), Jack Wardell, Rachel Hogg, Fiona Harrow, Ross Skinner,

Eric Spreng, Daryl Hutchison, Tim Richmond, Robyn Caldow, Henry Murray,

Brian Robb, Andrew Gordon, Craig Smith.



TFTD: Keith Mc Farlane.

Keith Remembered dearly departed Charlie Downie, an active and enthusiastic RC member for over 47 years, whose funeral took place this week,

Keith went on to give us a few golf-related quotes, in keeping with this evening’s speaker:

“…it’s called golf because all the other four-letter-words were used up…” (Raymond Floyd)

“…I like Golf, I just don’t like playing it…” (George Carlin)

“…Golf was invented by a race that thinks music comes out of bagpipes…” (Lee Trevino)

“…Golf is a game that needlessly prolongs the lives of useless Citizens…” (Bob Hope)

“…I win at Golf… I WIN AT GOLF…” (Donald Trump)





Business / Reports.

Fund raising.

1. Gin Fest scheduled for 16/17 May with a Whisky afternoon on Saturday 17th.

Tickets go on sale week commencing 24 February. Early bird tickets £20pp then £25pp thereafter.

As usual members are requested for supporting this key fund-raising event, as well as the set up-period before and the tear-down period afterwards. Names please to Ralph McCran.



2. Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 29 April, event is open to all members, it will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams. Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane. Price £30 for Club members and £50 for non-members. Names and teams for this great fund-raiser please to SVP Ronnie Pook.





Youth and Schools:

1. Primary Schools quiz scheduled for 19 March; Alan Condie has some willing support for the quiz but is looking for some more members to get involved, names please to Alan Condie.

2. Young Musician / Writer / Photographer / Etc. competition details being put in place, more to follow from Alan.



Membership: No reports

Community / International: No report



Social:

1. Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.

2. Gavel competition, next meeting with RC of Anstruther on Monday 10 March. Venue in Anstruther and team TBA (Keith McFarlane).





Speaker: Shona McRae R&A on her career and route to her current role leading the R&A.

Graduating in Edinburgh with a BA in Commerce, Shona took a job at Gleneagles Hotel working at the Golf Club. Intended as a short-term role, Shona ended up staying at Gleneagles for 4 years as Trainee Manager of Golf operations.

Shona then went to Emirates Golf Club in Dubai where she performed much the same role of Management of Golf Operations. Coming from Fife (the home of Golf), the locals assumed Shona was an expert on the rules of Golf, so she decided to become one as well as develop her Refereeing skills.

After 7 years Shona returned to Scotland with a view to taking a break from Golf, returning to her hometown of Cupar. However, within six weeks of coming back she was approached by the R&A and hired to work with the Rules committee.

Fast forward to today and Shona is now Director of Rules for the R&A, the ruling body for golf worldwide. Shona manages the committee that writes and reviews the rules for Golf that are used on every course and in every competition around the world.

A lot of the committee’s work is to continually review and update the rules to keep them relevant. The committee includes 24 representatives from clubs and associations around the world, they meet 3 times each year to discuss and agree what changes (if any) are needed; the rule book is updated every 4 years.

The rule book itself is a modest tome, dwarfed by the guidance and application notes that accompany it.

The reason for this is that, unlike most sports which are played on a regulated and pre-specified court / ground / diamond / field / track / pool / course / etc., every golf Club is different from every other one. Additionally individual Golf Courses change through the seasons, so even “the same Golf Course” isn’t always the same.

Consequently, the rules for the game need to be able accommodate all these variations.

In addition to Chairing the Rules Committee Shona will often find herself on the refereeing team for major Golfing events, this role has taken her around the world and had her officiating at Masters, Open, Solheim Cup, Championships and even The Olympic Games.

Shona is also involved in teaching and training referee skills to other clubs and organizations who then go on to teach others.

Shona has been fortunate enough to have a major role in a sport she loves and continues to challenge herself on the course as well as on the committee.

Shona asked for any questions… she really didn’t need to ask and could have still been answering questions the next morning.



VOT. Ronnie Pook. SVP Ronnie delivered a well thought out vote of thanks.

Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 6th March 2025.

Members: 18

Guest: 6



Fellowship and business meeting followed by a Whisky Tasting courtesy Pres. David Walker



TFTD: Sean reflected on the original Gaelic for Whisky: Uisge Beatha (Irish Gaelic: Uisce Beatha) which translates as “The Water of Life”, and wondered about what would be “The Food of Life” to go with it? Chocolate, chips, cheese? Sean concluded that the Food of Life that goes best with the Water of Life is Good Company.





Business / Reports.



1. Gin Fest

· Ralph reiterated last week’s message regarding preparations for the Gin Fest (albeit in a shortened form with fewer Celtic Football Club references.

Gin Fest scheduled for 16/17 May with a Whisky afternoon on Saturday 17; more to follow on this, plenty of interest among whisky lovers and with Dunfermline Whisky club very keen to run the whole event.

· Tickets are now on sale – 17 sold so far.

· Early bird tickets £20pp then £25pp thereafter.

· Ralph gave members an update on the revamped website which is much more than just a refresh.

· The updated website which now boasts a modern design with mobile responsiveness and which features

· An online gin guide, which lists every gin and drink complete with detailed descriptions. Perfect for helping to choose the next drink.

· The ability to create your own personalized drink list on your phone so no need to fold pages in the paper booklet

· The random Gin Selector. Each time you scan the QR code or refresh the page, the system will randomly select a gin for you to try

· Previous years have raised almost £60,000 for mainly local charities, with over 2,500 people attending over the four- year period.

· Ticket details available on dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk



2. Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 29 April, event is open to all members.



· This will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams.

· Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane.

· Price £30 for Club members and £50 for non-members.

· 18 Teams formed and named so far, first payments received, room for two more teams.

· Names and teams for this great fund-raiser please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



3. Gleneagles golf day scheduled for 14 April; 4 players named.



4. There is an area meeting scheduled for Sunday 30 March in Aberdeen, any members interested in attending this should provide names to Pres David and Sec Neil so they can be registered for the day.



5. 90th Birthday card for Alastair Brown was signed and handed to Alastair, gratefully received.



6. Ian Wilson was unable to attend the whisky tasting as he was in Hospital being fitted with a new knee. The procedure was very successful, and Ian is expected to make a full recovery. Update: Ian is due to be discharged from Hospital sometime Saturday afternoon.



7. The next round of this year’s Gavel Challenge is to be played out on Monday 10 March in Anstruther; SVP Ronnie will send out details of venue and transportation prior to the event.



8. Youth and Schools:

· Primary Schools quiz scheduled for 19 March; Alan Condie has some willing support for the quiz but is looking for some more members to get involved, names please to Alan Condie.

· Young Musician / Writer / Photographer / Etc. competition well under way with over 200 entries received and now judged by Alan Condie and President David. Our winners go forward to be judged against other winners from the other Dunfermline clubs



9. Other:

· Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.

· John Sim has arranged a visit to the RNLI lifeboat station at Anstruther on Thursday 5 June. This means that the AGM which was scheduled for that date will now be rescheduled to the 12 June and combined with the Ginfest washup meeting on that date.

· Kids Out date is Tuesday 10th June at the deer centre





Member Event – Whisky tasting – officiated BY Pres David.

This year’s whisky tasting (one of the club’s more popular events) was organised and managed by David with his usual flair and enthusiasm for the spirit.

For those members taking part, David provided us with 4 bottles from the Scottish Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) and one “unusual” bottle provided by West Fife Member and retired Master Blender Ian Grieve.

In the usual format a small shot glass of each whisky was provided for the room to nose, taste, add water, then nose again, then taste (or neck it down).

David started off with a brief description of the SMWS and what they do, he then described the whiskies: one Highland, three Speysides and something called “Manx spirit”.



Members were asked to enjoy the whiskies and rate them from best to worst.



There was general agreement that the 4 SMWS bottlings were all good, and perhaps predictably it was the dearest bottle that won the day.

This was a Grant-on-Spey 17 yo 54% abv spirit from the oldest distillery in Scotland. This whisky had been matured in wine casks then finished in Sherry casks to give a more amber colour. The taste was of dried fruits and Christmas cake although there was a lot of other bo11ocks written on the label too.



Something should also be said about the least popular whisky of the evening, which cannot even be called whisky. The Manx Malt or Manx spirit started life as a blended Scotch Whisky that was then redistilled to produce a clear and largely tasteless spirit at 40% abv.

Most members who commented on it described it as being like a new-make spirit that hadn’t seen the inside of a cask. No-one was keen.



As one would expect, as the evening wore on and the whiskies were enjoyed, the volume increased, and the laughter redoubled. At the start of the evening there looked to be a modest amount of each whisky still in the bottles, but mysteriously this had vanished by the time we were asked to vacate the hotel by the Staff.



All in all, an excellent evening and great reason to keep this as regular fixture on the Rotary calendar. Again thanks to Pres. David for organizing and running the event.



