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Find out what's been happening in and around our club ... Meeting 13th. August 2010 15 August 2010 Rotary Club of Stirling Meeting 13th. August 2010
President Derek Anderson was in the chair and there were no visitors. The speaker was our own Stuart Badenoch. Three water boxes had been sent to Pakistan to aid the relief effort. The District Governor will be visiting on August 27th. and the club’s Am-Am golf event will take place on Thursday, September 2nd. Friday. September 10th. will be the occasion of the New Members lunch.
Stuart Badenoch had devised and then went on to administer an interesting and varied General Knowledge quiz. The top team achieved the creditable score of 15 out of 20 and each member received a Mars Bar as his reward.
This week will see a Business Meeting, with Visitors Hosts Frank Kelly and Gordon McCulloch.
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener
Meeting Friday, August 6th. 2010 08 August 2010 Stirling Rotary Meeting, August 6th. 2010
President Derek Anderson welcomed members, together with visiting Rotarian Bob Duncan, from the Ellon club. The next council meeting will be on Monday, August 16th, whilst the golf match with the Carse club will take place on September 5th. The long-awaited trip to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo is on Wednesday, August 18th and the bus leaves at 18.45. A meal has been arranged at Hendersons Bistro. The club has contributed to relief of Pakistani flood victims via the Disasters Emergency Committee
The speaker was the president himself, who talked about his role as a Chartered Surveyor, particularly in light of recent substantial changes in the industry. These were brought about by the housing slump and also the introduction of the single survey Home Report. In just one month, between April and May 2008, requests for surveys virtually ceased, due to lack of confidence in the market, although numbers recovered somewhat afterwards. The Home Report, which now includes an assessment of energy efficiency, is useful to both buyer and seller and tends to lead to an improvement in the quality of housing stock, as deficiencies highlighted are often rectified before the report itself “is set in stone”. The form and content of the Scottish document is now under review whereas, in England, the Home Information Pack has now been entirely abolished.
The Vote of Thanks was given by Jim Kerr and well supported. This week’s Speakers Host is Stuart Badenoch, with Visitors Hosts Don MacLeod and Sandy Leven
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener Meeting 23rd. July 2010 26 July 2010
Rotary Club of Stirling meeting 23.7.10
President Derek Anderson welcomed members, as well as guests, Colin Bayes and Duncan Macleod and the speaker, Fiona McKeitch. Mike Queen reminded those present that the golf AmAm was scheduled for September 2nd. Derek said that the Leicester Grammar School concert had proved a great success. He also drew attention to the New Members lunch, on August 28th. A few moments’ silence were observed in honour of Paul Harris fellow Robin Common, who died recently.
The speaker was Fiona McKeitch, a civilian officer with Central Scotland Police, dealing with Firearms and Explosive Enquiry. Along with colleagues, Fiona is responsible for issuing firearm and shotgun licences, in accordance with current legislation and Home Office guidelines. She stated that there were currently 2000 licences in force for shotguns and 900 for firearms, within her police force’s area.
The Vote of Thanks was given by Tom Wilson and well supported. This week’s Speakers Host is Philip Allison, with Visitors Hosts Alex Galloway and Sandy Farquharson.
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener
Meeting Friday, July 16th. 2010 19 July 2010
Rotary Club of Stirling meeting, Friday, 16.7.10
President Derek Anderson welcomed members and one guest, the speaker, Professor Ian Thomson. Born in Edinburgh, Ian has lived in Bridge of Allan for 40 years, retiring from academia in 2008. During the intervening period, he has been deeply involved in building Stirling University into a centre of sporting excellence.
The profile of university entrants has changed dramatically. In 1969, only 6% went to university and now it’s 54%. Any sports facilities on offer were only for students/staff. Ian was keen to change this, for the benefit of the people as a whole. Within 12 months of the site being opened to the public, there were 450 families using the pool. Later, new squash courts were built and these attracted 500 members within a year. Central government wanted people to keep up sports after leaving school and, after just one year, Stirling had 7000 children involved
For 13 straight years, the university has won the Scottish universities junior golf and, for 8 of the 13, the equivalent UK competition. A £500K grant from Scottish Government means that sports scholarships now number no less than 60. At Stirling, there are currently 500 students doing a sports degree with other subjects.
The Vote of Thanks was given by Ian Milton and well supported. This week’s Speakers Host is Tom Wilson, with Visitors Hosts Malcolm Cordwell-Smith and Willie Chrystal.
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener
Insstallation of new President 9/7/10 12 July 2010
Rotary Club of Stirling Meeting, Friday 9th. July 2010
Today’s meeting was tasked with the principal purpose of conducting a handover between presidents new and old. After a year at the helm of the Stirling club, Alan Skilling passed on the chain of office to Derek Anderson, Senior Vice President. As well as representing a proud moment for Derek himself, it was a family occasion too. In attendance were his father, past president Stewart Anderson, as well as Derek’s mother Margaret and his father-in-law, past president Bill Sim.
After the transfer of office had taken place, Derek delivered a thoughtful and interesting speech, which was well received by all. It was very apparent that the club remains in good hands and can look forward with confidence and anticipation to a new and exciting Rotary year.
Speakers Host for this week is Ian Milton, with Visitors Hosts Robin Sutton and Bill Bryce.
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener
Meeting June 18th. 2010 20 June 2010
Rotary Club of Stirling Meeting 18.6.10
President Alan Skilling welcomed members to the Friday meeting. Gordon McCulloch announced a narrow defeat for the Gavel team at the semi-finals in Perth. The club’s participation in Gardening Scotland had raised a substantial, 4-figure sum towards good causes.
The speaker was our own Martin Ross, who took as his subject: “Journey to the heart of the Silk Road”. During a trip to Uzbekistan in late 2009, Martin and Susan visited many remote and exotic-sounding places, including Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara, all major stopping points along the Old Silk Road. This area of Central Asia was ruled by descendents of the emperor Tamerlane (1336 – 1405) till the 19th century, at the end of which Czarist Russia took charge but still permitted much local autonomy. After 1917 and the formation of the Soviet Union, control from Moscow became strict, only ending with the collapse of the “evil empire” in the 1980s. The country’s staple crop is cotton and water is in very short supply. Land is owned by the government and irrigation schemes are widespread. Townships along the Silk Road tend to be around 35 miles apart, considered as the distance a camel can be expected to go without water.
The Vote of Thanks was given by Bill Sim and well supported. This week’s Speakers Host is Iain Sinclair, who has arranged for Eleanor Young to address the club. Visitors Hosts are Philip Allison and Tommy Thomson.
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Convener View All Stories
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