The Rotary Club of Edinburgh

Bulletin 2,041 - 13th January 2005

REVIEW

Attendance

Bill Cantley shook hands with all 75 members last week to wish them a good New Year. We had a guest and visits from Croan McKay and Bill McClure of Keith, Martin Oliver of Edinburgh Breakfast, Mike Chad from Biggar and Jo Jamison from Houston in Texas. Whilst Dick Allan visited Leith, Peter Heatly reported his tour of Australian Clubs.

Centenary Celebrations

The District has organised a host of attractions to accompany the Centenary Concert at the Usher Hall on Sunday 27th February at 3.00 pm.. Quite apart from the exciting concert programme, there is a brunch at the Sheraton Hotel at 1.00 pm and a service in St Cuthbert's Church at 11.00 am. So don't be backward, like this article, in coming forward to support these historic events. Fred Lawson is eager to accept your cheques to join the celebration of 100 years of the Rotary movement.

The Asian Disaster

Bill McClure of the Leith Club with energetic support from Keith Frost and Fred Lawson responded to the tidal wave on Boxing Day with commendable speed. They set up a shelter box-tent at Ocean Terminal where they collected £18,000 towards emergency help with tents, sleeping bags, water purification boxes etc. The collection represents 36 boxes. UK Rotary has already delivered 250 boxes to India with the help of the Madras Club and 250 boxes to Sri Lanka with the help of the Rotary Club in Colombo. Further collections were arranged for last weekend at lunch last week raising about £6,000.

Burns Supper

Judith Sischy is providing the reply to the lassies at the Burns Supper in Peebles on 24th of January. This is to be held at the Tontine Hotel in the High Street. It was a great success last year and Morag Turner is collecting names for the evening.

FOCUS

Twinning

Why twin, and with whom should we do it? The Rotary Club of Edinburgh has, in recent years, twinned with the Rotary Clubs of Fiesole, Italy and Rockland, Maine, USA. Previous involvements with other clubs seem too long ago to address.

In my involvement with the Rotary Club of Lyon, I have been careful not to use the word "twinning". Lyon has "contact club" relations with the Rotary Clubs of Stuttgart, Lausanne and Torino Daro. They generously included Marion and me, as a fifth "contact club" in their end of September meeting and this was great fun.

The late Peter Wilson defined the criterion for twinning in his question "If we engage in further exchanges are there real prospects of some good Rotary charitable work resulting from the effort?" Fiesole, at present, falters in meeting that criterion. Rockland meets it in collaborating on our Water Aid projects in Tanzania. We still aspire to engaging with Lyon on joint projects in Cambodia.

We are frequently asked by overseas clubs to "twin". Only if Peter's question can be answered well does it seem worthwhile to tackle the challenges of linguistic and cultural difference which give the fun and fellowship involved.

President Bill Cantley

PRATTLE

A Christmas Wedding

Congratulations to Douglas Sutherland and Linda Gilmore who got married over our Christmas recess. They went for a few days to Skye, close to the three chimneys. With the knot safely tied, they now feel free to sit at different tables at lunch. Something which was not missed by our President B.C.

Member News

Tom Willis looked pale but fine at lunch last week. His stay in hospital for a heart operation was remarkably brief, but speed is not everything. The service includes a follow up by the District Nurse. She was observant and returned Tom to hospital for the removal of a monitor and meter of cable neatly left in place!

Liz McSwan is still suffering with her foot and John Baynham has had a mild stroke. We must wish them both a speedy recovery and we hope that they can join us all again soon.

Vanity Fair

The ladies of Inner Wheel Club have stepped out on a limb, by taking the Dominion Cinema on Sunday 16th January for a late matinee (4.45 for 5.10 pm). Vanity Fair has had a fine review in The Times. They would be grateful for your support. Ask Margaret Cavaye on 0131-667-7136, or the Dominion for tickets, which are good value at £5.

The City Transport Vote

The City of Edinburgh Council is organising a referendum on transportation issues for Edinburgh. Participation is not automatic. If you have not registered an interest, and have views relating to current proposals, then you should pick up a leaflet from off the buses, or direct from the City Chambers.

Topics are detailed on the accompanying leaflet. They range from tramways and public transport policies to road pricing and tolls. Your vote could contribute to the direction of future policies!

THIS WEEK'S SPEAKER

Thursday 13 January 2005: Business meeting
- Judith Sischy and Forbes Ridland
Vote of Thanks: Bill Cantley

NEXT WEEK'S SPEAKER

Thursday 20 January 2005: Rev John Cameron - Robert Burns Job Interview
Vote of Thanks: Iain MacLaren

PREVIEW

John Cameron is a member of Braids Rotary. He is interested in broadcasting, with slots on Radio Forth and New Zealand Radio when he was over there. He is a Church of Scotland Minister at Liberton Kirk, currently doing a locum at Polworth.