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 6th March 2025.

Members: 18

Guest: 6



Fellowship and business meeting followed by a Whisky Tasting courtesy Pres. David Walker



TFTD: Sean reflected on the original Gaelic for Whisky: Uisge Beatha (Irish Gaelic: Uisce Beatha) which translates as “The Water of Life”, and wondered about what would be “The Food of Life” to go with it? Chocolate, chips, cheese? Sean concluded that the Food of Life that goes best with the Water of Life is Good Company.





Business / Reports.



1. Gin Fest

· Ralph reiterated last week’s message regarding preparations for the Gin Fest (albeit in a shortened form with fewer Celtic Football Club references.

Gin Fest scheduled for 16/17 May with a Whisky afternoon on Saturday 17; more to follow on this, plenty of interest among whisky lovers and with Dunfermline Whisky club very keen to run the whole event.

· Tickets are now on sale – 17 sold so far.

· Early bird tickets £20pp then £25pp thereafter.

· Ralph gave members an update on the revamped website which is much more than just a refresh.

· The updated website which now boasts a modern design with mobile responsiveness and which features

· An online gin guide, which lists every gin and drink complete with detailed descriptions. Perfect for helping to choose the next drink.

· The ability to create your own personalized drink list on your phone so no need to fold pages in the paper booklet

· The random Gin Selector. Each time you scan the QR code or refresh the page, the system will randomly select a gin for you to try

· Previous years have raised almost £60,000 for mainly local charities, with over 2,500 people attending over the four- year period.

· Ticket details available on dunfermlineginfestival.co.uk



2. Golf Day 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday 29 April, event is open to all members.



· This will be a scramble event with teams of 4, maximum 20 teams.

· Venue is Dunfermline Golf Club Pitfirrane.

· Price £30 for Club members and £50 for non-members.

· 18 Teams formed and named so far, first payments received, room for two more teams.

· Names and teams for this great fund-raiser please to SVP Ronnie Pook.



3. Gleneagles golf day scheduled for 14 April; 4 players named.



4. There is an area meeting scheduled for Sunday 30 March in Aberdeen, any members interested in attending this should provide names to Pres David and Sec Neil so they can be registered for the day.



5. 90th Birthday card for Alastair Brown was signed and handed to Alastair, gratefully received.



6. Ian Wilson was unable to attend the whisky tasting as he was in Hospital being fitted with a new knee. The procedure was very successful, and Ian is expected to make a full recovery. Update: Ian is due to be discharged from Hospital sometime Saturday afternoon.



7. The next round of this year’s Gavel Challenge is to be played out on Monday 10 March in Anstruther; SVP Ronnie will send out details of venue and transportation prior to the event.



8. Youth and Schools:

· Primary Schools quiz scheduled for 19 March; Alan Condie has some willing support for the quiz but is looking for some more members to get involved, names please to Alan Condie.

· Young Musician / Writer / Photographer / Etc. competition well under way with over 200 entries received and now judged by Alan Condie and President David. Our winners go forward to be judged against other winners from the other Dunfermline clubs



9. Other:

· Annual Golf Competition scheduled for Tuesday 10th June (2025); RC of Dunfermline Vs. RC of Edinburgh, venue is Bruntsfield Links Edinburgh. Names please to Keith McFarlane.

· John Sim has arranged a visit to the RNLI lifeboat station at Anstruther on Thursday 5 June. This means that the AGM which was scheduled for that date will now be rescheduled to the 12 June and combined with the Ginfest washup meeting on that date.

· Kids Out date is Tuesday 10th June at the deer centre





Member Event – Whisky tasting – officiated BY Pres David.

This year’s whisky tasting (one of the club’s more popular events) was organised and managed by David with his usual flair and enthusiasm for the spirit.

For those members taking part, David provided us with 4 bottles from the Scottish Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) and one “unusual” bottle provided by West Fife Member and retired Master Blender Ian Grieve.

In the usual format a small shot glass of each whisky was provided for the room to nose, taste, add water, then nose again, then taste (or neck it down).

David started off with a brief description of the SMWS and what they do, he then described the whiskies: one Highland, three Speysides and something called “Manx spirit”.



Members were asked to enjoy the whiskies and rate them from best to worst.



There was general agreement that the 4 SMWS bottlings were all good, and perhaps predictably it was the dearest bottle that won the day.

This was a Grant-on-Spey 17 yo 54% abv spirit from the oldest distillery in Scotland. This whisky had been matured in wine casks then finished in Sherry casks to give a more amber colour. The taste was of dried fruits and Christmas cake although there was a lot of other bo11ocks written on the label too.



Something should also be said about the least popular whisky of the evening, which cannot even be called whisky. The Manx Malt or Manx spirit started life as a blended Scotch Whisky that was then redistilled to produce a clear and largely tasteless spirit at 40% abv.

Most members who commented on it described it as being like a new-make spirit that hadn’t seen the inside of a cask. No-one was keen.



As one would expect, as the evening wore on and the whiskies were enjoyed, the volume increased, and the laughter redoubled. At the start of the evening there looked to be a modest amount of each whisky still in the bottles, but mysteriously this had vanished by the time we were asked to vacate the hotel by the Staff.



All in all, an excellent evening and great reason to keep this as regular fixture on the Rotary calendar. Again thanks to Pres. David for organizing and running the event.



otary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 20th March 2025.



Members: 25

Guest: 11

DHS: Lucy Beattie & Alisdair Chamberlain

QAHS: Charlotte Gray & Emma Russell with Staff Angela Robertson

St. CHS: Chloe Crielly & Emma Tait with Staff Wendy Bricall

WHS: Jessica Hunter & Matthew I’Anson with Staff Sandy Mcintosh



High Schools Boy/Girl Captains Awards





President David opened the meeting and welcomed eleven Guests & 25 Members to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ralph McCran.

Ralph started out by thanking Pres. David for the opportunity to offer a TFTD for the 8 School Captains present; offering, as he does, the youthful face of the club…



Ralph was keen to show the students that anything was possible for their future, that there is a wealth of career options & opportunities out there, by listing the careers of all our Club members, the list was extensive and included:



Lawyer, Accountant, Banker, Turf Accountant, Media Consultant, Insurance Assessor, Tourism Businessman, Builder, Engineer, Manufacturer, Project Manager, Computer Software and Hardware Engineering… and quite a few more.



The sky is the limit for these young people who just starting out in life and the Club was keen to encourage them to find what they loved and make a success of it.



Ralph finished by describing the career arc of our speaker from last week, Sir Ian Livingston, this is what can be achieved.



Ralph’s concluding remarks were somewhat interrupted by the serving of dinner, which proved to be another success for GHH kitchens.





Business / Reports:

1. Primary School Quiz

· Fmr. Pres. Alan Condie reported on the PS quiz which took place Wednesday 19th March. five local Primary schools took part and were well represented by both teachers and parents.

· A tight competition throughout, Commercial were the eventual winners on 49/60, beating runners-up Maclaine by one point.

· Having organized the event Alan offered his thanks to all those members who provided help on the day.



2. Pres. David advised the club of a £500 donation agreed by Council to QMH Hospice Community Garden. General agreement to this from the Club.



Rotary awards for Local High School Captains

· The eight High School Students – School Captains for the year - each gave a short talk about their experiences and achievements over the last year of their school life, as well as a look forward to what they will go on to do next.



· All eight School Captains spoke briefly, concisely and well; the room was impressed with their clarity, confidence and great good humour.



· From the adversity of Covid and learning on-line, through the destruction by fire of one High School and the subsequent dispersal of classes to other venues across Dunfermline, through to the movement of two major High Schools into one new bespoke campus. These students have seen their fair share of tumult.



· Nevertheless, they all spoke less of their impressive academic achievements and more of their social and personal development.



· Many were involved in mentoring younger students, with community projects within and outwith their schools. All participated in the annual Remembrance services and observances.



· Common threads from them all was a sense of greater self-confidence and doing things they wouldn’t have expected to EG:

o Public Speaking,

o Touring the Head of Scottish Education

o Greeting and hosting our First Minister.



· Some of them worked with Primary School classes (P7) helping prepare them for the transition to High School, others worked with and mentored S1 and S2 students to ensure they got the best start to their HS career.



· Some of them were involved in programs to minimise bullying and domestic violence at school, while others worked with The Army (at Napier University) on violence awareness and prevention.



· The list could go on…



· Pres. David gave each of the 8 students their customary award, then thanked them for coming and representing their schools so well.

· Returning to the theme of careers the eight students finished each of their speeches with a comment on what they were going to do next:

o Acting and Drama

o Midwifery

o Music and the Performing Arts

o Medicine

o Business management and Marketing

o Mathematics & Statistics

o Law

o Travel and Hospitality



VOT: The vote of thanks was given by Andrew Watson



President David then brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.





otary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting

Thursday 20th March 2025.



