Club News

Notes on all meetings in 2010

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 6th January 2010

Sylvia Donaldson, Past President of St Andrews Rotary Club

Icy conditions were the probably reason for a low membership turnout of twenty-eight for the first meeting of the New Year, but President Bill Nicoll was able to welcome two visitors and Béla Simandi's guest speaker to the meeting, as well as Béla's wife, Ann Baird, a member of the St Andrews club. Sylia Donaldson was the first lady member of the St Andrews club, and also its first lady President, and she came to talk about Rotary's Foundation Charity.
Inaugurated in 1947, the charity collects funds from upwards of 30,000 clubs world-wide, and aims to promote world peace and international understanding by financing educational and humanitarian projects such as Polio-Plus, Ambassadorial Scholarships and Rotary World Peace Fellowships. Syvlia has been heavily involved in the placement and support of Ambassadorial Scholars, many of whom come to St Andrews University to study, and helped them with accommodation, integration into the student community and with the cultural differences they have to cope with. Each Scholar is expected to make a presentation to local Rotary Clubs, ten to fifteen in a year, and these have to be prepared and organised locally. There is also a responsibility to report back to the Rotary Club at home which sponsored them in the first place, so this is certainly not a care-free student year!
Rotarian Jim Robertson thanked Sylvia for her talk.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 13th January 2010

The wintry conditions which kept many members at home last week were clearing, and President Bill Nicoll was able to welcome forty-three members to the meeting at the Armaan Restaurant.
He reminded members of the activities planned for Rotary Awareness Week, which takes place between the 20th and 27th of February, and Rotarian Christina Renton, the headteacher at Kilmaron School, announced that proceeds from the school's Burns Night on 26th January will be sent to the Rotary "End Polio Now" fund.
Unfortunately, technical problems prevented Past President Grant McLeish from presenting the images from his recent trip to Salt Lake City and points West, but he was able to show a DVD presentation on the Ocean Drive in Australia, and Rotarian Hilda Scott thanked him on the Club's behalf.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 20th January 2010

Brian Bayne - Trenching your Gushing Entrails Bricht	Brian Bayne - Warm-reekin, rich!	Paul Webster - The Piper's Reward	Christina Renton - Poosie Nancy	Sandy Green - The Immortal Memory

Thirty-nine members and three guests enjoyed a Burns Supper at the Armaan Restaurant, with President Bill Nicoll in the chair.
The haggis was piped in by Paul Webster with Rotarian Christina Renton as Poosie Nancy, and it was addressed by Past President Brian Bayne.
Guest Speaker Sandy Green spoke after dinner, and proposed The Immortal Memory, and all those who took part were thanked by Vice President Dermot Stewart.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 27th January 2010

Club President Bill Nicoll welcomed 37 members to the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Cupar at the Armaan Restaurant on 27th January.
The speaker for the evening, Rotarian Bill McSeveney, gave an illustrated talk on one of his favourite artists, Joan Eardley.
After graduation from Glasgow School of Art, Joan acquired a studio among the tenements of Townhead, determined to paint ordinary, everyday life.
She spent much of her time there painting the twelve members of the Samson family, especially the children, often against a background of graffiti-covered walls. These paintings have become iconic and well loved. In 1951, Joan discovered Catterline, the small fishing community south of Stonehaven and acquired property there. A series of powerful landscapes and seascapes followed - often produced from the same location and viewpoint. On hearing that a storm was approaching, Joan would hurry out , erect her easel, secure it,, then paint what she experienced. The materials she used extended beyond oil paints, to incorporate earth, corn grains, ship's paint and grit.
She died in 1963 and her ashes were scattered on the shore at Catterline. Her unique, distinctive paintings incorporate a powerful blend of brutality, tenderness and honesty.
The Club's formal vote of thanks was given by Past President Canon Pat McInally.
Before business was concluded, the President congratulated Rotarian Christina Renton, head teacher at Kilmaron School on the Burns Supper that had taken place the previous evening. The event had involved pupils, staff, parents and Rotarians, raising funds for the Club's contribution towards the eradication of polio.
Vice President Dermot Stewart provided members with details of plans for Rotary Awareness Week, 20th to 27th February, during which there would be further generation of funds for polio eradication.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 3rd February 2010

The meeting was chaired by President Bill Nicoll, who welcomed thirty-three members and four guests.
A business meeting took place after dinner, with committee chairmen outlining their plans for future events, including the next Primary Schools Quiz (to take place early in March) and Kids' Out Day (in June). The club hasn't made any direct contribution to disaster relief in Haiti, preferring to support the Shelterbox charity. President Bill Nicoll proposed that the club fund two further Shelterboxes at £490 each, and that £500 should be donated to CHAS, £500 to his chosen charity, the RNLI, and £200 to Cupar Explorer Scouts - a total of £2180 - and these donations were approved.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 10th February 2010

