St Andrew's celebration for Rotarians
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The sight of a few kilts, tartan trews and scarves congregating in the Kintore Arms on Tuesday obviously signalled that something special was going on at the latest meeting of Inverurie Rotary.
As member Jim McColl explained; "Well of course there was, the Rotary Club of Inverurie members, friends and relations were celebrating St Andrew our Patron Saint.
"One wonders, in this fast moving, ever-changing world if such occasions will be celebrated in ten years time?
"No matter, we still do and thank goodness for that, long may we continue to do so."
Sixty plus members and friends enjoyed an evening of good food and entertainment.
On this occasion, the programme for the evening was in the hands of the Events Committee who came up trumps but as Jim noted: "Well actually, it was one of their members Bill Duncan, who did the trick by inviting some of his chums from the Elgin Club to entertain us.
"To open the batting we had Three plus One (actually two Georges, a Ranald and Raymond), three fiddlers and a pianist who played a great range of Scottish tunes with a bit of a Shetland bias.
"That set us up nicely for the Toast to St Andrew, delivered by Jim Royan OBE ,a very well known figure in Morayshire.
"A Master butcher by profession, Jim has served as chairman of Grampian NHS, he is a vice lord lieutenant of the County and a fine speaker.
"His toast, took us to three different continents around the world where he participated in St Andrew's Night celebrations.
"A tribute to Scots who, for a variety of reasons may have left their native land but as well as their goods and chattels, they took with them their beliefs and traditions. "
With a few humorous asides thrown in for good measure, it was a thought-provoking tribute well received by the company.
The evening ended with another excellent session from the music group followed by vote of thanks proposed by Murray Matthew.
The opportunity to have a raffle, raising funds for the groups charity commitments was not missed but Jim said: "The total raise is not yet to hand!".