Members: 25

Guest: 11

DHS: Lucy Beattie & Alisdair Chamberlain

QAHS: Charlotte Gray & Emma Russell with Staff Angela Robertson

St. CHS: Chloe Crielly & Emma Tait with Staff Wendy Bricall

WHS: Jessica Hunter & Matthew I’Anson with Staff Sandy Mcintosh



High Schools Boy/Girl Captains Awards





President David opened the meeting and welcomed eleven Guests & 25 Members to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ralph McCran.

Ralph started out by thanking Pres. David for the opportunity to offer a TFTD for the 8 School Captains present; offering, as he does, the youthful face of the club…



Ralph was keen to show the students that anything was possible for their future, that there is a wealth of career options & opportunities out there, by listing the careers of all our Club members, the list was extensive and included:



Lawyer, Accountant, Banker, Turf Accountant, Media Consultant, Insurance Assessor, Tourism Businessman, Builder, Engineer, Manufacturer, Project Manager, Computer Software and Hardware Engineering… and quite a few more.



The sky is the limit for these young people who just starting out in life and the Club was keen to encourage them to find what they loved and make a success of it.



Ralph finished by describing the career arc of our speaker from last week, Sir Ian Livingston, this is what can be achieved.



Ralph’s concluding remarks were somewhat interrupted by the serving of dinner, which proved to be another success for GHH kitchens.





Business / Reports:

1. Primary School Quiz

· Fmr. Pres. Alan Condie reported on the PS quiz which took place Wednesday 19th March. five local Primary schools took part and were well represented by both teachers and parents.

· A tight competition throughout, Commercial were the eventual winners on 49/60, beating runners-up Maclaine by one point.

· Having organized the event Alan offered his thanks to all those members who provided help on the day.



2. Pres. David advised the club of a £500 donation agreed by Council to QMH Hospice Community Garden. General agreement to this from the Club.



Rotary awards for Local High School Captains

· The eight High School Students – School Captains for the year - each gave a short talk about their experiences and achievements over the last year of their school life, as well as a look forward to what they will go on to do next.



· All eight School Captains spoke briefly, concisely and well; the room was impressed with their clarity, confidence and great good humour.



· From the adversity of Covid and learning on-line, through the destruction by fire of one High School and the subsequent dispersal of classes to other venues across Dunfermline, through to the movement of two major High Schools into one new bespoke campus. These students have seen their fair share of tumult.



· Nevertheless, they all spoke less of their impressive academic achievements and more of their social and personal development.



· Many were involved in mentoring younger students, with community projects within and outwith their schools. All participated in the annual Remembrance services and observances.



· Common threads from them all was a sense of greater self-confidence and doing things they wouldn’t have expected to EG:

o Public Speaking,

o Touring the Head of Scottish Education

o Greeting and hosting our First Minister.



· Some of them worked with Primary School classes (P7) helping prepare them for the transition to High School, others worked with and mentored S1 and S2 students to ensure they got the best start to their HS career.



· Some of them were involved in programs to minimise bullying and domestic violence at school, while others worked with The Army (at Napier University) on violence awareness and prevention.



· The list could go on…



· Pres. David gave each of the 8 students their customary award, then thanked them for coming and representing their schools so well.

· Returning to the theme of careers the eight students finished each of their speeches with a comment on what they were going to do next:

o Acting and Drama

o Midwifery

o Music and the Performing Arts

o Medicine

o Business management and Marketing

o Mathematics & Statistics

o Law

o Travel and Hospitality



VOT: The vote of thanks was given by Andrew Watson



President David then brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 27th March 2025.



Members: 16







President David opened the meeting and welcomed 16 Members to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Keith McFarlane. Keith bumped into Alistair Brown, who recently celebrated his 90th Birthday, Keith gave us a few notes from their conversation.

A keen life-long golfer Alistair has recently paid his annual golf membership only to be told by his doctor that he has to stop playing. So now a fully paid up playing member who can’t play, Alistair enquired about getting his fees back, only to be told there’s “nae refunds”.



A keen Mercedes Customer, Alistair has owned seven Mercs in a row over the years however they were becoming awkward to drive so he has downsized to a FIAT Cinquecento: “at least they are easier to park”. If he knows what FIAT is an acronym for he’ll have a good AA Membership (Fix It Again Toni).



Keith concluded that Alistair looked well and was in good form.



In his years with Rotary, Alistair has been a Club President, a District Governor, a Gavel Coordinator and a Paul Harris Fellow. A great example to all our members.

I understand he even reads these minutes occasionally; (hope they don’t put you to sleep like they do some of the others...)





Following Keith’s TFTD Dinner was served (after we’d helped ourselves to the bread…)





Business / Reports:

1. SVP Ronnie Fun Golf on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. This is a fun event for Members and Partners, golfing skills are not necessary. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. Names to SVP Ronnie.



2. Planning for a new event on Friday 4th July – a couples’ evening jazz dinner on Maid Of The Forth. At this time SVP Ronnie was canvassing for rough numbers, many members present interested; more to follow.





3. Charity Golf event on 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 17 teams of 4 have registered with room for three more teams. SVP Ronnie is looking to keep one team of 4 in reserve for individual Members who want to pull together a scratch “nae-pals” team. The day will include the usual golf competition plus Lucky dip prize draw, Beat the Pro, Longest Drive etc. As before, names please to SVP Ronnie or to Keith McF.



4. African Projects. David Chalmers gave us an update on this year’s international project as part of the “saving lives” initiative. The Raising Futures project in Kenya aims to use our donations to fund Counselling Sessions for Vulnerable Youngsters who, without help, are fuelling a high suicide rate. To fund 670 sessions in 2025 will cost around £3,350. Rotary Dunfermline have set aside £1,675 to fund the first half of the year but by donating this early on in 2025 the other half year was funded externally. This has enabled the full 670 Counselling Sessions to be funded for 2025. So far 540 Counselling sessions have been registered / booked with 170 of them already taking place. This enabled David to segue into last year’s project in which our club funded the conversion of two 40’ containers into offices to establish a local business hub; this hub is expanding and proving very successful as an incubator for new small businesses.





5. A slightly overdue Long Service Award (2024 – 25 years) was presented to Gerry Gillespie.



6. The program for Thursday 29th May will be changed. Currently Dusty Miller was scheduled to come back to the club for another speaker’s date; however eight of the club’s members including past presidents, current president and future presidents will be in Portugal playing golf. It was agreed that Dusty’s talk will be postponed to a later date. Pres. David and his team will consider what to do about the meeting on 29th May.





7. Gin Fest. Planning and ticket sales for the Gin Fest continues apace, 75 tickets sold so far. Ralph McCran & John Sim have both requested volunteers to help with setting up the venue on Thu 15 and Fri 16 May, with manning the event itself on Fri 16 and Sat 17 May evenings, and with clear down of the venue on Sun 18 May. All members are encouraged to support this major fund-raiser, so please get your names and chosen support dates to Ralph and John by email or SMS As Soon As Possible.

· Please note all bar staff serving drinks must have completed the 2-hour training course (details from John and Ralph)

· Please note all Bar staff may not consume any alcohol when they are working the bar, it’s a teetotal night for anyone serving alcohol.

· For the first time the Saturday afternoon (17th May) will feature a Whisky Afternoon hosted by Dunfermline Whisky Club, some members may wish to support this but again are requested to not partake of alcohol if they are planning to support the evening Gin Fest.



8. Pres. David is close to completing the latest Rotary Newsletter, this will be published in the very near future.



9. The Monthly Draw was announced: Jim Leggat won £50 and Pres. David won £30.





10. Pres. David announced that we have seen a good number of press articles about Rotary this year. The latest of these being this year’s High School Captain awards, and our first Community Award, this year to Jim Feenan for his work with the elderly on safe standing / safe falling.





President David then brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 27th March 2025.



Members: 16







President David opened the meeting and welcomed 16 Members to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Keith McFarlane. Keith bumped into Alistair Brown, who recently celebrated his 90th Birthday, Keith gave us a few notes from their conversation.

A keen life-long golfer Alistair has recently paid his annual golf membership only to be told by his doctor that he has to stop playing. So now a fully paid up playing member who can’t play, Alistair enquired about getting his fees back, only to be told there’s “nae refunds”.



A keen Mercedes Customer, Alistair has owned seven Mercs in a row over the years however they were becoming awkward to drive so he has downsized to a FIAT Cinquecento: “at least they are easier to park”. If he knows what FIAT is an acronym for he’ll have a good AA Membership (Fix It Again Toni).



Keith concluded that Alistair looked well and was in good form.



In his years with Rotary, Alistair has been a Club President, a District Governor, a Gavel Coordinator and a Paul Harris Fellow. A great example to all our members.

I understand he even reads these minutes occasionally; (hope they don’t put you to sleep like they do some of the others...)





Following Keith’s TFTD Dinner was served (after we’d helped ourselves to the bread…)





Business / Reports:

1. SVP Ronnie Fun Golf on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. This is a fun event for Members and Partners, golfing skills are not necessary. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. Names to SVP Ronnie.



