The Rotary Club of Edinburgh

March 2003 News

Bulletin 1941 - 27th March 2003
Bulletin 1940 - 20th March 2003
Bulletin 1939 - 13th March 2003
Bulletin 1938 - 6th March 2003

Bulletin 1941 - 20th March 2003

PAUL HARRIS FELLOWSHIP

Last week President Peter told us that one of the many privileges of becoming President of this splendid Club is that it is traditional for the President to have, as his gift, the selection of members for the award of the most prestigious honour which the Club can bestow. I refer to the award of the Paul Harris Fellowships.

In the past the President has been able to speak in such broad generalities that both the members and recipient are kept guessing until near the end of the citation. It is impossible to follow that procedure in this case.

"The recipient has been a member for 10 years, has held many offices culminating with the honour of being elected the first lady President.

Her year of office was extraordinary in many ways including having to undergo major surgery twice and being subjected to the debilitating effects of both chemo and radio therapy. Despite this Liz McSwan was absent from the Club for no more than 3 or 4 weeks.

During her year she was assiduous in attending to all her duties including attendance at District and RIBI Conferences, Zone Meetings and every Council Meeting except one.

Liz has done more than her fair share of reception duty and continues to do so. Her knowledge of her fellow members is without parallel and I know I speak for all of us in saying to Liz. "Well done. No Paul Harris Fellowship was more richly deserved than this. You have served the Club exceedingly well, and no words or tangible awards, can truly repay the debt we owe you!"

In her reply former President Liz in Thanking President Peter said she was grateful that he had not said, "She lost the chain."

SOUTHERN UPLAND WAY WALK

Richard Field reminded members that the Walk in aid of polio eradication was taking place on 24th May and that both walkers and sponsors were required.

The walk was being divided into 7-10 mile sections and that we would be involved in one of the sections between Traquair and Cockburnspath.
Anyone who can help please contact Richard Field.

CURLING

The annual match against Kirkcaldy R.C. for the Anniversary Trophy was played at Gogar on 19th March.

In a close match both rinks from Edinburgh won by two shots thus reclaiming the trophy.
The match was followed by a meal ending an afternoon enjoyed by all.

(Last year former member, John Morrison played for us, this year he was again on the losing side playing for Kirkcaldy).

R.C. of DUNBAR

Members are asked to note that with effect from Monday 24th March, 2003, the R.C. of Dunbar will meet in the Craig-en-Gelt Hotel Marine Road, Dunbar, tel. 01368 862287. Day and time are unchanged (Mon 6.30pm).

Attendance Last Week

Members 67
Visitors 0
Guests 2
Total 69

LAST WEEK'S SPEAKER

Our speaker last week, Ian Hogarth, Emergency Planning Officer for the Borders Region said that he had previously been with Lothians and Borders Police Force and that he had joined the same day as Jinty Kerr.

In 1987 he had been in charge of policing in the Borders at the time of the Lockerbie Disaster.

On his first day in his new post he received a call from the coastguard that there was an oil slick off the coast threatening a S.S.I. and what was he going to do about it?

He stated that his job involved "planning for the expected and preparing for the unexpected" and that "five minutes before the party is not the time to learn to dance."

They had to prepare for
1 Natural Disasters-floods, fire, epidemics
2 Technology-Torness, chemicals, oil pollution.
3 People related- fuel protests, fire strike, terrorist attack.

He outlined their training programmes and how co-ordination between the various services was achieved and how the plans were tested using tabletop exercises and case studies. He quoted as an example the analysis carried out after the foot and mouth epidemic.

Bulletin 1940 - 20th March 2003

Attendance Last Week

Members 75
Visitors 1
Guests 0
Total 76

KIDS OUT

KIDS OUT is an experience shared by about 30-40 from Rotary, a contingent of ladies from Inner Wheel, husbands and wives, special needs school staff and 40-60 sixth form helpers. We join forces to take out 200 disabled children from twelve schools around the city and schools from Bathgate and North Berwick. All those involved with the children have very moving recollections from past events. The best children's parties keep the guest to well occupied to get up to mischief and have lots of parental supervision. Based on this principle, Kids Out has been a success. Proof of this is seen in the children's faces as they leave tired and happy. Please assist in making this happen again.

Today is last week for us to put out forms on the table asking you to volunteer to help.
The outing starts at 9am on June 11th. You will be asked to either supervise one of the activities or to "adopt" a child for the day. The "disadvantages" of the kids, our guests who are between 8 and 12 years old, range from blind and deaf, mental and learning difficulties to disabled in wheelchairs.