Thirty-nine members were welcomed by President Bill Nicoll to the Armaan Restaurant on the 10th February for the Club's regular meeting. The scheduled speaker was unable to attend, and Rotarian Rennie Ritchie stepped into the breach with a talk based on the Driving Licence. He brought along his first licence, the small red booklet with several pages for endorsements which was familiar to many members, and which was replaced in the 1970s by the computerised licence, and in 1998 by a two-part licence consisting of a photograph of the holder on a credit-card-sized card and a paper counterpart. Many people believe that the photo-card is sufficient to prove their entitlement to drive, but Rennie pointed out that neither part on its own is enough - you must produce both parts together. The paper part is valid until the holder is 70 years old, but the photo-card must be renewed every ten years. Although your licence entitles you to drive, it is still your responsibility to ensure that you are fit enough to do so. It is generally obvious when a physical disability makes it unsafe for you to drive, but gradually deteriorating eyesight is a common reason for the mature driver to become unfit without realising it. With his involvement in the Institute of Advanced Motorists, Rennie was obviously keen to remind members that driving skills should also be reviewed from time to time. Rotarian Dereck Thomson thanked Rennie on behalf of the club for filling the gap with a fascinating talk.

Evening Meeting held at the Village Inn, Pitlessie on Tuesday 16th February 2010

The third meeting of February took place at the Pitlessie Inn as guests of the Howe of Fife Rotary Club, whose President Dennis Peattie welcomed Cupar Rotary President Bill Nicoll and Cupar Inner Wheel President Kate Nimmo and their members.
The guest speaker was Aileen Whyte, NHS Locality General Manager for Cupar and the Howe of Fife, who talked about the current redevelopment of the Adamson Hospital in Cupar. This has been discussed and plans drawn up over the last twenty years, and funding was eventually allocated by NHS Fife last year, and the project approved by the Scottish Government. Aileen illustrated her talk with a scale model of the site, and sparked off a great deal of interest from her audience, if the flood of questions from the floor is anything to go by!
Past President of the host club, Robin Rippin, thanked Aileen for her presentation.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 24th February 2010

David James, Director of Mountain Unity International	Irene Ford (CHAS), David Thomson (RNLI) and Charlie Jack (Cupar Explorer Scouts) receive their cheques from President Bill Nicoll	Alastair Clark and Grant McLeish receiving Long Service Certificates from Bill Nicoll

Thirty-eight members and four guests were given a welcome to the Armaan Restaurant by President Bill Nicoll, who had the pleasant task of awarding Long Service Certificates to Rotarian Alastair Clark and Past President Grant McLeish, and of presenting cheques to Irene Ford of CHAS for £400, to Charlie Jack of Cupar Explorer Scouts of £200 and to David Thomson of RNLI for £500.
The evening's speaker was David James, who is the Director of Mountain Unity International (MUI), a social enterprise set up to promote economic development in North East Afghanistan with a focus on mountain tourism. David explained that he had had two tours of duty in Afghanistan during his time in the army, and that he had seen that no matter how successful military operations have been, a long-term solution to the country's problems depends on a reduction in the very high levels of unemployment - 80% in some areas - which can act as a recruiting agent for the Taleban. MUI operates in the Wakhan Corridor, a thin strip of land running roughly West to East along the river Oxus, which marks the Northern border with Tajikistan. The area is sparsely populated, mainly by two tribes - the Wakhis, who are subsistence farmers in the valley bottoms, and the Kyrgyz, who are nomadic. Both groups struggle to feed their families, and there are high levels of infant and maternal mortality and low levels of literacy - even a small additional income from visiting mountaineers can make an enormous difference.
Past President Ron Smith congratulated David for setting up this enterprise, and thanked him on behalf of the club.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 3rd March 2010

President Bill Nicoll welcomed thirty-nine members to the weekly meeting of Cupar Rotary Club at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 3rd March.
He firstly congratulated members on raising £1200 towards polio elimination thanks to their successful collections during the last week of February - Rotary Awareness Week.
The main speaker was Mr Rob Cairns, the NE Fife representative for Chernobyl Children's Lifeline.
The Chernobyl disaster occurred in April 1986. Its dreadful consequences persist still. Belarus was worst affected, and 90% of children there are born with a thyroid cancer condition. Life expectancy for men is 45 years, for women 50 years.
The Lifeline organisation regularly takes "Chernobyl children" to Scotland for a respite stay of one month. This one month can give them five years of additional life!
The Lifeline's next project is to drive a bus full of children's toys, computers, educational and medical equipment to Stolin, a hard-hit town near the Ukrainian border.
Mr Cairns made a special appeal for paper, pens, pencils, jotters and note-pads, etc.
Rotarian Eric Young gave the club's formal vote of thanks.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 10th March 2010

Dr Roberta Littleford, Clinical Trial Manager at the Tayside Institute for Cardiovascular Research