2. Planning for a new event on Friday 4th July – a couples’ evening jazz dinner on Maid Of The Forth. At this time SVP Ronnie was canvassing for rough numbers, many members present interested; more to follow.





3. Charity Golf event on 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 17 teams of 4 have registered with room for three more teams. SVP Ronnie is looking to keep one team of 4 in reserve for individual Members who want to pull together a scratch “nae-pals” team. The day will include the usual golf competition plus Lucky dip prize draw, Beat the Pro, Longest Drive etc. As before, names please to SVP Ronnie or to Keith McF.



4. African Projects. David Chalmers gave us an update on this year’s international project as part of the “saving lives” initiative. The Raising Futures project in Kenya aims to use our donations to fund Counselling Sessions for Vulnerable Youngsters who, without help, are fuelling a high suicide rate. To fund 670 sessions in 2025 will cost around £3,350. Rotary Dunfermline have set aside £1,675 to fund the first half of the year but by donating this early on in 2025 the other half year was funded externally. This has enabled the full 670 Counselling Sessions to be funded for 2025. So far 540 Counselling sessions have been registered / booked with 170 of them already taking place. This enabled David to segue into last year’s project in which our club funded the conversion of two 40’ containers into offices to establish a local business hub; this hub is expanding and proving very successful as an incubator for new small businesses.





5. A slightly overdue Long Service Award (2024 – 25 years) was presented to Gerry Gillespie.



6. The program for Thursday 29th May will be changed. Currently Dusty Miller was scheduled to come back to the club for another speaker’s date; however eight of the club’s members including past presidents, current president and future presidents will be in Portugal playing golf. It was agreed that Dusty’s talk will be postponed to a later date. Pres. David and his team will consider what to do about the meeting on 29th May.





7. Gin Fest. Planning and ticket sales for the Gin Fest continues apace, 75 tickets sold so far. Ralph McCran & John Sim have both requested volunteers to help with setting up the venue on Thu 15 and Fri 16 May, with manning the event itself on Fri 16 and Sat 17 May evenings, and with clear down of the venue on Sun 18 May. All members are encouraged to support this major fund-raiser, so please get your names and chosen support dates to Ralph and John by email or SMS As Soon As Possible.

· Please note all bar staff serving drinks must have completed the 2-hour training course (details from John and Ralph)

· Please note all Bar staff may not consume any alcohol when they are working the bar, it’s a teetotal night for anyone serving alcohol.

· For the first time the Saturday afternoon (17th May) will feature a Whisky Afternoon hosted by Dunfermline Whisky Club, some members may wish to support this but again are requested to not partake of alcohol if they are planning to support the evening Gin Fest.



8. Pres. David is close to completing the latest Rotary Newsletter, this will be published in the very near future.



9. The Monthly Draw was announced: Jim Leggat won £50 and Pres. David won £30.





10. Pres. David announced that we have seen a good number of press articles about Rotary this year. The latest of these being this year’s High School Captain awards, and our first Community Award, this year to Jim Feenan for his work with the elderly on safe standing / safe falling.





President David then brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 3rd April 2025.



Members: 22

Guests: 2. Jim Cook & Penny Leggat: SSAFA Armed Forces Charity Presentation



President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members and Guests to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ian Morris. Back from his extensive tour of Spain (this time) Ian delivered his TFTD in his customary iambic pentameter.

Ian started off by saying how pleased he was to be back in the UK, away from all that annoying sunshine and mid-20’s temperatures. Due to his extensive leave Ian was a bit out of touch with local affairs but noted The US President’s ongoing impact on world affairs, apart from his promise to stop the Russian war in Ukraine. Ian mentioned King Charles’ relapse and brief return to hospital; and finally the advent of Neil Lennon becoming The Pars’ new manager, and the requirement for the team to now have fish on a Friday.







Business / Reports:

1. SVP Ronnie “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. This is a fun event for Members and Partners, golfing skills are not necessary. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. Names to SVP Ronnie.



2. A new social event set for Friday 4th July – a couples’ evening jazz/folk dinner on Maid of the Forth. SVP Ronnie has firmed up the date and event and is now asking members for their interest. This event will be open to partners and friends with an expected cost £37.50pp. Namers please SVP Ronnie if you are interested.





3. Charity Golf event on 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 16 teams of 4 have registered with room for 4 more teams. SVP Ronnie is looking to keep one team of 4 in reserve for individual Members who want to pull together a scratch team. The day will include the usual golf competition plus Lucky dip prize draw, Beat the Pro, Longest Drive etc. As before, names please to SVP Ronnie or to Keith McF.





4. Gin Fest. Planning and ticket sales for the Gin Fest continues apace, tickets sales are going well. Ralph McCran & John Sim have both requested volunteers to help with setting up the venue on Thu 15 and Fri 16 May, with manning the event itself on Fri 16 and Sat 17 May evenings, and with clear down of the venue on Sun 18 May. All members are encouraged to support this major fund-raiser, so please get your names and chosen support dates to Ralph and John by email or SMS As Soon As Possible.

· A Rotary Stall will be set up and manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April, this will be to advertise the Gin Fest, hand out flyers, publicise Rotary in Dunfermline (membership drive) and hopefully to sell a few Gin Fest tickets.

· Two ads have been placed in the Dunfermline Press

· Members are asked to use any WhatsApp groups they are part of to further publicise the event.



5. SVP Ronnie gave the Members an update on his recent completion of the President-Elect training (6 hours).

· Ronnie enjoyed the online training and learned a great deal.

· This was followed up by a meeting that Ronnie and Pre. David at The City Hotel with ADG Brian Mitchell and PE’s from other local clubs about their forthcoming year.

· Ronnie noted the wide variety of Club formats, memberships, sizes and how they conduct their meetings and business. But regardless of the differences between clubs, the priorities of supporting the local community and growing membership are constant and consistent.







Speaker(s): Jim Cook (RAF and Penny Leggat (Army).

SSAFA Armed Forces Charity Presentation



Penny (better half of our own Jim Leggat) kicked off the presentation with a description of who and what SSAFA is and does, their history and continued relevance after 140 years.



The Sailors, Soldiers, Airforce personnel (Airmen) and Families Association. Despite its venerable age SSAFA is little known outside of the Forces themselves, although their volunteers have been supporting Forces Veterans and their families for 140 years (1885) throughout peacetime as well as, prominently, during times of conflict.

SSAFA volunteers have supported Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen during:



Indian “Emergency” 1880’s

World War 1 1914-18

World War 2 1939-45

Korean War 1950-53

Suez “Emergency” 1956

Falklands War 1982

Gulf War 1990-91

Gulf War – the Sequel 2002

Afghanistan 2001-21







Although having a lower public profile, SSAFA precedes both The British Legion and the Earl Haig fund as well as other Forces’ charities; their royal patronage has lasted from Victorian times up to today’s patron – King Charles III.



SSAFA has volunteers in every part of the British Commonwealth supporting Veterans.





SSAFA offers counselling and practical on-hand support to Veterans and their families for the long term; even after the Veteran has passed away SSAFA is able to offer ongoing support to the family if needed.



In 2023 over 53,000 veterans and families were supported by SSAFA but the need for funding and more volunteers can become a constraint so part of SSAFA’s mission is to grow awareness of the charity.



Penny then took us through SSAFA’s aims, mission and vision statements and ended with a call to support them and to spread the word.



Finally, Penny showed us a short video documentary of medically retired Infantry Trooper Matthew James who is struggling with Multiple Sclerosis. The video described how SSAFA were able to help Matthew – transform his house, provide mobility assistance and equipment and personal care.

Matthew was clear that he had stopped caring about himself until SSAFA transformed his life; a life that he now feels is worth living.

A great example of what SSAFA can do and the impact it can have.



Jim Cook then talked about SSAFA in Fife. The “second busiest branch in Scotland”, Jim described the work being done locally to support over 16,000 Veteran’s households in Fife.

Jim described the actual day to day work of the volunteers and repeated Penny’s call to arms to support them however possible.



Due to the proximity of the Naval Dockyard at Rosyth, the Edinburgh Barracks at Dreghorn and the growing Army base at Leuchars, more and more service men and women are likely to, when they leave the service, choose to settle in Fife. This is bound to increase the workload of the Fife branch of SSAFA and again drive a need for external support for the charity.



Both Penny and Jim thanked the club for the opportunity to speak to us.





VOT: JVP Ian Wilson



President David brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 3rd April 2025.



Members: 22

Guests: 2. Jim Cook & Penny Leggat: SSAFA Armed Forces Charity Presentation



President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members and Guests to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ian Morris. Back from his extensive tour of Spain (this time) Ian delivered his TFTD in his customary iambic pentameter.