We open the day with a piper. The children are divided into groups and according to ability, they are offered hall games, bouncy castles, a soft play area, outside slides, the birds of prey, pony rides, police car, horses or the fire brigade. Inside there are professional footballers, face painting, a magician, ice creams and drinks. Lunch is in the form of a picnic for the kids and a buffet for the helpers.

A quieter period follows lunch with an entertainer in the main hall and puppets in a side room. We finish with a disco till the children start to leave at about two. The event is over by about 3pm.

T. Simpson, M. Berry, A. Bell, M.Berry.

(This will be Tim's last year in charge so please give him the support to make it an event to remember by volunteering and giving financial support with your 20p pieces).

Last Week-Business Meeting

Neville Belton, Fund Raising Ctee.
Neville outlined the work of the Ctee. In planning the projects to be supported in 2003-04 and members were invited to show their preferences by completing the sheets on the tables.

Bob Hislop Foundation/Youth Activities described the efforts being made to purchase a refrigerated van for Crisis Fair Share to enable them to take food from supermarkets and other suppliers to Leith where it is stored overnight before being taken to hostels.
At Murrayfield-Cramond R.C. an anonymous donor had given a donation of £500 towards the £12,500 required.

Four clubs; Edinburgh, Leith, Corstorphine and Currie Balerno are taking part in a version of "Ready Steady Cook" at QMUC on 26th April where teams of four from the clubs will cook the main course of the Dinner for the guests. There will also be a raffle and an auction. Please support this venture in aid of a very good cause.

Sandra Campbell described the activities of the Club Service Ctee. Particularly in making new members feel welcome, (two receptions for new members had been held during the past month) The Committee was also responsible for organising exchanges, Charity Lunches, Reception Duty Rota and the Quiz. There are still some vacancies on the reception rota. This is an excellent way for new members to get to their fellow members.

Brian Smillie, Membership Committee.

Brian stressed the importance of continuing to recruit new members. This year 6 have already gone and another 3 will shortly join them. Six new members have been inducted and 2 are on the way. Membership is now 154 a contraction from a high of 180. There are approx 70/80 at lunch and we need a minimum of 40-50 activists.

We must publicise what we do as a Club and continue to identify possible new members.
Tim Simpson spoke on behalf of Kids Out and stressed that one of the objectives was that everyone taking part should have a wonderful time.

Jubilee Charity Fund

The JCF have donated £250 to Orcadia Creative Learning Centre. This is a registered charity in Edinburgh that provides communications and arts programmes for disabled and marginalized members of society of all backgrounds and ages.

Bulletin 1939 - 13th March 2003

Attendance Last Week

Members 84
Visitors 0
Guests 2
Total 86

Curling

The second half of the Mini-League Season took the form of a Knockout Competition. In an exciting final, played on Saturday 1st March, David Hume's rink came from behind to beat Vernon Williamson's rink by 11 shots to 7.

Quiz

This year's involvement in the competition by our Quiz Team came to an end when they lost a most exciting and friendly match by two points against the team from Grangemouth Rotary Club.

Aqua boxes

Thanks to all the members who brought their articles for inclusion in the Aqua boxes that the Club are presently filling. Unfortunately there were quite a number who forgot and this meant we could not fill and despatch these boxes when we intended. We hope to get the boxes off in the next few days.
G. Sim

KIDS OUT

It was decided that to help finance KIDS OUT that members should attempt to fill a 'smarties' tube with £2 pieces. (Raymond Pia of The Sweet Services has generously decided to provide the 'smarties' free of charge.)

Last Week's Speaker

Donald Hardie our speaker spoke on 'The Liberating Scot's Trust'. The aim of this Trust is to tell of the contribution by Scots units of the Canadian and British armies to the liberation of Western Europe from German occupation 1944-5.

The trustees, some of whom had wartime experience, believe that it is important to have a 'memory' of the occupation and give details of what that entailed. A permanent display has already been opened at the National War and Resistance Museum in Overloon in Holland, south of Arnhem. This display concentrates on the liberation of Holland with special emphasis on Canadian Scots and Canadian officers with Scottish Divisions.

The next phase, which is due to open in June 2003, will be a permanent exhibition at Redford Barracks where 150,000 regulars, TA and cadets pass through each year. It is also intended that it will become an asset for teachers.

A CD Rom will be available detailing civilian wartime experiences in Britain. This should remind everyone of what went on at home during the Second World War. It is hoped that it will make parents want to tell their children about their heritage and what their ancestors provided; to emphasize that the servicemen were products of their families and culture and that they, the children, come from the same stock.