President Bill Nicoll welcomed thirty-nine members and no less than thirteen visitors from the Alloa club to the meeting on the 10th March.
The meeting was addressed after dinner by Dr Roberta Littleford, who is the Clinical Trial Manager at the Tayside Institute of Cardiovascular Research. She is currently recruiting volunteers for a large-scale trial called TASCFORCE, which needs 5000 volunteers aged 40 or over who have no past history of heart or blood-vessel problems, who will be screened and treated for potential problems and followed up over twenty years.
There are a number of factors which influence disease which we can do nothing about - ethnic origin, age, and gender, for example - and there are others that we can influence, such as exercise, alcohol, diet, diabetes, poverty, cholesterol, smoking, stress and obesity. All of these are used in established screening programmes, and will be checked as part of the study.
In addition, two promising new tests will be introduced. B-type natriuretic peptide ("BNP") is a chemical released by heart muscle in response to excessive stretching, and it can give early warning of problems to come in patients without other symptoms or signs of heart disease. It is also now possible to outline the coronary arteries by taking an MRI scan of the heart after injection of a compound of gadolinium into a vein, picking up potential blockage at an early stage.
Rotarian Euan Barbour thanked Dr Littleford for her presentation on behalf of the Club and guests.
President Bill Nicoll reminded members of the first round of the Primary Schools Quiz, which is to take place at Dairsie Primary School on 11th March.

Evening Meeting held on Wednesday 17th March 2010

Although this was the club's "Scatter Week", when members are encouraged to visit other Rotary Clubs in place of their own meeting, President Bill Nicoll had issued an invitation to an alternative venue and welcomed twenty-seven members and two guests to the meeting.
The evening's guest speaker was Andrew Spence, a fourth year medical student at Ninewells, who asked members to complete a questionnaire to help with his research project. The hazards of excessive alcohol are well recognised and well researched, but there has been little work done on consumption at or around the recommended levels. Andrew's project is intended to fill this gap, and members were happy to help with data collection.
Rotarian Bill McSeveney reported on last week's first round of the Primary School Quiz, which had taken place at Dairsie Primary School. It had been an exciting competition, with no less than three teams tying for first place at the end of ten rounds. The tie-break round left two teams in the running, and first place had to be decided by a sudden-death playoff - St Columba's Primary School will be going on to the next round of the competition.
President Bill Nicoll reported the sad news of the death on Monday of Past Member David Spittle.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 24th March 2010

President Bill Nicoll and the pupils of Springfield Primary School	President Bill Nicoll and Donald Gillespie, Headteacher of Springfield Primary School	President Bill Nicoll presents Les McAndrew's Long-Service Certificate

Thirty-five members attended the meeting, with President Bill Nicoll in the chair.
Rotarian Andrew Morrison spoke after dinner, and outlined his involvement with the Highland Reserve Forces and Cadets Support Advisory Centre - he chairs the committee dealing with the East area, comprising Fife and Tayside. The UK's prolonged involvement in several conflict zones has made it necessary to mobilise reservists to support the regular service-men and -women, and this has had knock-on effects on the reservists themselves and on their employers.
SaBRE - "Support for Britain's Reservists and Employers" - helps resolve these effects on a UK-wide basis, and is able to provide flexibility in the mobilisation of reservists. Andrew gave the example of a small country garage with only one mechanic qualified to undertake MOT testing - SaBRE can provide funds for the training of another employee to perform MOTs and postpone the mobilisation. Afghanistan is always in the headlines because of the casualties, but we hear little of the improvements for the Afghans. For example, there have been huge improvements in child mortality and in education, as well as financial and commercial reforms. Past President Brian Bayne thanked Andrew on behalf of the club.
President Bill Nicoll announced that he'd received a cheque for £157.10 from Donald Gillespie, Headteacher at Springfield Primary School. The fifty-six pupils had been involved in various projects connected with "Purple Pinkie Day", part of Rotary's effort to eradicate Polio worldwide. They had sold "End Polio Now" wristbands, and held a poster competition, a quiz, face painting (with a purple theme!), had dressed up in purple and had created cartoon strips to raise funds.
Bill also reported that he'd visited Les McAndrew to present his Long-Service certificate, as Les hasn't been well enough to attend meetings over the last few weeks.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 31st March 2010

Ambassadorial Scholar Lungile Zakwe	Brian Bayne and Harry Mellotte collect Shoeboxes from St Columba's School

The meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 31st of March was chaired by President Bill Nicoll, with thirty-three members and two guests present.
The guest speaker was Lungile Zakwe, who is a Rotary Foundation Scholar, sponsored by the Rosebank Rotary Club in South Africa. Lungile studied Law at Witwatersrand University, went on to study Japanese Language and Culture at Soka University in Tokyo and is now studying for an MSc in International Strategy and Economics at St Andrews University. Lungile, who has a Zulu father and a Xhosa mother, has lived through dramatic changes in her country, with the dismantling of apartheid in 1990 and the first election open to the whole population in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became president; she is still excited about casting her vote when an election comes up!
After Rotarian Margaret Beetlestone proposed the vote of thanks, Honorary Member Jackie Taylor reported on the continuing success of the Water and School Projects supported by the club in Nepal.
Past President Brian Bayne reported that 190 shoe-boxes have been collected from local schools to the distribution centre in Perth, and would shortly be on their way to disadvanaged children in Eastern Europe.
Treasurer Bill Low reported that the Polio Fund was now £5743.83 in credit, including around £400 raised recently by Rotarian Hilda Scott who ran a coffee morning in her shop. The club agreed that £5500 should be sent to the Polio campaign now, with the aim of sending a further £500 later. President Bill Nicoll congratulated the club on reaching its three-year target for Polio Plus within a single year.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 7th April 2010

Thirty members were present at the meeting in the Armaan Restaurant with President Bill Nicoll in the chair, and were addressed after dinner by Rotarian Roy Marsden.
For whatever reason, Roy opted not to give the traditional vocational talk on his work - as a systems analyst in the insurance industry - and spoke instead of a trip he made to Argentina in 2003 with Earthwatch. This organisation involves people throughout the world in research and education aimed at a sustainable environment, and Roy's expedition investigated the carnivores in the sparsely populated highlands of Argentina, about which very little is known.
The group comprised several scientists, students and volunteers, and they camped out in the hills for a couple of weeks, setting up cage traps to catch animals so as to be able to examine them and possibly attach tracking devices.
The species they were looking for were the Pampas Fox, Geoffroy's Cat, and skunk and weasel species, and although the sightings were few, Roy enjoyed the whole experience, with the possible exception of the poisonous snakes and spiders!
Rotarian George Bett proposed the club's vote of thanks to Roy.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 14th April 2010

District Governor Bill Macfarlane Smith receives a cheque for £5500 from President Bill Nicoll	President Bill Nicoll welcomes new member Johanna Melville

President Bill Nicoll welcomed thiry-five members, six guests from Claverhouse Rotary Club, and District Governor Bill Macfarlane Smith to the meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 14th of April. The District Governor was present to receive a cheque for £5500, an interim contribution to the "End Polio Now" project which has been the major focus of the club's fund-raising, but he also had the pleasant duty of inducting new member Johanna Melville. Local farmer's daughter Johanna is a Biology Teacher at Bell-Baxter, and with her past voluntary work teaching Science in Uganda and English in Romania she already matches Rotary aims in promoting education to disadvantaged communities.
Past President Graham Pirie entertained club members after dinner with tales of his youth in Leven, although these were tinged with some regret at the decline of this formerly prosperous industrial and tourist centre. Graham's father was a GP in Leven, and although his youthful sporting ambitions were thwarted by poor eyesight, he became the team dotor for East Fife. His medical background and his wife's nursing skills stood them in good stead in rehabilitating various injured animals that found their way into the household. A particular favourite was an injured female fox cub he discovered while out on a night call, which was nursed back to health and bonded succesfully with the family's very boisterous dog. The rabbit survived some rough games with the fox, and the guinea-pigs were unharmed, but the chickens had to go for their own safety. Once mature she became too much to handle, and arrangements were made for her to be accommodated in a cage between the guinea pigs and the aviary in Letham Glen. This all went fine until she first came into season, and although repairs were made to the damage caused by the first visit of a dog fox, the second visit succeeded in releasing her and she was never seen again.
Past-President Scott Blyth thanked Graham for a very entertaining talk, and District Governor Bill Macfarlane Smith wound up the meeting with a progress report on the Polio campaign in Great Britain and Ireland, which is well on course for its $1,000,000 target.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 21st April 2010

Thirty-seven members and one guest were present at the meeting at the Armaan Restaurant with President Bill Nicoll in the chair. Rotarian Christina Renton spoke after dinner about the coal-mining community of East Wemyss, where she was born.
The shaft of the Michael Colliery in East Wemyss was sunk in 1895, and the pit was owned by the Wemyss Coal Company until it was nationalised after the Second World War, and was taken over by the National Coal Board. The mine produced a high grade of coal, suitable for homes and for steam engines, and had its own private railway linking it to Methil.
Christina's grandfather, James Penman, was born in 1875 and worked as a miner until he was 80, including 12-hour shifts during the war at the age of 64. Her aunt worked as a coal-sorter at the pit-head - a very hard job, often done by women - and many members of the family spent their whole working lives at the pit.
Life in East Wemyss was to change abruptly in September 1967 when fire broke out in the mine. At the time 1874 men were employed at the mine, 316 of these on the surface, and five seams were being worked when the fire started. The subsequent enquiry couldn't find clear evidence of the cause of the fire, which was thought to have started in a conveyor belt.
During a 36 hour rescue operation involving rescue teams from several other mines, all but eight men were saved. By the afternoon of 10th September it became too dangerous for rescue attempts to continue, and the pit-head was sealed with three bodies not recovered. Several medals for bravery were awarded, including one posthumous. With the closure of the mine, the close-knit community of East Wemyss lost its focus, and had to adjust abruptly to a change which eventually comes to all mining communities as the coal runs out. Coal-mining has been a key component in Fife's industrial history, and many communities have faced the same challenge.
Past President Graham Bowen thanked Christina on behalf of the club.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 28th April 2010