Ian started off by saying how pleased he was to be back in the UK, away from all that annoying sunshine and mid-20’s temperatures. Due to his extensive leave Ian was a bit out of touch with local affairs but noted The US President’s ongoing impact on world affairs, apart from his promise to stop the Russian war in Ukraine. Ian mentioned King Charles’ relapse and brief return to hospital; and finally the advent of Neil Lennon becoming The Pars’ new manager, and the requirement for the team to now have fish on a Friday.







Business / Reports:

1. SVP Ronnie “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. This is a fun event for Members and Partners, golfing skills are not necessary. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. Names to SVP Ronnie.



2. A new social event set for Friday 4th July – a couples’ evening jazz/folk dinner on Maid of the Forth. SVP Ronnie has firmed up the date and event and is now asking members for their interest. This event will be open to partners and friends with an expected cost £37.50pp. Namers please SVP Ronnie if you are interested.





3. Charity Golf event on 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 16 teams of 4 have registered with room for 4 more teams. SVP Ronnie is looking to keep one team of 4 in reserve for individual Members who want to pull together a scratch team. The day will include the usual golf competition plus Lucky dip prize draw, Beat the Pro, Longest Drive etc. As before, names please to SVP Ronnie or to Keith McF.





4. Gin Fest. Planning and ticket sales for the Gin Fest continues apace, tickets sales are going well. Ralph McCran & John Sim have both requested volunteers to help with setting up the venue on Thu 15 and Fri 16 May, with manning the event itself on Fri 16 and Sat 17 May evenings, and with clear down of the venue on Sun 18 May. All members are encouraged to support this major fund-raiser, so please get your names and chosen support dates to Ralph and John by email or SMS As Soon As Possible.

· A Rotary Stall will be set up and manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April, this will be to advertise the Gin Fest, hand out flyers, publicise Rotary in Dunfermline (membership drive) and hopefully to sell a few Gin Fest tickets.

· Two ads have been placed in the Dunfermline Press

· Members are asked to use any WhatsApp groups they are part of to further publicise the event.



5. SVP Ronnie gave the Members an update on his recent completion of the President-Elect training (6 hours).

· Ronnie enjoyed the online training and learned a great deal.

· This was followed up by a meeting that Ronnie and Pre. David at The City Hotel with ADG Brian Mitchell and PE’s from other local clubs about their forthcoming year.

· Ronnie noted the wide variety of Club formats, memberships, sizes and how they conduct their meetings and business. But regardless of the differences between clubs, the priorities of supporting the local community and growing membership are constant and consistent.







Speaker(s): Jim Cook (RAF and Penny Leggat (Army).

SSAFA Armed Forces Charity Presentation



Penny (better half of our own Jim Leggat) kicked off the presentation with a description of who and what SSAFA is and does, their history and continued relevance after 140 years.



The Sailors, Soldiers, Airforce personnel (Airmen) and Families Association. Despite its venerable age SSAFA is little known outside of the Forces themselves, although their volunteers have been supporting Forces Veterans and their families for 140 years (1885) throughout peacetime as well as, prominently, during times of conflict.

SSAFA volunteers have supported Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen during:



Indian “Emergency” 1880’s

World War 1 1914-18

World War 2 1939-45

Korean War 1950-53

Suez “Emergency” 1956

Falklands War 1982

Gulf War 1990-91

Gulf War – the Sequel 2002

Afghanistan 2001-21







Although having a lower public profile, SSAFA precedes both The British Legion and the Earl Haig fund as well as other Forces’ charities; their royal patronage has lasted from Victorian times up to today’s patron – King Charles III.



SSAFA has volunteers in every part of the British Commonwealth supporting Veterans.





SSAFA offers counselling and practical on-hand support to Veterans and their families for the long term; even after the Veteran has passed away SSAFA is able to offer ongoing support to the family if needed.



In 2023 over 53,000 veterans and families were supported by SSAFA but the need for funding and more volunteers can become a constraint so part of SSAFA’s mission is to grow awareness of the charity.



Penny then took us through SSAFA’s aims, mission and vision statements and ended with a call to support them and to spread the word.



Finally, Penny showed us a short video documentary of medically retired Infantry Trooper Matthew James who is struggling with Multiple Sclerosis. The video described how SSAFA were able to help Matthew – transform his house, provide mobility assistance and equipment and personal care.

Matthew was clear that he had stopped caring about himself until SSAFA transformed his life; a life that he now feels is worth living.

A great example of what SSAFA can do and the impact it can have.



Jim Cook then talked about SSAFA in Fife. The “second busiest branch in Scotland”, Jim described the work being done locally to support over 16,000 Veteran’s households in Fife.

Jim described the actual day to day work of the volunteers and repeated Penny’s call to arms to support them however possible.



Due to the proximity of the Naval Dockyard at Rosyth, the Edinburgh Barracks at Dreghorn and the growing Army base at Leuchars, more and more service men and women are likely to, when they leave the service, choose to settle in Fife. This is bound to increase the workload of the Fife branch of SSAFA and again drive a need for external support for the charity.



Both Penny and Jim thanked the club for the opportunity to speak to us.





VOT: JVP Ian Wilson



President David brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 10th April 2025.



Members: 20

Guests: 1 Gillian Temple: Dunfermline Photographic Association




President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members and Guest Gillian to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us his thoughts this evening, reminiscing on recent world events including the Covid Pandemic, the Putin-inspired Russian invasion and subsequent war in Ukraine, the election of Donald Trump as 47th President of the USA and the recent financial turmoil caused by Trump’s tariff assault on the world. This left the room in an unusually uplifted mood.







Business / Reports:

1. SVP Ronnie “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. This is a fun event for Members and Partners, golfing skills are not necessary. Six holes followed by a dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. Ronnie has 16 names so far, he is looking for at least 24 names to participate to justify Dunnikier Golf Club opening their dining room.



2. Social event set for Friday 4th July – a couples’ evening jazz/folk dinner on Maid of the Forth. SVP Ronnie has firmed up the date and event and is now asking members for their interest. This event will be open to partners and friends with an expected cost £37.50pp. Names please to SVP Ronnie if you are interested.



3. Charity Golf event on 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 18 teams of 4 have registered with room for 2 more teams. SVP Ronnie is looking to keep one team of 4 in reserve for individual Members who want to pull together a scratch team. The day will include the usual golf competition plus Lucky dip prize draw, Beat the Pro, Longest Drive etc. As before, names please to SVP Ronnie or to Keith McF.



4. Daffodil Tea. Sean Doran organising support for the upcoming event this Sunday 13th April in Crossford. Sean is looking for another driver as well as a couple of volunteers to help Alan Condie set the room up. Please get in touch with Sean if you are available to help. Sunday 13th April, Crossford Village Hall, 12.30 to set up.



5. Ginfest. Planning and ticket sales for the Ginfest continues apace. Ralph McCran & John Sim thank all those volunteers who have come forward to support and John has issued a Rota of names and duties for the event. Please contact John directly if you have any comments or questions.

· A Rotary Stall will be set up and manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April, this will be to advertise the Gin Fest, hand out flyers, publicise Rotary in Dunfermline (membership drive) and hopefully to sell a few Gin Fest tickets. Volunteer names please to Ian Wilson.







Speaker: Gillian Temple – Dunfermline Photographic Association

Gillian is currently the President of The Dunfermline Photographic Association. She is a professional Photographer with an exceptional reputation in the field. Gillian has won many awards for her work and says she specialises in everything.



Gillian gave a brief history of how she got into photography, starting with “doing weddings” and taking Portrait photographs; these were a better way to start earning a living at it.



Gillian then moved on to the numerous other topics and subject areas she has photographed; Gillian delighted the room with many of the amazing images she has captured so far in her career.

· Weddings and “Glamour Weddings”

· Portraits

· Babies and Children

· Pets

· Flowers

· Landscapes

· Seascapes

· Wildlife

o Harvest mice (posed)

o Birds of Prey

o Otters

o Badger

o Foxes

o Pine Martens

o Horses

· Sporting events

· Models



Of late Gillian has moved into the more creative side of photography, taking an image and working it into a story. Gillian’s work continues to attract admirers and to win awards.



The interest from the room was exceptional with Members asking questions throughout the presentation as well as at the end.

A thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening evening for the Club.





VOT: Sec. Neil



President David brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 10th April 2025.



Members: 20

Guests: 1 Gillian Temple: Dunfermline Photographic Association




President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members and Guest Gillian to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us his thoughts this evening, reminiscing on recent world events including the Covid Pandemic, the Putin-inspired Russian invasion and subsequent war in Ukraine, the election of Donald Trump as 47th President of the USA and the recent financial turmoil caused by Trump’s tariff assault on the world. This left the room in an unusually uplifted mood.







Business / Reports:

1. SVP Ronnie “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. This is a fun event for Members and Partners, golfing skills are not necessary. Six holes followed by a dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. Ronnie has 16 names so far, he is looking for at least 24 names to participate to justify Dunnikier Golf Club opening their dining room.



