Our club meeting of April 1st was the AGM which, in spite of the date, went off without incident! Accounts had previously been approved, so the business was simplified to the election of office bearers for the coming year. The level of subs was also agreed at £110.

Following this, our usual talk was substituted with a quiz. Probably inspired by Monday of last week, which saw the Rotary Primary School quiz take place. Seven local schools were in contention, with Anstruther School emerging victorious and ready to progress to the next round.

We also heard that a student from Waid Academy has been selected for this year’s RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) and will be coming to speak to the club shortly.

With a conclusion to the business, Bill Batchelor brought the meeting to a close with a vote of thanks to Derek Mathie for arranging the quiz - apparently at a somewhat less challenging level to the one faced by the primary schools!!

Following business and a meal our speaker on 18th March was club member Malcolm MacDonald. Malcolm has a keen interest in local history, especially of fishing and boat building and chose a film to describe the herring fishing of years past. 

This was historic footage of a way of life that used to exist around the coast of Scotland and featured fishermen, mostly from the West coast, with the film being entirely in Gaelic - fortunately with translations on the screen!

What came across very plainly was the dangers the fishermen faced daily, in  a way of life going back 200 years or so - and of the lack of safety provision in the boats - the ‘luggies’ of 40 or 45 tons. Thirty foot long or so with mostly open decks. We learned that boys would start out to sea with the job of coiling ropes and cooking the food. And with boats going as far as Iceland for weeks at a time.

The film also told the story of the shore-based work, with local cooperages producing the barrels that were then packed with gutted and salted fish.

It was interesting to hear from Malcolm how this life changed when steam trawlers came and later the arrival of radio made it possible to share information about shoals of fish - and to keep in touch with the home port. The coming of railways also meant that a catch could be landed and delivered to markets much faster.

A very interesting talk with an appreciative vote of thanks proposed by William Duncan.

The ‘Christmas Postal Service’ was successfully run once again, with delivery for Christmas cards and letters to the coastal villages from Elie to Crail. Unfortunately the now familiar cost pressures meant the price did have to go up to 40p per card - or three for a pound. We are pleased to be able to report that a total of £1,808 was raised for charities.

We would like to thank everyone who sent their cards via us and a special thank you to those friends who helped deliver the 5,000 plus cards. We were delighted to be able to welcome them to a buffet meal provided by The Rockies restaurant at our meeting of 29th January.

The 5th February was the club’s Burns Supper; a fine event - if slightly late!

Fill up your cups with generous juice as generous as your                mind and drink with one the generous toast

The Bard o' human kind

All in traditional form under the chairmanship of Ian Brunton, Roderick Skinner launched events with the Selkirk Grace.

The haggis was skirled in by Audrey Clark, led in by by Matt MacLachlan (as Poosie Nancy!). And roundly  addressed by John Thomson.

An excellent and traditional meal was served by the Rockies Restaurant and thence to an interval.

The restart kicked off with Jim McArthur’s Immortal Memory and then a recitation by Alana Sherrit. We continued with a fine Tam O’ Shanter by Callum Smith, The Lassies by Peter Peddie, and a Reply to the Lassies by Pat Hughes.

Musical interludes were led by Miss Jessie Lyon along with members of the club’s choir - including duets by Malcom MacDonald and Douglas Chisholm.

Altogether a most enjoyable evening which was reflected in a vote of thanks by Ann O’ Connell and rounded off with a resounding 'Auld Lang Syne' from the entire company.

And we'll tak a right gude willie waught

At our meeting of 22nd January we were delighted to welcome as guests, the friends who had helped deliver the 5,000 plus cards of our Christmas postal delivery service. It had raised £1808 for charities.

Business covered the ‘Gavel’ competition, Primary School quiz, an outlook on RYLA - and plans for the Burns Supper planned for our next meeting.

Following an excellent buffet meal provided by the Rockies Restaurant, we were treated to a very interesting illustrated talk by Ally Brunton. 

We heard of his experiences at the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs agricultural and rural affairs study visit to Chile in 2022. It was fascinating to learn something of the ways that agriculture in Chile differs from Scotland. One surprising fact relating to cereal production is the much lower pressure from diseases, due to the land having been cropped for a much shorter period of time.

But there were also similarities in the way that agriculture there is driven by market demands -albeit differing ones. Also too the need to invest in technology as a way the displace labour cost.

Of particular interest to wine drinkers in the audience was way that Chilean wines have developed to offer higher quality and wider renge in the world markets.   

An interesting talk and following many questions, an appreciative vote of thanks was proposed by John O’Neill.