Thirty-five members attended the Club's AGM at the Armaan Restaurant on the 28th April, with President Bill Nicoll in the Chair.
Committee Chairmen reported on the year so far, and outlined plans for the next through President-Elect Graham Findlay who named his team for 2010-2011.
The running total for Polio Plus has now reached £6000, with more funds still coming in, and President Bill Nicoll proposed a donation of £200 to the Girl Guides to support events in their 100th Anniversary Year.
The Kids Out Day for Kilmaron School pupils is to take place at Craigtoun Park on the 10th June this year.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 5th May 2010

President Bill Nicoll welcomed thirty-three members and two guests from Anstruther Rotary Club to the weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 5th May.
Rotarian Tracy Jordan then gave an amusing, informative talk entitled "Only Kidding", on the pains and pleasures of goat-keeping. Goats can be wilful and will eat anything, but are quick to detect infection and contamination. A mature nanny produces 6-8 pints of milk daily, and goat's milk has proven benefits for humans suffering from asthma and eczema. Goats respond to human affection and care.
Over the years Tracy has bred more than fifty goats and she has a small herd of a rare breed - Golden Guernsey Goats. Tracy spoke of her more memorable goats - Old Libby, Primrose and Justin, a billy who became house-trained and occasionally accompanied Tracy to work!
Tracy spoke of the agony and ecstasy of being midwife for the nannies at kidding time - almost always dawn or dusk.
Rotarian Stuart Campbell gave the vote of thanks, and Tracy won an extended, appreciative round of applause.
In time remaining Vice-President Dermot Stewart publicised the club's Annual Charity Golf Day on Thursday 13th May and Willie Duncan advertised the Anstruther Club's Charity Coastal Walk on Sunday 30th May.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 12th May 2010

Tumong Edwards, Community Fundraiser for Maggie's Fife

Thirty-five members and two guests were present at the meeting in the Armaan Restaurant, with President Bill Nicoll in the chair.
The speaker after dinner was Tumong Edwards ("Tu"), who is the Community Fundraiser for Maggie's Fife, based at the Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy. There are currently six centres in the UK, five of them in Scotland, and they are named after Maggie Keswick Jencks, who was first found to have breast cancer in 1988 at the age of forty-seven. Treatment at the time appeared to have been successful, but in 1993 she was found to have widespread secondary cancer involving her bones, bone marrow and liver.
Involvement in a trial of therapy for metastatic breast cancer at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh won her a reprieve of eighteen months, and she found that the more active she was in supporting her own cancer treatment the better she felt. She found that there was a gap between the necessarily technical aspects of the treatment of her cancer and the more human aspects of supportive care, and she persuaded the medical team at the Western General that they needed partners to help with the non-medical aspects of living with cancer. She drew up plans for a pioneering venture in a converted stable block close to the unit where she was being treated, but she died before it was opened in 1996.
Maggie's Centres provide a homely place for patients and relatives to relax with a cup of tea and a chat. There are groups that meet to discuss their experience of particular cancers and provide mutual support, with specialists to help deal with queries about nursing, psychology, nutrition, general well-being and benefit entitlements. The centres are all funded by charitable donation and there is no charge for their use.
Tu finished her talk with options for any Rotarians who might wish to help - she suggested that we might spread the word about Maggie's Centres, volunteer to help at a Centre, or raise funds.
Rotarian Ian Donaldson thanked Tu on behalf of the club for her enthusiastic presentation.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 19th May 2010

Tony Wilson, Ranger for the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust

Guest speaker Tony Wilson and thirty-nine members were welcomed to the Armaan Restaurant by President Bill Nicoll.
Tony is a Ranger for the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, and deals with the Cupar and Howe of Fife Area. He is the Site Manager for the Birnie and Gaddon Loch Nature Reserves and Craighall Den SSSI, with input to activities at Tarvit Ponds, Kennoway Den, and Gillingshill Reservoir Reserve.
He is planning to restore the larger pond at Tarvit Ponds to its previous glory as part of the landscaped garden of Tarvit House (demolished in 1963), and to thin out some of the trees to open the area up. The nest boxes around the ponds are in need of repair and resiting, and he is planning to involve pupils from Bell Baxter and Auchtermuchty in this work.
He has also been working with some pupils with learning difficulties, and find that many of them relate to outdoor activities of this sort more readily than they do to bookwork in the classroom. He is also involved on one weekend a month with groups of schoolchildren who are working towards the John Muir Award, which is an environmental award scheme focused on wild places.
He'll be travelling with some of them to the Skaftafell National Park in Iceland, where they'll be camping while working on the lichen heaths, helping with the recording of rare plants and building board-walks to protect them from damage. They'll also visit Geysir - the origin of the English word "geyser", and the site of the first recorded geyser, and the Blue Lagoon - a lake filled with geothermally heated seawater.
Rotary Euan Barbour proposed the club's formal vote of thanks to Tony.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 26th May 2010

