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Forward (2012)Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 18th January 2012
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| Ambassadorial Scholar Jordan Williams |
Thirty-five members and one guest attended the meeting held in Watts Restaurant on 18th January. Guest speaker was ambassadorial student Jordan Williams from Athens, Texas. (official home of the hamburger!)
Rotary’s Ambassadorial Scholarship programme promotes international understanding and friendly relations among people from different parts of the world. Since 1947, 41,000 men and women have benefitted from the programme.
Jordan is studying Peace and Conflict studies in the dept. of International Relations at St. Andrews University. She has a keen interest in political science and philosophy. About to embark on a field trip to Bosnia, Jordan will work with peace groups trying to build relations with the factions involved in the bitter civil war.
The vote of thanks was given by Eric Young.
Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 11th January 2012
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| Douglas Drysdale and Catherine Meikle - Bethany Christian Trust |
Thirty-eight members and 3 guests attended the meeting held in Watts Restaurant on 11th January.
Guest speakers were Douglas Drysdale of the Bethany Christian Trust and Catherine Meikle from St James Church, Cupar. Douglas gave a brief background to the Bethany Christian Trust which was established in 1983 by the Rev. Alan Berry, then the minister of South Leith Church. Today the Trust supports 4000 homeless and vulnerable people in Scotland every year and helps them find, equip and maintain a home within their local community. Today it is estimated that 3000 people sleep rough on the streets of Scotland. The average age at death of someone sleeping on the street is 42, (37 years earlier than the national average), mainly due to their lifestyle and living arrangements. Douglas emphasised that the Bethany Trust provides a service to all regardless of faith, race or background, a true example of Christian faith in action. The Bethany Christian Trust works with other agencies including Fife Council but is facing a bleak future given the scale of cut-backs due. More and more, the Trust will have to rely upon charity giving.
Catherine and a group of volunteers from St James has had a working relationship with the Trust for the last year and has already organised a day out for local mothers and their children to the deer centre and an outing to Anstruther for men which included a visit to the lifeboat station. Both outings enabled the participants, many facing similar challenges to socialise, gain confidence and experience friendship.
The vote of thanks was given by Dereck Thomson.
Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 7th December 2011
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| 6th-Generation Farrier David Wilson |
Club President Dermot Stewart chaired the meeting held in Watts Restaurant on 7th December.
It was attended by thirty-nine members and one guest. Two new members, James Johnston and Jon Richmond were welcomed into the club before guest speaker David Wilson gave an account of his career as a farrier/blacksmith.
Born in Kilmany, David is a 6th generation Wilson farrier, a tradition that began in 1813. At the age of 4, David could be found nailing shoes to the wooden smithy floor! Following the death of his father when he was 17, David moved to Ayton smithy and soon entered the world of competitive shoe making. To date he has thirteen gold medals for Clydesdale shoe making! In 1983 David was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to farriery. In 1985, David won the World Championships held in Canada and in 2012 will himself be judging the competition at the Calgary Stampede, the biggest event of its kind in the world.
His career has taken David all over the world but perhaps his most unusual task was to give Clydesdale shoeing demonstrations at the Budweiser HQ in America. Budweiser keep 150 breeding Clydesdale mares to ensure they can support the several “teams” that pull traditional wagons at promotional exhibitions throughout the USA.
The Wilson tradition continues with grandson Josh, the eighth generation Wilson farrier.
Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 30th Nov 2011
Thirty-seven members and four guests attended the Special General Meeting, held in Watts Restaurant on 30th November.
Club President Dermot Stewart chaired the business meeting when members heard details of over forty organisations and charities which had benefited from the club’s fund raising activities throughout the year. Locally, contributions were made to Cupar Guides, Cupar Tuesday Cubs, Rotary Kids Day Out, Primary School Quiz, Eden Park Children’s Respite centre, Rotary Senior Citizens Day Out and Fife MS. Internationally, the club continued its Shelterbox work and sent contributions to the world-wide Rotary campaign to eradicate polio.
Dermot announced that the club had been left a significant bequest by the late Gavin Reekie (senior) who died earlier this year and was a keen Rotarian. Ideas were sought from members, particularly those who knew Gavin well, as to how his gift should be used.
At the close of the meeting, several members, particularly those who had business connections with Cupar, expressed their deep disappointment in the quality and quantity of Christmas lights provided by Fife Council. It was suggested that for next year, the club should consider working with other interested organisations towards forming a partnership with Fife Council to bring about an improved display.
Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 23rd Nov 2011
President Dermot Stewart welcomed twenty-nine members and one guest
(Andrea Morelli, from the Rotary Club of Bologna) to the meeting, and
reminded members that this was the 79th anniversary of the club's
foundation.
Rotarian Bill McSeveney spoke after dinner on the interpretation of
paintings, and invited audience participation with several pictures. He
pointed out that everyone brings his own history to the understanding of
any work of art, and blending this with the artist's own background and
information about the technical side of the work allows him to build a
story around it.
Rotarian Euan Barbour thanked Bill on behalf of the club.
Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 16th Nov 2011
President Dermot Stewart welcomed twenty-nine members and one guest (Andrea Morelli, from the Rotary Club of Bologna) to the meeting, and reminded members that this was the 79th anniversary of the club's foundation.
Rotarian Bill McSeveney spoke after dinner on the interpretation of paintings, and invited audience participation with several pictures. He pointed out that everyone brings his own history to the understanding of any work of art, and blending this with the artist's own background and information about the technical side of the work allows him to build a story around it.
Rotary Euan Barbour thanked Bill on behalf of the club.
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Thanks to Roger Siddle of the Carnforth Rotary Club for his revolving Rotary wheel.