2. Social event set for Friday 4th July – a couples’ evening jazz/folk dinner on Maid of the Forth. SVP Ronnie has firmed up the date and event and is now asking members for their interest. This event will be open to partners and friends with an expected cost £37.50pp. Names please to SVP Ronnie if you are interested.



3. Charity Golf event on 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 18 teams of 4 have registered with room for 2 more teams. SVP Ronnie is looking to keep one team of 4 in reserve for individual Members who want to pull together a scratch team. The day will include the usual golf competition plus Lucky dip prize draw, Beat the Pro, Longest Drive etc. As before, names please to SVP Ronnie or to Keith McF.



4. Daffodil Tea. Sean Doran organising support for the upcoming event this Sunday 13th April in Crossford. Sean is looking for another driver as well as a couple of volunteers to help Alan Condie set the room up. Please get in touch with Sean if you are available to help. Sunday 13th April, Crossford Village Hall, 12.30 to set up.



5. Ginfest. Planning and ticket sales for the Ginfest continues apace. Ralph McCran & John Sim thank all those volunteers who have come forward to support and John has issued a Rota of names and duties for the event. Please contact John directly if you have any comments or questions.

· A Rotary Stall will be set up and manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April, this will be to advertise the Gin Fest, hand out flyers, publicise Rotary in Dunfermline (membership drive) and hopefully to sell a few Gin Fest tickets. Volunteer names please to Ian Wilson.







Speaker: Gillian Temple – Dunfermline Photographic Association

Gillian is currently the President of The Dunfermline Photographic Association. She is a professional Photographer with an exceptional reputation in the field. Gillian has won many awards for her work and says she specialises in everything.



Gillian gave a brief history of how she got into photography, starting with “doing weddings” and taking Portrait photographs; these were a better way to start earning a living at it.



Gillian then moved on to the numerous other topics and subject areas she has photographed; Gillian delighted the room with many of the amazing images she has captured so far in her career.

· Weddings and “Glamour Weddings”

· Portraits

· Babies and Children

· Pets

· Flowers

· Landscapes

· Seascapes

· Wildlife

o Harvest mice (posed)

o Birds of Prey

o Otters

o Badger

o Foxes

o Pine Martens

o Horses

· Sporting events

· Models



Of late Gillian has moved into the more creative side of photography, taking an image and working it into a story. Gillian’s work continues to attract admirers and to win awards.



The interest from the room was exceptional with Members asking questions throughout the presentation as well as at the end.

A thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening evening for the Club.





VOT: Sec. Neil



President David brought the meeting to a close with our usual toast.



Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 17th April 2025.



Members: 28

Guests: 2 George Murray: Outwith Festival & Ian Grieve (Rotary W. Fife)





President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members, guest George and fellow Rotarian Ian to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Sean Doran.

Feeling a bit like Victor Meldrew

Perhaps having too much time to see things from my point of view

Oligarchs everywhere cozying up to leaders making a killing

Strategic industries struggling & closing



Meanwhile

What is a bride and therefore a groom? Who can use what bathroom?

But thankfully we have Art & Music that can wash away from the soul the muck of everyday life. (Pablo Picasso)







Business / Reports:

1. “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. SVP Ronnie has 16 names and is looking for 20-24 to participate, this will help to justify Dunnikier Golf Club opening their dining room.





2. Charity Golf event on Tuesday 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 18 teams of 4 have registered with room for 2 more teams. SVP Ronnie is asking for donations for raffle prizes. Please let Ronnie know if you have something you can donate.



3. Rotary inter-club golf competition took place Monday 14th April, Dunfermline team were runners-up.



4. Gavel competition, Dunfermline will take part in the semifinal for this year’s competition on Wednesday 30th April in Perth. Due to a shortage of some of our usual players Keith McFarlane is asking for volunteers to join the team. Names please to Keith if you wish to take part.



5. Ginfest. Ticket sales for the Ginfest are going OK but could be better, Ralph McCran asks all members to spread the word across all social media about the festival to boost sales.



· John has prepared a Rota of names and duties for the event, this will be published shortly

· John also asks that everyone volunteering for the event to fill out the licensing form that he has emailed to all members and return it to him ASAP. Please contact John directly if you have any comments or questions.

· A Rotary Stall will be set up and manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April, this will be to advertise the Gin Fest, sell tickets, hand out flyers and publicise Rotary in Dunfermline (membership drive). Volunteer names to JVP Ian.







Speaker: George Murray: The Outwith Festival

George took us through the history of the Outwith Festival, starting in 2017 the festival grew annually until Covid stopped everything in 2020. Outwith kicked off again in 2022 and has continued every year, outwith 25 will take place in Dunfermline in September.



Over the years the festival has put on over 300 bands, entertained over 20,000 visitors, 2025 will see over 40 live musical events plus Art Exhibitions, Comedy gigs, Theatre Performances, Visual Art Installations, Literature readings and signings and film showings.

Supporters and sponsors for Outwith include Fife Council, Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, Events Scotland, Fife Events, Stagecoach (free travel for ticket holders), Babcock and Film Hub Scotland.



In addition to putting on a great annual festival, The Outwith Team have been able to train college students in events management, sound engineering and the entertainment and music business, as well as giving a great opportunity to new young Scottish Talent as they develop their craft.

George was able to name some of the many “well kent faces” that have taken part including Big Country, Rikki Jobson, Barbara Dickson, Arabella Weir and Gordon Brown



George was very well received by Members who had plenty of questions and encouragement from the room.



George finished by praising Rotary for our annual Gin Fest which is now also part of the events landscape for Dunfermline.





VOT: John Anderson.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting – Fellowship.

Thursday 17th April 2025.



Members: 28

Guests: 2 George Murray: Outwith Festival & Ian Grieve (Rotary W. Fife)





President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members, guest George and fellow Rotarian Ian to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Sean Doran.

Feeling a bit like Victor Meldrew

Perhaps having too much time to see things from my point of view

Oligarchs everywhere cozying up to leaders making a killing

Strategic industries struggling & closing



Meanwhile

What is a bride and therefore a groom? Who can use what bathroom?

But thankfully we have Art & Music that can wash away from the soul the muck of everyday life. (Pablo Picasso)







Business / Reports:

1. “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp. SVP Ronnie has 16 names and is looking for 20-24 to participate, this will help to justify Dunnikier Golf Club opening their dining room.





2. Charity Golf event on Tuesday 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 18 teams of 4 have registered with room for 2 more teams. SVP Ronnie is asking for donations for raffle prizes. Please let Ronnie know if you have something you can donate.



3. Rotary inter-club golf competition took place Monday 14th April, Dunfermline team were runners-up.



4. Gavel competition, Dunfermline will take part in the semifinal for this year’s competition on Wednesday 30th April in Perth. Due to a shortage of some of our usual players Keith McFarlane is asking for volunteers to join the team. Names please to Keith if you wish to take part.



5. Ginfest. Ticket sales for the Ginfest are going OK but could be better, Ralph McCran asks all members to spread the word across all social media about the festival to boost sales.



· John has prepared a Rota of names and duties for the event, this will be published shortly

· John also asks that everyone volunteering for the event to fill out the licensing form that he has emailed to all members and return it to him ASAP. Please contact John directly if you have any comments or questions.

· A Rotary Stall will be set up and manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April, this will be to advertise the Gin Fest, sell tickets, hand out flyers and publicise Rotary in Dunfermline (membership drive). Volunteer names to JVP Ian.







Speaker: George Murray: The Outwith Festival

George took us through the history of the Outwith Festival, starting in 2017 the festival grew annually until Covid stopped everything in 2020. Outwith kicked off again in 2022 and has continued every year, outwith 25 will take place in Dunfermline in September.



Over the years the festival has put on over 300 bands, entertained over 20,000 visitors, 2025 will see over 40 live musical events plus Art Exhibitions, Comedy gigs, Theatre Performances, Visual Art Installations, Literature readings and signings and film showings.

Supporters and sponsors for Outwith include Fife Council, Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, Events Scotland, Fife Events, Stagecoach (free travel for ticket holders), Babcock and Film Hub Scotland.



In addition to putting on a great annual festival, The Outwith Team have been able to train college students in events management, sound engineering and the entertainment and music business, as well as giving a great opportunity to new young Scottish Talent as they develop their craft.

George was able to name some of the many “well kent faces” that have taken part including Big Country, Rikki Jobson, Barbara Dickson, Arabella Weir and Gordon Brown



George was very well received by Members who had plenty of questions and encouragement from the room.



George finished by praising Rotary for our annual Gin Fest which is now also part of the events landscape for Dunfermline.





VOT: John Anderson.







Members: 19

Guests: 3 Russell Kelly & Craig Lindsay (limekilns Pier restoration),

ADG Brian Mitchell





President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members & Guests to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us some musings, all delivered in rhyming metre, on

Having to dress himself for the evening (shorts and a polo shirt)

The passing of Pope Francis who passed on 21st April.

The commitment by President Trump to end the Ukraine war in a day

Looking forward to this evening’s speakers on the Limekilns Pier Restoration.









