1st June 2010

Our speaker tonight was Ben Leitch from Bell Baxter High School in Cupar. Ben has been a musician since Primary school, starting with the violin, but moving to the viola. He was supported by the Fife Music Instruction scheme at the age of 8.

Recently, Ben went on a trip to Aberdeen, Gateshead (The Sage) and then to Poland and The Netherlands with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. He applied to us for financial assistance which was granted and this visit was his way of saying ‘Thank You’ to us.

Ben now plays in a string quartet and also performs solo at occasions such as weddings.

Ben is soon to start his university career at Kings College, London, where he will read German and Spanish.

Ben said that musically he is very versatile and will try any instrument and type of music. He gave us a demonstration of his skills on the viola before Bob Henderson gave the vote of thanks.

25th May 2010

Our speaker tonight was one of our newer members giving her maiden speech - and most enjoyable it was.

After a meal preceeded by one of Robin Rippin's inimitable graces, Barbara spoke of her upbringing on a farm in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about the animals, wildlife, crops and machinery.

Barbara then told of her desire to attend St Andrews University to study Modern Languages, but something scuppered that and she ended up studying Law at Belfast.
Having become a accountant (VAT returns amonst many other things), Barbara then also added roles as a wife and a mother. Barbara then found the family moving across the sea to Fife, to a farm near Auchtermuchty - working in Edinburgh! She now works in Cupar - less commuting.
Sandy Green gave the vote of thanks - almost as entertaining as the speaker!

18th May 2010

President Dennis Beattie welcomed guest speaker Linda Greig, area Cultural
Co-ordinator for Howe of Fife & Tay Coast, Glenrothes and Cowdenbeath area. Linda is part of the cultural partnership team currently working on the year-long Celebrating Fife 2010 project. An event designed to celebrate, promote and encourage through hands-on assistance a wide-ranging variety of projects and events taking place throughout the 2010 in communities throughout Fife.

The intention of the Celebration Fife 2010 project being that it encompass everyone, regardless of race, age, gender or ability. A key strand of the project to help develop new ideas and cultural offerings. Linda concluded her talk with examples of projects she was currently assisting with together with advice on how to source funding from the 2010 project before answering many questions from members.

Rotarian Paul Northway gave the vote of thanks during which he and Rotary members warmly applauded Linda Greig on the content, expertise and professionalism she dealt with her subject. It was unanimously agreed to look into projects which would benefit from involvement in the Celebration Fife 2010 project.

4th May 2010

Members of the Howe of Fife Rotary Club welcomed, to their meeting last
week, Rotary ambassadorial scholar, Andrew Smeltzer from Virginia, U.S.A..
It may have been actor Gary Copper who played the tall, dark, handsome
Virginian in the eponymous film, but with his easy charm, sense of humour
and impassioned beliefs, Andrew was more reminiscent of actor, James
Stewart. In a fascinating presentation - delivered without notes - Andrew
explained how his upbringing, his studies, both in the States and on the
International Relations' Course at St. Andrews' University, and his time on
the phones ('dialing and smiling'), trying to persuade Americans to vote,
had shaped his personal philosphy. It was one, he said, that chimed with
that of Rotary: what Andrew called "grounded idealism". This entails
employing a pragmatic approach to humanity, by rolling up one's sleeves and
doing something practical to help. It was important, Andrew said, to try
and leave the world a little better than when you found it, an attitude
taught him by his parents, originally from the mid-west of America. Members
present could only agree with his sentiments. President Dennis Beattie
thanked Andrew, on behalf of club members, for his uplifting talk.

27th April 2010

John, from the Binn Farm Complex, gave a very interesting talk on the plans for the site and the progress so far.

13th April 2010

At last week's meeting of The Rotary Club of the Howe of Fife, Tony Wilson, ranger in North East Fife, gave a most interesting talk about an environmental project involving a group of pupils from Bell Baxter High School.Under Tony's supervision the pupils work at weekends to complete tasks which increase their knowledge of environmental issues in the local area. The response of the pupils so far seems to have been very positive and perhaps this is no surprise because Tony has a plan to reward their efforts by taking them to Iceland for a week where they will carry out more environmental work and enjoy sightseeing - volcanis eruptions permitting!

HOWE ROTARY CLUB DONATION TO BELARUS.

Howe of Fife Rotary Club President, Dennis Beattie, last week presented a cheque for £1000, on behalf of club members, to fellow member, Sandy Green, who is about to embark on a humanitarian expedition, transporting computers and other educational equipment to schools in the Republic of Belarus.

A large area of Belarus still suffers radiation fall-out from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 20 years ago, to such an extent that it is known as ‘the Dead Zone’. It remains a very poor country, where, although schools are housed in modern buildings, basic educational resources, such as pens, pencils, notebooks, are lacking and teachers are expected to provide these from their own meagre salaries. To help fill the vacuum, a charity called ’Chernobyl Children’s Charity’ was established some years ago. As well as donating pens, pencils, notebooks and recycled computers to the schools, the charity also arranges holidays in Scotland for the children of Belarus. A small network of Scottish families has been built up to act as hosts; through their generosity, the children have an opportunity to enjoy clean air and nutritious food, both of which can add significantly to their life expectancy, which, due to the effects of nuclear radiation, can be as low as 40 years of age.

