Newsletter 305 - October 2018

Rotary Club of Stranraer

Monthly Newsletter No 305

October 2018

Service above self

Meetings – unless otherwise advised

1^st and 3^rd Monday of month – 1pm

2^nd & 4^th Monday of month – 6pm

Imminent Activities                 

Mon 1^st Oct – 1pm – Fellowship

Mon 8^th Oct – 6pm – John Adams will share his experiences of Bees and Beekeeping.

Mon 15^th Oct 1pm – Gordon Baird’s talk is titled ‘Dr Bell fell down the well’

Mon 22^nd Oct – 6pm – Gordon Davidson will be speaking to us. The topic has not been decided but in the past his talks have been very interesting.

Mon 29^th Oct – no meeting

Dates for your Diary

8^th, 9^th and 10^th November – Poppy collections at Morrisons – see below.

15^th & 16^th December – Christmas collections.

7^th to 15^th July 2019 – Skiffe World Championship in Loch Ryan

Recent Events                         

Mon 3^rd Sept – 1pm - Our speaker was Keith Bruce from Kirkcudbright club. He explained  

the plans for a proposed Maggie’s Centre at Dumfries Hospital but members expressed doubts about support for the project which would be helped by contributions from clubs throughout the area. There is no doubt that Maggies is a worthwhile cause but members expressed doubts about support for this project given the existence of good Cancer Drop In Centres in Stranraer and Dumfries and the ongoing review of cancer treatment in the Region being conducted by the Health Board in conjunction with Macmillan.

Thurs 6^th Sept – 6pm -The annual bowls match against 41 Club was held at Sandhead bowling club followed by a meal at Tigh Na Mara. A dozen or so members took part in this enjoyable evening.

Mon 10^th Sept – 6pm – Callum Currie of Portpatrick Harbour Community Benefit Society told us about the excellent work being done by this charity in upgrading the Portpatrick waterfront.

Mon 17^th Sept – 1pm – Jim Young – Pam Taylor, Project Officer Stranraer Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme and her colleague Kerry Martin told us about the work being done by D & G Council to regenerate Stranraer with a focus on work ongoing at the old Harbourmaster’s building and the George Hotel and proposed improvements to Stranraer Museum.

Mon 24^th Sept – 6pm – Jock Smith produced another excellent talk. This time his subject was Rudolph Hess and Marcus Wolff.

Poppy Collections at Morrisons

The local branch of the British Legion requires help with this year’s poppy collection.  We have agreed to help on a ‘one off’ basis by covering Morrisons for 2 weekends Friday to Saturday. Thanks to Jock Smith for taking on the organisation of volunteers for 2 hour shifts. Please help!

Rotary Shirts – urgent action required

Our new Rotary shirts personalised with members names are now on sale at a cost of £20 with samples available in several sizes. It is hoped that members will help the Club profile by wearing these at events where there is public interaction. The shirts will be going to the printers after Monday’s meeting and President Ian is waiting on a couple of size decisions so anybody wanting one should let him know urgently. It may still be possible to order one later but members will have to make their own arrangements.

Bowls

The rain managed to stay away for most of our annual get together with the 41 Club which was attended by a dozen or so members. The standard of bowling was variable but despite this we managed to win. Afterwards we shared an excellent meal at the Tigh na Mara.

Rugby               

Our group of supporters and friends make good use of their season tickets to watch Glasgow Warriors. All of our group of 12 are renewing their season tickets last for next season.

Our season ticket holders are again making their tickets available to Club members for individual matches which they themselves are unable to attend.  It is essential that Tom Mitchell is contacted at an early stage before spares are offered to others.

There are home games on Friday 5^th October against Zebre and Sunday 14th October against Saracens. There are likely to be spare tickets available for these matches.

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.  

We have articles in the Free Press and in our District Magazine on a regular basis.

Websites 

 Roger Johnson continues to manage our site. 

 http://rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.php?ClubID=1383  Tom Stevenson continues to look after the Mull of Galloway Trail site.

http://www.mullofgallowaytrail.co.uk/  

Tom Stevenson has also ensured that the MGT is listed among Scotland’s Great trails

http://www.scotlandsgreattrails.com/

We are on Facebook with 23 members. It would be appreciated if members who use Facebook would join the group and forward any new content to their friends thus helping our public profile.

And finally: -

·         War does not determine who is right -- only who is left.

·         Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

·         The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese

·         Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

·         To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research. (Appropriate for this newsletter!)