Donald Hardie who is the Director of the Trust said that £250,000 had already been raised by the Trust but an additional £37,000 was still needed to complete the Edinburgh venture.
He ended his talk with these words, "Look to the rock from whence you were hewn."
(There is a statue of a Dutch girl welcoming a Scots piper with a posy of flowers at Schijndel, Holland with a replica in Perth.)

The Rotary Club of Edinburgh Breakfast

The R.C. of Edinburgh Breakfast is holding a dinner on Friday 2nd May to mark the 10th Anniversary of being chartered in the Glencairn Suite, Greens Hotel, 24 Eglinton Crescent, Edinburgh 7 for 7.30pm, dress formal.

Rotarians and partners from our Club are welcome. Tickets priced £25 each are available from Grahame Smith (President) 23 St. John Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8DG.

Challenge Enterprise

Haroon Rashid, Broughton H. School and Nicola Grotlin, Liberton H. School will attend the weekend for young people wishing to make a career in business at Melrose.

Crisis Fair Share

Members are reminded that this important fund raising event will be taking place on
26th April at Queen Margaret Univ. College

Bulletin 1938 - 6th March 2003

NEW MEMBER

John Andrew Howison, BSc,MSc, C.Eng,MICE,MCIArb,FRSA.

Occupation: Chief Road Engineer, Scottish Executive.
Classification: Traffic Engineering.
Induction date: 27 February 2003.
Club No: 167.

Members are requested to introduce themselves and make John welcome at Club meetings.

LAST WEEK

The previous week saw David Kirkwood arrive with a mysterious looking parcel. Its content was a supply of new Club Badges to help replace those lost by members who take them home and our increasing membership.

David is to be congratulated on the excellence of the craftsmanship that went into the production of the badges and thanked for yet another valuable contribution by him to our Club.

President Peter read out greetings from the Rotary Club of Chelsea in Melbourne and said that a suitable response would soon be on its way.

Fergus Gillies made a request for marshals to help with the Great Scottish Walk on 22nd June. (Last year a number of members helped as marshals and the event raised £600,000 for charity.

President Peter offered Birthday Greetings on behalf of the Club to Jack Aitken who was 60 that day.

Attendance Last Week
Members 74
Visitors 1
Guests 2
Total 77

Before introducing our speakers President Peter reminded us that February had been designated 'World Understanding Month' and that in a recent address the President of R.I. had reminded his audience, '80 years ago the Edinburgh Convention had laid the foundation for much of the international understanding and goodwill in Rotary.'

Our speakers were two Ambassadorial Scholars, Akito Yamanoto from Tokyo and Kenneth Garrett from L.A.

Miss Yamanoto, who was dressed in a kimono, explained that she owed her Canadian accent to the fact that she was born in Montreal to Japanese parents and had spent part of her childhood there before the family returned to Tokyo.

She said that her sponsoring Club was a city centre club with a membership of 120 who met on the 43rd floor of a big hotel. She said that people in Edinburgh looked at her with disbelief when she said she did not like sushi!

She told us how she now appreciated the difference between Scotland and its southern neighbour and that she was acquiring a Scottish identity and looking forward to completing her Master's Degree in Childhood Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Kenny Garrett, the water-ski champion of Cornell University, told us that he had studied International Relations at Cornell and that whereas the classes focussed on the big picture he now realised the benefits of the Rotary emphasis on the individual. He and Akito had recently been at a celidh and in a group of students from many lands including England, Germany, Japan and the US it was obvious how much we had in common. He had been caught up in the march in London the previous week where it was shown the tension that can exist between allies and the misunderstandings that can arise even between friends.

He hoped that he would help to provide the people he meets in Edinburgh with a good impression of the US and that he will return home with a more human impression of Europe.

They both hoped that exchanges of Ambassadorial Scholars would lessen the prospects of conflict.

THE ROTARY CLUB OF GLASGOW

Members who visited the Glasgow Club will be saddened to hear of the death of Bill Brown OBE. Bill was often the person on door duty who welcomed visitors to the club always with a friendly greeting.

A quote from their Club Bulletin "President Bill and his wife Margaret were top table guests at the Edinburgh Club's Burns Supper where they were privileged to hear one of the best renditions of Tam o'Shanter we have ever witnessed."

Other News:

- October  '03
- September '03
- August '03
- July '03
- June '03
- May '03
- April '03
- March '03
- February '03
- January '03
- December '02
- November '02
- October '02
- September '02