During April Anstruther Rotary has been putting in much effort on the club’s next major project – the East Neuk Coastal Path Charity Walk, which will take place Sunday 7th June and starting from Crail. This will be the sixth year for the event, which has so far raised £66,573 for the benefit of many, many charities. Each walker decides which charities to support and 80% of money raised goes to them, with 20% to charities chosen by Anstruther Rotary.
More usual business continued with the AGM of the 20th and an ‘evening out’ with family and friends on the 27th. This took the form of a meal at The Pavilion in Elie and then a visit to Ardross Farm to hear the story of their retail ventures. A tour of vegetable cultivation areas was particularly interesting, as was the chance to meet their highly regarded herd of ‘Stabiliser’ beef cattle.
The 6th April meeting was entertained by club member Findlay McLaren with an excellent illustrated talk ‘Deauville meets Deauville’. This turned out to be the story of a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who favour the Honda Deauville model and hold regular get togethers, the first of which was in Deauville, France. This story was of a gathering in Segovia, Spain. Findlay and his wife journeyed there to join up with other enthusiasts, hailing from many countries and who had made the journey on ninety or so motorcycles. It was interesting to hear how travel differs from that by car – the importance of weather and the pleasures of byroads rather than motorways. The many photographs painted an enticing picture of Spain – Alcazar Cathedral, art treasures, ancient civil engineering masterpieces, the Guggenheim Museum, Paradors – and food. It has to be said that food figured prominently; and who can argue when it all looked so enticing! Altogether a journey to be envied, along with the pleasures of sunshine, blue skies and 40-degree temperatures!
Vespula Vulgaris was John O’Neill’s topic on the 13th. This turned out to be a very sympathetic tale of the common wasp – a tale brought on by nests discovered in his potting shed! For an insect that does not enjoy the best of press it was good to be reminded that we do each have a place on this earth and John’s story of the wasp’s complex lifecycle was of great interest. It was a surprise to learn that wasps from an average nest will apparently eradicate between four and five metric tonnes of insect pests per annum.