Business / Reports:

1. “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp.





2. Charity Golf event on Tuesday 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 18 teams of 4 have registered with room for 2 more teams. SVP Ronnie thanks everyone who donated a raffle prize, looks like we have enough.



3. Gavel competition, Dunfermline will take part in the semifinal for this year’s competition on Wednesday 30th April in Perth.



4. Ginfest. Ticket sales for the Ginfest are going OK but could be better, Ralph McCran asks all members to spread the word across all social media about the festival to boost sales.

· A Rotary Stall manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April at the Kingsgate resulted in 600 Gin Fest flyers being handed out as well as some tickets sold and some interest in joining Rotary shown.

· Ralph is looking for volunteers to hand out more Flyers at Tesco Duloch on Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 5.30-7.30pm as well as Saturday and Sunday 11am-1pm and 1pm-3pm. Volunteers urgently required, names please to Ralph ASAP.



5. Gavel competition, next round will be on Wed 30th April, Keith McFarlane is organizing.



6. Note to Rotary Council -the next Council meeting is on Sunday 27 April at 7pm, venue is 7 Garvock Hill



7. Pres. David reported on a mini district meeting on Wed 23rd April where the discussion covered some Rotary actions and the idea of some joint projects. There was also some positive news regarding the need for Rotarians to get their PVG certification. Due to the Club’s current activities there is no need for this just now.



8. David Fraser (Treasurer) announced the results of the April Draw

· £50 to Jim Miller

· £30 to Andrew Watson







Speakers: Russell Kelly & Craig Lindsay: Limekilns Pier Restoration Project.



Russell and Craig used a laptop presentation to tell the Club about the ongoing Restoration project for the Pier at Limekilns.

The Pier was built at minimal cost in the 16th Century to facilitate the loading of Coal for export as well as unloading goods from elsewhere for the local community and businesses. The Pier was built by the Halkett family and is today part of the Elgin Estate.

Used in the 20th century for docking the “Maid of the Forth” the Pier was starting to show its age.

Due to a lack of maintenance, constant erosion by river and weather and an original low-cost construction, the Pier was showing signs of deteriorating even then; by 2020 the pier was close to being lost for good.



Over recent years a crew of interested locals had been trying to restore the pier, they got permission from Lord Elgin to try recovery and restoration work, however these efforts were mostly stopgap due to a lack of funding – this sort of work is expensive.



The Pier Restoration group – Limekilns Heritage Trust - was officially formed and managed to get Charitable status to help get funding.

After some unsuccessful attempts at fund raising the Trust finally came up with the idea to use a similar approach to that used by NTS Culloden Visitors Centre; a display area of Caithness Stone panels engraved with the names of donor Organizations, Families and Individuals.

The Trust ended up using the same type of stone and the same engravers to do the work. The sponsored stone panels raised over £50,000 towards the restoration.





West Fife had one of these stone panels and Russell asked if our Club would be interested in the same. Small stone - £100 Large stone - £500



Other fund-raising events include local donations, a 1st January sponsored dip in the Forth and applications to Lottery funding, although the sponsorship has been a flagship of these efforts.



Limekilns Heritage Trust’s website has a wealth of information on the Pier restoration, interested members are recommended to visit: www.limekilnspier.org





VOT: John Allen







Members: 19

Guests: 3 Russell Kelly & Craig Lindsay (limekilns Pier restoration),

ADG Brian Mitchell





President David opened the meeting and welcomed Members & Guests to the Club weekly meeting





TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us some musings, all delivered in rhyming metre, on

Having to dress himself for the evening (shorts and a polo shirt)

The passing of Pope Francis who passed on 21st April.

The commitment by President Trump to end the Ukraine war in a day

Looking forward to this evening’s speakers on the Limekilns Pier Restoration.









Business / Reports:

1. “Park Gowf” on Thursday 1st May at 6pm. Venue Dunnikier Golf Course Kirkcaldy. Six holes followed by dinner at the Clubhouse. £20pp.





2. Charity Golf event on Tuesday 29 April, organization of this is coming together, so far 18 teams of 4 have registered with room for 2 more teams. SVP Ronnie thanks everyone who donated a raffle prize, looks like we have enough.



3. Gavel competition, Dunfermline will take part in the semifinal for this year’s competition on Wednesday 30th April in Perth.



4. Ginfest. Ticket sales for the Ginfest are going OK but could be better, Ralph McCran asks all members to spread the word across all social media about the festival to boost sales.

· A Rotary Stall manned Sat 19 and Sun 20 April at the Kingsgate resulted in 600 Gin Fest flyers being handed out as well as some tickets sold and some interest in joining Rotary shown.

· Ralph is looking for volunteers to hand out more Flyers at Tesco Duloch on Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 5.30-7.30pm as well as Saturday and Sunday 11am-1pm and 1pm-3pm. Volunteers urgently required, names please to Ralph ASAP.



5. Gavel competition, next round will be on Wed 30th April, Keith McFarlane is organizing.



6. Note to Rotary Council -the next Council meeting is on Sunday 27 April at 7pm, venue is 7 Garvock Hill



7. Pres. David reported on a mini district meeting on Wed 23rd April where the discussion covered some Rotary actions and the idea of some joint projects. There was also some positive news regarding the need for Rotarians to get their PVG certification. Due to the Club’s current activities there is no need for this just now.



8. David Fraser (Treasurer) announced the results of the April Draw

· £50 to Jim Miller

· £30 to Andrew Watson







Speakers: Russell Kelly & Craig Lindsay: Limekilns Pier Restoration Project.



Russell and Craig used a laptop presentation to tell the Club about the ongoing Restoration project for the Pier at Limekilns.

The Pier was built at minimal cost in the 16th Century to facilitate the loading of Coal for export as well as unloading goods from elsewhere for the local community and businesses. The Pier was built by the Halkett family and is today part of the Elgin Estate.

Used in the 20th century for docking the “Maid of the Forth” the Pier was starting to show its age.

Due to a lack of maintenance, constant erosion by river and weather and an original low-cost construction, the Pier was showing signs of deteriorating even then; by 2020 the pier was close to being lost for good.



Over recent years a crew of interested locals had been trying to restore the pier, they got permission from Lord Elgin to try recovery and restoration work, however these efforts were mostly stopgap due to a lack of funding – this sort of work is expensive.



The Pier Restoration group – Limekilns Heritage Trust - was officially formed and managed to get Charitable status to help get funding.

After some unsuccessful attempts at fund raising the Trust finally came up with the idea to use a similar approach to that used by NTS Culloden Visitors Centre; a display area of Caithness Stone panels engraved with the names of donor Organizations, Families and Individuals.

The Trust ended up using the same type of stone and the same engravers to do the work. The sponsored stone panels raised over £50,000 towards the restoration.





West Fife had one of these stone panels and Russell asked if our Club would be interested in the same. Small stone - £100 Large stone - £500



Other fund-raising events include local donations, a 1st January sponsored dip in the Forth and applications to Lottery funding, although the sponsorship has been a flagship of these efforts.



Limekilns Heritage Trust’s website has a wealth of information on the Pier restoration, interested members are recommended to visit: www.limekilnspier.org





VOT: John Allen





Members: 23

Guests: 1 Sandy Mcintosh hosting a tour of the New Learning Campus housing

Woodmill HS and St Columbus HS.

Followed by Tim Richmond Vocational talk at GHH.





President David welcomed 15 members to the New Learning Campus where Sandy McIntosh (Head of Woodmill) gave us a tour of the new and very impressive High School facility. This visit was follow-up to the talk Sandy gave the club 18 months ago describing the new build project and his hopes for it then. Following the tour, and witnessing Sandy’s passion for the school he now co-manages with the Head of St Columbus, it is clear those early hopes have been more than realised.



Members then reconvened at GHH for our “normal” weekly meeting.

President David greeted the now enlarged group of 23 members to the meeting.





TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us some musings (not in rhyme) on the anniversary of the rescue of 338,000 troops from the beaches of Dunkirk at the beginning of WW2. A sobering TFTD on the courage of those who performed the rescue and the tragedy of those left behind.









Business / Reports:

1. Ralph McCran gave us a few lines on the success of last weekend’s Gin Fest

· 230 guests on Friday, 400+ on Saturday

· Estimate a profit of £15,000 (TBC) – another great success and another reason to do it all again in 2026.

· The Gin Fest received a good report in The Dunfermline Press.



2. The Whisky event on the Saturday afternoon had over 60 attendees.

· It raised a good sum (undisclosed) for the Dunfermline Whisky Association which they will donate to their own preferred charities

· Our club realised £500 from raffle ticket sales and £200 from Beer sales.



3. Kids Out event, Scottish Deer Centre Cupar on Tue 10th June, Sean Doran is the contact for this event.



4. Gavel competition, the Final will be on Wed 11th June in Forfar, Keith McFarlane is organizing.





5. High Schools Technology Challenge will be Monday 30th June at the new St Columbus High School, Alan Condie is organizing this event.









