Newsletter - 268 - September 2015

Rotary Club of Stranraer

Monthly Newsletter No 268

September 2015

Service above self

Imminent Activities  

Mon 7^th Sept – Maurice Halliday from Kirkcudbright Rotary will bring us up to date about Foundation and its relevance in Rotary.

Mon 14^th Sept – evening – Mark Cameron will telling us about ‘Exciting Science’

Thurs 17^th Sept – 6pm – bowls at Sandhead followed by a meal Tigh na Mara at 8pm.

Mon 21^st Sept – Fellowship

Mon 28^th Sept – Speaker details still being finalised

Dates for your Diary

Sat 19^th Dec – Christmas Street Collection

Sun 20^th Dec – Christmas Collection at Morrison

Fri 24^th June 2016 – 10^th Annual Golf AmAm – change from date advised last month!

Recent Events 

Mon Aug 3^rd - Helen Bell told us about her 5 week trek from Kurdistan to the Himalayas, the first part of which was by road with the main part being on foot with camels carrying supplies. Their objective was to follow in the footsteps of a journey first accomplished in the late 19^th century and to see K2 from the north which they managed. The talk was well illustrated by photographs!

Fri 7^th August – Portpatrick Raft Race – see below

Mon Aug 10^th – John Maxwell spoke about the history of policing in Dumfriesshire.

Mon Aug 17^th – Hugh Parker told us about chicken breeding units in the area including his unit at Culhorn. He explained the breeding programme which involves breeding ‘grandparent’ birds whose eggs are hatched and then moved to another unit as day old chicks in England where these chicks go on to produce the chickens which we eat. He emphasised the extreme precautions which are taken to prevent disease. A very interesting talk!

 Mon Aug 24^th – Kenny Paterson provided an interesting insight into the workings of the Order of St John and its valuable contribution to the community.

Mon Aug 31^st – Kirsty, Rachel and Kerr, 3 of the party of 4 Stranraer Academy pupils who participated in the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award expedition to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco during the summer, told us of their experiences. Their talk was well illustrated by their video diary. There is no doubt that our help to this annual project is worthwhile. All 3 are now starting their university studies.

 
Archie Bell

Best wishes to Archie who is still in Ayr Hospital, possibly for another 2 weeks. It would be appreciated if anyone could pop in to see him.

Rotary District Golf Competition                   

We entered 3 teams. One of the teams (Gordon Davidson and Henry McFadzean) had to scratch. The other 2 (John Munro/Neil Fraser and Iain McIntyre/Hugh Parker) made it to the District final where John and Neil were victorious. They now go on to represent the District at the national finals in Leicester on 6^th and 7^th September. They will be joined by Neville Wright as the finals require a 3 man team. Well done and good luck!

Visitors to our Club  

We were joined at our meeting on 2^nd August by our Assistant District Governor, Peter Noreiko who updated us on the polio campaign. Nigeria, the last African country to be affected has had no new cases for over a year and will be declared polio free if this continues for a further year. The only other counties with cases are Afghanistan and Pakistan but the number of cases even there is decreasing. He also briefly explained about Rotary Central which your editor will explore and report further.

That meeting was also attended by Archie Bell Jnr, son of our Archie and husband of our speaker. He is a member of Edinburgh club.

Well done!

Well done to John McClintock whose bakery business recently passed on £100 from the sale of plastic bags at 5p to a local charity!

Portpatrick Raft Race      

A good number of members helped run the Raft Race which raises funds for the RNLI.

The winning team in the open race was "The Big, Bad, Burly Bitches” (a male team!!!!!) and the winning team in the ladies race was "East by West”

Thanks to Davis Brock, our friend from Alloway Club, for providing photos!

After Glasgow Warrior’s fantastic season 6 of our members and one member from Kirkcudbright have bought season tickets for next season as have 2 of our regular guests. Other members are welcome to join in for individual matches if tickets can be obtained - just contact Tom Mitchell.

The next game being attended is on Saturday 5th September against Scarlet’s but our spare tickets have already been snapped up. One of our party is unable to attend the match the following Friday against Connacht so his ticket is available to whoever contacts Tom first!

IOn the International scene 5 members and 3 guests enjoyed ‘a quiet weekend’ in Dublin for the Ireland v Scotland game.

 Press Officer

Members should get in touch with Tom Mitchell, in his role as Press Officer, if they have anything they wish included in the Newsletter or reported in the press.

He particularly wishes photographs for publication and/or Club archives.

Our peculiar language –

·       When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

·       A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

·       When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.

·       The batteries were given out free of charge.