Speaker Evening

Thursday 13th April saw  Rotarian Alistair Rarity deliver a much-postponed job talk to the Rotary Club of South Queensferry. A chartered engineer who graduated from Napier college, Alistair comes from an old Kirkliston family, and though work has taken him all over the world, he has lived in Kirkliston all his life. His interest in art and architecture was evident from the pictures of the various houses he bought and restored to immaculate condition. Posts on geothermal projects in New Zealand and Iceland were followed by a spell as facilities manager with Cameron Ironworks in Livingston. Alistair then joined Ethicon where he remained for many years, developing the Kirkton Campus facility in Livingston and travelling to Ethicon and Johnson and Johnson plant  across the world including an underground, bombproof suture factory in Texas. Ethicon's policy of community involvement saw Alistair taking part in many charitable events ranging from fun days for local workers and their families to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of African eye camps.

In his retirement, Alistair is extremely active. A founder member of the Kirkliston Drambuie Pipe Band, he is still involved with that organisation. He is chairman of Edinburgh Energy Management Group and acts as a guide at Hopetoun House, where his engineering skills are often called upon. On top of all this, Alistair goes mountaineering once a month with the Black Rock Mountaineering Club and intends to tackle the highest peaks in Alaska and New Zealand over the next two years. 

Alistair's fascinating presentation was very well received. He dedicated his talk to the late Alex Laughlan, Past President and Past District Governor, whose services as a surveyor he used on many projects.