Thirty-eight members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 26th May, with President Bill Nicoll in the Chair.
With no speaker the evening was given over to an evening of fellowship.
Two upcoming events are the Kids Out Day for Kilmaron School pupils, this to take place at Craigtoun Park on Thursday 10th June, and the Presidential Cruise on the River Tay upriver from Newburgh on Sunday 13th June, followed by high tea on return to Newburgh.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 2nd June 2010

Thirty-five members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 2nd June, with President Bill Nicoll in the Chair.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Canon Pat McInally, who highlighted the contrasts between the state of the Age Concern centre in Cupar as it was in 2001 when Pat was elected on to the management committee and today.
In 2001 at the AGM the treasurer reported a bank balance of £200. There were 2 part-time members of staff and the number of lunches provided per week was 80. Today the bank balance is a lot healthier, there are 5 full-time members of staff and the number of lunches provided per week is now 200.
Canon Pat went on to give more details under three headings.
Firstly, staffing/funding. The original staff were enthusiastic but the centre needed more professional and efficient staffing arrangements. The current staff now includes an assistant cook and a minibus driver. To help fund the increase in staff a National Lottery grant was applied for and at the 3rd attempt awarded but fund-raising needed to continue as the lottery grant only lasted for 3 years.
Secondly, transport. With assistance from fellow Rotarians, one with information about a mini-bus that was available for immediate use, and one with a trust fund that allowed a 2nd mini-bus to be bought, the transport situation is now satisfactory.
Thirdly, maintenance of the centre itself. New toilets including disabled toilets have been installed recently and over the next few years the windows will be replaced.
Rotarian Graham Pirie gave thanks, emphasising that we had all learned a lot about the hard work that had gone into improving the well-being of Age Concern Cupar over the last few years.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 9th June 2010

President Bill Nicoll introduced a number of guests, including Rotarians from the Abertay and Howe of Fife Rotary clubs.
After the meal the main business of the evening was the Club Assembly, led by incoming President Graham Findlay. This followed the format of the Club Leadership Plan adopted by the Club earlier this year, when the many local and international plans of the various committees were announced. There are too many to list in this report (we will keep you all informed as events approach), but the new Rotary year in Cupar, which commences in July, promises to be busy, challenging and rewarding.
One of the main issues in Rotary nationally is the constant search for new members. Whilst Cupar Rotary membership remains good, the Club is never complacent and is very aware its membership does not wholly reflect this area's demographic mix. Graham Pirie who leads the Membership Services Committee aims to rectify this in a recruitment drive.
Assistant District Governor Harry Leadbitter (who oversees all the Dundee and many of the Fife Rotary Clubs) concluded this part of the business by passing on a few words of wisdom, and wished the Club well.
President Bill asked members to approve several financial disbursements, and the larger beneficiaries will be C.H.A.S., Maggie's Centre, R.N.L.I., Royal Blind School, and Age Scotland (previously Age Concern, Cupar).
The meeting concluded with the traditional toast to Rotary International.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 16th June 2010

Thirty-five members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 16th June, with President Bill Nicoll in the Chair.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Dermot Stewart. Dermot entertained us with the tale of his time as a star of BBC Radio, back in the Belfast of 1967. Dermot was nominated by a teacher at his school (‘Dermot, you are a mine of useless information’) to be a member of the school team that would take part in the Light Programme’s sports quiz series Sporting Challenge. There were 8 teams in total, 5 from England and one each from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
On each programme there was a mystery guest to be identified. In the 2nd round this was the British and Irish Lions rugby player Tony O’Reilly (later to become head of Heinz) and in the final Pat Taffe, the jockey who rode Arkle to many great victories.
Dermot’s team went on to win the final and were hoping to repeat the experience but the BBC reorganised their radio stations and Sporting Challenge was one of the casualties of this reorganisation.
Rotarian George Sharp gave the vote of thanks.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 23rd June 2010