Speakers: Recent New Member Tim Richmond Vocational Talk.



Tim gave us an excellent overview of his life and career delivered in a humorous quick-fire delivery which had everyone in the room entertained and amused.



Born in Plymouth, Tim lived in multiple parts of the UK following a career in Retail: he has worked in London (several times), Birmingham, Blackpool, Kent and then finally Scotland.

Tim found himself managing larger and larger retail operations for Brentford Nylons, Harvies, Allied Carpets and General George Carpets.

Tim told us that many of the Companies he worked with subsequently closed down and had to be “written off”, he commented on having similar experience with cars and wives.



During this busy and successful Career Tim was drawn into Refereeing Football and has developed in this role throughout his life; Tim is still an active Referee and finds himself teaching the skills (and patience, and self-confidence) to younger people entering the world of football refereeing.



A keen golfer and follower of sports Tim now spends his time carrying out Insurance Inspections for a variety of clients.



Tim’s energy and enthusiasm was evident in his talk, and Tim was welcomed to the club in the usual manner.



VOT: David Livingston delivered the well-deserved Vote of Thanks.





Members: 23

Guests: 1 Sandy Mcintosh hosting a tour of the New Learning Campus housing

Woodmill HS and St Columbus HS.

Followed by Tim Richmond Vocational talk at GHH.





President David welcomed 15 members to the New Learning Campus where Sandy McIntosh (Head of Woodmill) gave us a tour of the new and very impressive High School facility. This visit was follow-up to the talk Sandy gave the club 18 months ago describing the new build project and his hopes for it then. Following the tour, and witnessing Sandy’s passion for the school he now co-manages with the Head of St Columbus, it is clear those early hopes have been more than realised.



Members then reconvened at GHH for our “normal” weekly meeting.

President David greeted the now enlarged group of 23 members to the meeting.





TFTD: Ian Morris. Ian gave us some musings (not in rhyme) on the anniversary of the rescue of 338,000 troops from the beaches of Dunkirk at the beginning of WW2. A sobering TFTD on the courage of those who performed the rescue and the tragedy of those left behind.









Business / Reports:

1. Ralph McCran gave us a few lines on the success of last weekend’s Gin Fest

· 230 guests on Friday, 400+ on Saturday

· Estimate a profit of £15,000 (TBC) – another great success and another reason to do it all again in 2026.

· The Gin Fest received a good report in The Dunfermline Press.



2. The Whisky event on the Saturday afternoon had over 60 attendees.

· It raised a good sum (undisclosed) for the Dunfermline Whisky Association which they will donate to their own preferred charities

· Our club realised £500 from raffle ticket sales and £200 from Beer sales.



3. Kids Out event, Scottish Deer Centre Cupar on Tue 10th June, Sean Doran is the contact for this event.



4. Gavel competition, the Final will be on Wed 11th June in Forfar, Keith McFarlane is organizing.





5. High Schools Technology Challenge will be Monday 30th June at the new St Columbus High School, Alan Condie is organizing this event.









Speakers: Recent New Member Tim Richmond Vocational Talk.



Tim gave us an excellent overview of his life and career delivered in a humorous quick-fire delivery which had everyone in the room entertained and amused.



Born in Plymouth, Tim lived in multiple parts of the UK following a career in Retail: he has worked in London (several times), Birmingham, Blackpool, Kent and then finally Scotland.

Tim found himself managing larger and larger retail operations for Brentford Nylons, Harvies, Allied Carpets and General George Carpets.

Tim told us that many of the Companies he worked with subsequently closed down and had to be “written off”, he commented on having similar experience with cars and wives.



During this busy and successful Career Tim was drawn into Refereeing Football and has developed in this role throughout his life; Tim is still an active Referee and finds himself teaching the skills (and patience, and self-confidence) to younger people entering the world of football refereeing.



A keen golfer and follower of sports Tim now spends his time carrying out Insurance Inspections for a variety of clients.



Tim’s energy and enthusiasm was evident in his talk, and Tim was welcomed to the club in the usual manner.



VOT: David Livingston delivered the well-deserved Vote of Thanks.





Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting - Fellowship

Thursday 29th May 2025.



Members: 10

Guests: 0





Short-handed due to the absence of 8 members for a golfing holiday in Portugal and another 2 members doing the same in Machrihanish, Past President Brian Blanchflower welcomed members to this week’s meeting, held around a single table in GHH Dunsmuir Suite.







TFTD: Sean Doran gave us a TFT about Fellowship, reproduced below in-full.



Theme: Fellowship

A Humorous Ode



Today I thought, "Oh, what a day!

From weddings and Japan to the prices we pay."

But then I remembered, amidst the plight,

Fellowship can still bring us light.

For what's a thought without a mate?

A lonely echo, a sealed debate!

Yet with friends, ideas bounce and fly,

Even as parades crash and clouds fill the sky.

We laugh, we chat, we share what's hot

Whether it's our aches & pains or latest golf shot

So, here’s a thought for today, my friend,

Let fellowship be the means and end.

For laughter cures, and hugs are gold—

Even Garvock coffee tastes better when feelings unfold





TFTD was followed by a Sumptuous Dinner which included a Complimentary Starter, Unique Main Course options and Cheese Board, followed by Tablet and Gourmet Coffee (no, really).





Business / Reports: Past Pres Brian then delivered business reports.



1. The Gin Fest results are TBA as payments in and out have not been finalised; however, this year’s event was again a huge success for the club.



2. Capital Challenge golf competition will be on Tue 10 June, anyone interested in taking part please let SVP Ronnie know ASAP.



3. Kids Out event at The Scottish Deer Centre Cupar will be on Tue 10th June, Sean Doran is the contact for this event.



4. Gavel competition, the Final against Ythan Valley Club will be on Wed 11th June in The Royal Hotel Forfar, urgently need names for this event – please contact Keith McFarlane.



5. High Schools Technology Challenge will be Monday 30th June at the new St Columbus High School, Alan Condie is organizing this event.


6. David Fraser announced the winners of the monthly draw, Neil Wilson £50 and John Anderson £30.





Finally, in his capacity as incoming Program Coordinator (not Convenor), Brian gave us a flavour of some of the events and speakers the Club can expect over the next Rotary Year.

Additionally Brian would like every member to have a think about a Guest or event that could be added to the program; we can never have too many good ideas and suggestions.





Final finally: Apologies due to last week’s VOT author, David Chalmers, who was misidentified as David Livingston by the idiot who did the minutes.


Rotary Club of Dunfermline Weekly Meeting - Fellowship

Thursday 29th May 2025.



Members: 10

Guests: 0





Short-handed due to the absence of 8 members for a golfing holiday in Portugal and another 2 members doing the same in Machrihanish, Past President Brian Blanchflower welcomed members to this week’s meeting, held around a single table in GHH Dunsmuir Suite.







TFTD: Sean Doran gave us a TFT about Fellowship, reproduced below in-full.



Theme: Fellowship

A Humorous Ode



Today I thought, "Oh, what a day!

From weddings and Japan to the prices we pay."

But then I remembered, amidst the plight,

Fellowship can still bring us light.

For what's a thought without a mate?

A lonely echo, a sealed debate!

Yet with friends, ideas bounce and fly,

Even as parades crash and clouds fill the sky.

We laugh, we chat, we share what's hot

Whether it's our aches & pains or latest golf shot

So, here’s a thought for today, my friend,

Let fellowship be the means and end.

For laughter cures, and hugs are gold—

Even Garvock coffee tastes better when feelings unfold





TFTD was followed by a Sumptuous Dinner which included a Complimentary Starter, Unique Main Course options and Cheese Board, followed by Tablet and Gourmet Coffee (no, really).





Business / Reports: Past Pres Brian then delivered business reports.



1. The Gin Fest results are TBA as payments in and out have not been finalised; however, this year’s event was again a huge success for the club.



2. Capital Challenge golf competition will be on Tue 10 June, anyone interested in taking part please let SVP Ronnie know ASAP.



3. Kids Out event at The Scottish Deer Centre Cupar will be on Tue 10th June, Sean Doran is the contact for this event.



4. Gavel competition, the Final against Ythan Valley Club will be on Wed 11th June in The Royal Hotel Forfar, urgently need names for this event – please contact Keith McFarlane.



5. High Schools Technology Challenge will be Monday 30th June at the new St Columbus High School, Alan Condie is organizing this event.


6. David Fraser announced the winners of the monthly draw, Neil Wilson £50 and John Anderson £30.





Finally, in his capacity as incoming Program Coordinator (not Convenor), Brian gave us a flavour of some of the events and speakers the Club can expect over the next Rotary Year.

Additionally Brian would like every member to have a think about a Guest or event that could be added to the program; we can never have too many good ideas and suggestions.





Final finally: Apologies due to last week’s VOT author, David Chalmers, who was misidentified as David Livingston by the idiot who did the minutes.


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