Christmas Night

On Thursday evening the Rotary Club enjoyed an excellent evening of food, fellowship and entertainment with partners and guests. After a traditional Christmas meal, President Jim Walker handed the programme over to our entertainment organiser Past President Bobby Cairns, who introduced a fine array of Artistes, starting with some amazing magic tricks from Billy McWatters, our Tommy Cooper of the North. Then it was the turn of Yorkshire born Jane Bannernan who, read three amusing short stories by Gervaise Phinn set in North Yorkshire, by. Mairhi Trickett then set the company a quiz about Christmas food, the results from which showed the ignorance of many Rotarians and guests about what we eat at this season of the year, and the quiz about food was appropriately followed by Gus Neilson's recitation of the 12 days of turkey and the many ways in which the remains of the bird can be cooked after Christmas Day. President Jim then recited "a visit from Saint Nick, before our guest Joyce Tinlin treated us to her second beautiful Christmas song "O Holy Night" movingly sung, if there is a finer singer than Joyce this side of Hadrian's Wall the company would be very surprised ! From the sublime to the cor blimey, as our excellent accompanist then Roslyn Walker led us with everyone singing the Wizzard song " I wish it could be Christmas every day". Past President Sandy Bannerman then proposed a warm vote of thanks to all who had entertained us so royally, before President Jim gave us the final toast to "Rotary the world over"