Thirty-four members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 23rd June, with President Bill Nicoll in the Chair.
Before the evening’s speech we were informed that the Westfield Road, Cupar, open gardens day, that took place on Sunday 6th June, had raised over £500 for Rotary funds.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Dereck Thomson. Dereck told us the story of the search for his uncle’s world war one grave. George Thomson was killed on 1st July 1916 during the battle of the Somme in northern France. On that one day more than 58,000 British and Commonwealth troops died in the battle.
Dereck’s father never spoke of his brother but when the soldiers’ medals were handed down to Dereck’s own brother the decision was made to locate and visit the grave of George Thomson. With a page of different George Thomson’s listed on the website of the Commonwealth Graves commission the papers that Dereck had inherited were useful as they showed George was buried at Aubigny cemetery.
Dereck and his brother took the Eurostar to Lille and made their way through the quiet countryside of the Pas de Calais via Bethune and St. Pol to Aubigny. The immaculate military cemetery lay next to the civilian cemetery and contained several German soldier’s graves, over 200 French and over 2,700 British and Commonwealth graves. The brothers found their uncle’s grave with his name, the date of death and his regiment, The Gordon Highlanders.
After the visit to their uncle’s grave, the brothers went on to visit the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge and to go through the Menin Gate, the memorial to soldiers with no known graves, at Ypres. The traffic still stops at the Gate at 8 p.m. every evening while the last post is played.
President Bill Nicoll gave the vote of thanks for a truly moving talk.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 30th June 2010

Thirty-four members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 30th June, with President Bill Nicoll in the Chair.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Jennifer Martin. Jennifer gave a talk on her interest in art and in particular on a Scottish artist who specialised at some periods in his life in paintings and sketches close to our home area and in one case very close to Jennifer’s own personal home.
The artist was George Leslie Hunter. George was born in Rothesay in 1877 but moved to California with his family when he was 13. He became a painter and had a spell in Paris before returning to San Francisco where unfortunately the 1906 earthquake destroyed a lot of his early work. He joined with Fergusson, Cadell and Peploe in the group known as the Scottish Colourists who drew their inspiration from the French impressionists. George died in 1931.
His paintings are now valued in the hundreds of thousands of pounds range.
Jennifer showed us several examples of his work ranging from a chalk sketch of the Fishermen’s Wharf in San Francisco, to paintings and sketches of French landscapes but she mainly concentrated on his work in Fife including several sketches of Ceres. And the painting that was very close to home was that of Jennifer’s own 17th/18th century house in the Bridgend area of Ceres. This painting can now be seen in the Hunterian Museum and Gallery in Glasgow.
Rotary club secretary Ian Copland gave the vote of thanks for a very colourful and interesting talk.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 7th July 2010

Graham Findlay, 63, was welcomed as the new president on Wednesday 7th July at the regular weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant.
Graham has been a Rotarian for 17 years and his commitment to the club has earned the respect of fellow members who were pleased to vote him in as their new president for the forthcoming year.
Graham said: “I am delighted to become the new president of our wonderful club. It’s going to be a very exciting year. We’re hoping to try out a lot of new things and are looking for enthusiastic men and women to join our club. We have a lot of fun and really enjoy ourselves, on top of all the fundraising we do, and would love to hear from anyone interested in joining us and making a real difference to their community.”
The first Rotary Club was founded by Paul Harris in Chicago, USA on 23rd February 1905. Ever since, Rotary’s work has spanned the globe, with clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas and a membership of 1.2 million business men and women.
To find out more, visit www.ribi.org.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 14th July 2010

Thirty-six members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 14th July, with President Graham Findlay in the Chair.
They witnessed the induction of a new member into the club, Alastair Andrew, former bridgemaster of the Forth Road Bridge.
The speaker for the evening was Rod McNeil from the Rotary Club of Cowdenbeath.
Rod told us of his travels and travails in Africa. The travails included needing to make an emergency exit from a plane that was on fire at the airport at Lake Kariba near the Victoria Falls on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Having survived this Rod and his wife then had to brave their way past 2 muggers on the walk down to view the falls. Another escapade was a trip in a taxi in which the road could be seen through holes in the floor. This taxi then crashed having lost one of the wheels. Rod, his wife and another couple decided to take the offer of a lift in a crowded van rather than risk the taxi again.
But despite all this Rod and his wife love Africa and he did tell us of a wonderful hot-air balloon trip over the Namibian desert and a boat trip along Lake Nasser to see the majestic Egyptian temple of Abu Simbel.
Rotarian Roy Marsden gave the vote of thanks.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 21st July 2010

Twenty-eight members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 21st July, with President Graham Findlay in the Chair.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Margaret Beetlestone. Margaret took us via her photographs on a trip to the blue skies of the Algarve in Portugal and the neighbouring regions of Spain.
The photos around Albufeira showed us cork oak trees, Cliff Richard’s mansion, and storks nesting on the top of chimneys. The coast line looked amazing with cliffs, caves and strange pillar rock formations.
Then to Seville with fountains, the golden tower that received the gold from Spain’s South American empire, a monument to Christopher Columbus and the largest cathedral in the world.
Then back to Portugal to the most south-westerly point in Europe and then Lisbon with the monument to Prince Henry the Navigator who spearheaded the Portuguese voyages of discovery along the African coast.
Rotarian Grant McLeish gave the vote of thanks for a talk that lightened up a grey, wet evening.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 28th July 2010