Along with four other volunteers, Sandy will depart on the 2500 mile round trip to Belarus in a converted vintage bus on 6 April 2010. President Dennis Beattie says: “We are delighted to contribute to this very deserving cause and wish Sandy all good wishes for his trip.”

Mike Saxton, a Brummie born and bred, spoke to club members last week about his long career in music. He studied the French horn at the Birmingham School of Music from 1952 to 1954, thereafter joining the Royal Artillery Band at Woolwich, where he remained until 1957. From 1961 to 1979, Mike played second horn with the Halley Orchestra in Manchester, under Sir John Barbirolli and James Loughran. In 1979, Mike moved to Fife, where he took up post as teacher of brass instruments with Fife Council, and as horn tutor to the Fife Youth Orchestra. From 1993 until his retirement in 1997, Mike conducted the Fife Youth Concert Band and from 1997 until 2006, he was a member of the Scottish Horn Ensemble from 1997 until 2006. After an informative and amusing presentation, Mike answered a series of questions and even managed to coax a few notes from a garden hose!

At last week's meeting of the Howe of Fife Rotary Club, Sylvia Kamya, a second year medical student at St. Andrews' University, spoke to members about her gap year voluntary work with the Uganda Child Cancer Research Foundation. Sylvia was herself born in Uganda, but raised and educated in Aberdeen.

The Uganda Child Cancer Research Foundation was established in 2007, following an increase in the incidence of cancer in Uganda as a result of the HIV epidemic. The disease carries great stigma; many Ugandans in fact, refuse to acknowledge the existence of cancer, believing its symptoms to be the result of 'evil spirits'. In a country of 31 million people, Sylvia says, there are only two practising oncologists, the same number as serve the city of Aberdeen. Once diagnosed, the patient faces more difficulty in that the treatment is too costly to afford. For example, leukaemia, is routinely treated with 12 doses of medicine; each dose costs $300.

Sylvia has been invited to attend a conference in Detroit of the Ugandan North America Association, where she will make a presentation on the work of the Uganda Cancer Research Foundation. In the meantime, she hoped that Rotary clubs everywhere would play an active role in raising awareness of cancer.

2nd March 2010

At last week's meeting, Howe of Fife Rotary Club members were delighted to welcome Ambassadorial Scholar, Lungile Zakwe, from the Rotary Club of Rosebank, South Africa. Lungile achieved a law degree from Wittbank University, following which she spent a year in Japan learning the language and something of the culture of a country she found to be very different from own. Lungile is at present studying an Honours course in International Relations at St. Andrews University.

During Lungile's inspirational presentation, members learned much about life in South Africa, the mood there post-aphartheid, and its people's hopes and fears for the future. Lungile ably conveyed her own optimism about the country to her audience, who were in no doubt that with young people of Lungile's calibre in South Africa, its future success was assured.

In thanking Lungile for her talk, President Dennis Beattie presented her with a banner from the Rotary Club of the Howe of Fife to take back with her to the Rosebank Rotary Club in South Africa.

16th February 2010

2nd February 2010

24th November 2009
This evening we had a talk by Duncan Pickard about the origins of some of the laws of rugby union. This was followed by a demonstration of the new website by Peter Shipley.

17th November 2009
This evening was a committee night followed by the election of Club Office Bearers for 2010-2011. Elected were:
President - Rod McCall
Senior Vice-President - David Martin
Junior Vice-President - Ann Bain
Secretary - John Kerr
Treasurer - David Jack

10th November 2009
This evening we had a visit from our District Govenor, Bill Macfarlane Smith. He is seen here presenting a District banner to President Dennis.

27th October 2009

This evening we were given a presentation by Gordon Small, a Member of Dundee Rotary Club. Gordon, having retired from publishing a few years ago, became interested in the names on the war memorial at Newport. He spent many hours researching who the people were, where they came from, what they did and how they died in the service of their country. He sought out surviving relatives and spoke to them about what they knew. He has produced a book from the information gleaned.

29th September 2009

Beverly narrowed her presentation to one main theme:'How intellegence affects life and vice-versa.' One set of data examined by Beverly's team was the results of an intellegence test taken by all 11 year olds in the country in 1947. The results lay stored away unheeded until recently uncovered by the centre; some of those who had originally taken the test were found and their life paths compared to the original scores. Of most interest to members present was the centres work on the effect of ageing on mental processes. The passing years appeared to cause a slight diminution of cognitive powers, although following the mantra of 'use it, or lose it' helped slow the decline.

25th August 2009
Our speaker was Duncan Pickard, variously described as an Author, Farmer, Entrepreneur, Economist and of course a Rotarian! Known for adopting his own stance on many a subject,...

11th August 2009
This week we learnt much about Parkinson's Disease. Our speaker was Jean Ballantyne of the Fife branch of the Parkinson's Disease Society, www.parkinsons.org.uk/fife

July 21st 2009
Paul Northway enthused us with tales of Falkirk Football Club - the main reason why he misses the odd meeting! Paul has been an enthusiastic supporter for longer than he can remember - that can't be right - he can remember every game including the first one, every player, every defeat - and almost every victory! He was off at 5am the next morning to witness the second leg of Falkirk's first foray into Europe.....he returned later in the week after Falkirk lost the tie after extra time....

23rd June 2009
John Ewan, our Club Archivist, gave a talk about the people who have been members of the club since its founding in 1990, the events that have been run since then and about the documents that he and his predecessors have collected over those years. John's talk was very well received and reminded many members of times gone by.