District 1100 Conference Hotel De France Jersey

(The picture shows Me, Anne Corrigan wife of PDG Ken, our host and Rita)

Another week in the hectic life of the DG, its a hard life especially when you have to travel to Jersey in the middle of spring!! Rita and I were delighted to have been invited as guests of District Governor David Fenwick and his wife Sheila from District 1100 down there in the South West corner of England. David being a fellow Scot invited all three of the Scottish District Governors and their partners, a Celtic take over. District 1100 have a few exiled Scots in their midst so needless to say a great weekend was had by all. The keynote speakers for the conference were none other than General Sir Mike Jackson and the noted corespondent and broadcaster Martin Bell who, I have to say are two of the most amazing speakers I have had the privilege to have listened to. A truly memorable weekend indeed with great fun and friendship that will be difficult to surpass.

Outgoing GSE Team Presentation

Today saw Rita and I travel north to Pitlochry to Fishers Hotel to meet our outgoing GSE Team lead by Rotarian Jim Slater from Dunfermline Carnegie Club. The many guests assembled were treated to a rather splendid presentation from the all male team of Chris Wiles, Roger Bond, Eric Davidson and Callum Ramsay. They gave a very good account of their planned trip and I am sure will be a team of which the District can be proud, they will indeed be worthy ambassadors. Rita and I wish them well and look forward to hearing the account of their very special time in Pennsylvania District 7280 USA.

(The picture shows L-R Roger Bond, Jim Slater, yours truly, Callum Ramsay, Chris Wiles and Eric Davidson.)

Rotary Club of Dunfermline 87th Anniversary Dinner

Thursday 5th March saw me attending the 87th Charter Dinner of the Rotary Club of Dunfermline. With an attendance of over 50 Rotarians the evening was indeed a great celebration of achievement for the club. President Tom Arnott was our host for this rather auspicious night with three of the Presidents from the local surrounding clubs. The evening began with a very nice meal and some friendly chat before I was asked to propose a toast to the club. The main speaker of the evening was Sandy Morris a well know businessman in Dunfermline and a great friend of the club, Sandy was as usual extremely entertaining and very funny; an excellent night was had by all.

(The picture shows the top table guests L to R Secretary David Steel, President of West Fife Neil Spriddle, Sandy Morris, Lesley Botten, President of Dunfermline Tom Arnott, yours truly, AG Sandy Matthew, President of Dunfermline Carnegie Janet Lowe, President of Cowdenbeath Dennis Brooks and Dunfermline President Elect Noel McKenna

Rotary Club of Central Buchan

Wednesday evening the 4th March saw me travel up to the North East corner of the District to Central Buchan for the Inaugural Meeting of the first new Rotary Club of this year. It is every District Governors dream to get a new club up and running in his or her year in office. The hard work of Past District Governors Bill Leslie, Bill Wood and Ron McKail came to fruition when the club finally was brought into the family of Rotary. Twenty four members were presented with their membership packs led by their first president Donald Taylor. The night was attended by over ninety Rotarians from all over the District with RIBI New Club Formation Officer PDG Tony Cotton travelling all the way from Birkenhead in Merseyside to be with us. As we were celebrating our new achievements so too was my counterpart District Governor Alan Jones was doing the same with the formation of his first new club in Cornwall. After an exchange of phone calls of congratulations we both received a call from RI Director Gordon McInally bringing congratulations from RI President DK Lee and Rotary International. A superb night of fun and fellowship was had by all, a night to remember.

(The picture shows yours truly PDG Bill Leslie and the members of Centreal Buchan)

Rotary Young Chef Competition

On Sunday 1st of March Rita and I had the pleasure of attending the District Final of the Young Chef Competition which was held in Dundee College Kingsway Campus. The competition was split into two session a morning and afternoon session. The day began at 9:30 am with the arrival of the morning session competitors who would begin to prepare for the competition. They had two hours to prepare a table setting for two people, prepare their food which was a three course meal, cook and serve and all for the princely sum of no more than £14.00. The competition was extremely fierce with competitors coming from as far away as Ullapool in the North to Dunfermline in the South. Contestants as young as 13years of age took part. After a break for some well earned rest for the judges the second session began at 13:00 with the competition looking to be even fiercer. All in all 15 youngsters took part, they produced some mouth watering dishes and gave us t6he judges many hard decisions to make. By 15:30 all was complete and we had our winner who was Ian Robertson from Auchmuty High School Glenrothes, Ian will go on now next weekend to the RIBI regional final in Whitley Bay in the North of England.

(The picture shows Rotary Club of Glenrothes president Lars Christiansen, Ian Robertson, yours truly and Lee Wilkie Captain of Dundee United Football Club)

Rotary Club of Forfar International Night

I had the great pleasure of attending the Rotary Club of Forfar on Wednesday evening. The club have recently moved from being a lunch meeting to an evening meeting. They are still flourishing and do not seem to have had any adverse reaction to their move. After a superb few months of mega fundraising including their amazing donation to the Ninewells Cancer Project recently, tonight saw the club present me with a cheque for £5000 which is going to their chosen International Project which is Opportunity International. Opportunity International UK is a member of the global Opportunity International Network a pioneer and global leader in providing micro finance and training to the working poor. They are the largest charity in the UK specialising in micro finance in the developing world.

(The picture shows yours truly, Katherine Begg International Chair and President Jim Nichol)

District 1230 End Polio Now Exhibition

(The picture shows Jim Stewart, Rita, DG Catherine Stewart, RI Director Gordon McInally, yours truly and Heather McInally)

On Tuesday 24th February Rita and I attended District 1230 End Polio Now Photographic Exhibition in the Mitchell Library Glasgow. The event was well attended by Rotarian's and representatives of all of the Asian communities in Glasgow. Past District Governor Drew Hughes welcomed everyone and introduced District Governor Catherine Stewart who gave an address on our challenge of ridding the world of polio. The amazing donations from the Bill & Malinda Gates Foundation of $350,000000 is indeed helping to achieve our goal of a polio free world by 2012. The exhibition portrayed many harrowing images and stories coupled with an equal amount of success stories and images from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan.

(The picture shows Jim Stewart, Rita, DG Catherine Stewart and yours truly)