Thirty-six members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 28th July, with President Graham Findlay in the Chair.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Stuart Campbell. Stuart spoke of his passion for restoring neglected and/or accident damaged classic cars.
He led us through the main stages of restoration – strip down and assess, panel work including welding and filling, painting and rebuilding and refitting. Projects can take months to complete with the work being done in ‘spare time’ at Stuart’s workplace, MacLeod’s Auto Centre in Cupar.
Stuart illustrated his talk with photos of projects both ongoing and completed. The current ongoing project is a 1963 series 1 Land Rover.
Examples of projects completed were Stuart’s own mini and a fellow Rotarian’s Morris Minor. Stuart’s photos showed the painstaking work required to strip down, repair or replace panels, the care taken in repainting, and the extras such as improved suspension and hand-painted coach lines.
Rotarian Bruce McHardy gave Stuart a double vote of thanks, one for the speech and one to Stuart and his fellow craftsmen for the excellent work carried out on his own vehicles.

Evening Meeting held at the Armaan Restaurant on Wednesday 4th August 2010

Thirty-two members attended the Club's weekly meeting at the Armaan Restaurant on the 4th August, with President Graham Findlay in the Chair.
There being no speaker, the evening was given over to an evening of fellowship. Secretary Ian Copland received approval from the members to donate £250 to Fife Young Carers, this being a charity supporting young people in Fife who act as carers for other members of their families.
As from Wednesday 11th August the club now meets at Watts of Cupar, Coal Road, Cupar. The meeting time, 6 p.m. on Wednesday evenings, remains unchanged.

Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 11th August 2010

Rod McCall (Howe of Fife President), George Berstan (District Governor), Graham Findlay (Cupar President)

The first meeting of the Rotary Club of Cupar at the new venue of Watts Restaurant was graced with the attendance of several members from the neighbouring Howe of Fife club, in addition to the Cupar club's own 34 members. But the main guests were Rotary district 1010 (North of Scotland) District Governor nominee Robin Rippin and the speaker for the evening, the current District Governor George Berstan of Turriff Rotary Club.
Before George made his speech the club was informed that the total raised from the Rotary Club's coffee morning held on Saturday 7th August was £1,355.
George Berstan in his speech contrasted the large and small aspects or Rotary worldwide by telling us that he had recently met District Governors from all over the world in the US, but that the number of District Governors at this meeting was the relatively small number of 500. He told the members of Rotary International's President Ray Klinginsmith's priorities, namely 'building communities, bridging continents' and continuing in Rotary's work in bringing to an end the scourge of polio in the last few countries that still have the disease.
He ended his speech with the reminder that if you think you are too small to make a difference then just try sleeping in a room overnight with one active mosquito.
Rod McCall of Howe of Fife Rotary club gave the vote of thanks.

Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 18th August 2010

Thirty-seven members attended the Club's weekly meeting at Watts Restaurant on the 18th August, with President Graham Findlay in the Chair.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Christina Renton. Christina was until recently the headmistress of Kilmaron school in Cupar.
Christina’s subject for the evening was the problem of adult literacy within a sizeable proportion of the Scottish population. Although literacy problems are linked with poverty and deprivation Christina went on to give more details regarding dyslexia which affects all sectors of the population citing famous examples of people with dyslexia such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Jackie Stewart. Christina herself has seen some of Leonard da Vinci’s notebooks that contained mirror writing, this being a sign that Leonardo had dyslexia.
Christina also gave a few pointers as to how parents and grandparents can help with the development of a child’s reading skills.
Rotarian Peter McKinnon, having deciphered his own hand-written notes, gave the vote of thanks.

Evening Meeting held at Watts Restaurant on Wednesday 25th August 2010

Thirty-eight members attended the Club's weekly meeting at Watts Restaurant on the 25th August, with President Graham Findlay in the Chair.
The speaker for the evening was Rotarian Vince Fusaro. Vince ensured his audience paid attention to his speech on whisky by offering as a prize a free bottle of the product to the person who managed to answer the most questions in a quiz on his subject.
Vince gave a talk full of facts, some of them surprising, such as the number of European and Asian countries that have whisky distilleries. He also revealed how whisky has remained a relatively cheap drink by informing us that the yield of barley has increased in a generation from 2 tons per acre to 3+ tons per acre and that the new varieties of barley giving this increased yield have themselves a higher starch content and therefore produce more alcohol.
One of his last points was that whisky may be becoming more environmentally friendly as the waste from whisky production may be used as biofuel for cars in the future.
Rotarian Pat Mitchell gave the vote of thanks.

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Thanks to Roger Siddle of the Carnforth Rotary Club for his revolving Rotary wheel.