Index

Press release June 2015

Two local worthwhile charities benefitted from the monies collected from the East Kilbride Rotary Wishing Well located in the Heritage Park. There was sufficient in the funds to donate £200 to "Twins & Tripl3ts" and £150 to EK Youth Disability Sports Club.

The East Kilbride Twins & Tripl3ts Club was formed by a local health visitor in 1997 as a support network for mums with 2 or more children. They offer support, advice, share experiences and pass on outgrown prams, cots and car seats. The mums and toddlers meet every Friday for 2 hours at Kirktonholme Hall however the council are implementing charges for pre-five groups and the parents took a decision to move in July to Mossneuk Community Primary Wing. Chrissie Wright, secretary of the club, said the donation came at a very opportune moment helping towards the costs incurred with moving to Mossneuk. The cheque was presented last Sunday to Chrissie by Archie King, President of East Kilbride Rotary Club. The twins and triplets were meeting at 10.00am on the Sunday for a group walk round the Heritage Park

EK Youth Disability Club was formed in 1999 to encourage participation and interest in sport, recreational and social activities for young people with additional support needs. Young people between the ages of 12 to 25 taking part in these activities benefit in personal development, team building, self-confidence. The activities range from indoor pursuits such as netball, basketball, bowling, curling and outdoor activities including kayaking and golf and the annual residential weekend at the Lochgoilhead Centre. Bill McKenzie, sports organiser, said the £150.00 will help towards funding the annual action packed weekend at Lochgoilhead in August

Press release 19/04/15

East Kilbride Councillor Graham Simpson came along to last Friday's lunch to tell the Rotarians how he copes successfully with being a councillor during the day and a journalist in the evening. Although born in Aberdeen his father, who was an editor in the newspaper trade, moved to Carlisle where Graham was educated. As a young 15 year old he and a friend became very interested in politics and joined the young conservatives and actually spoke at one their conferences. He always had an interest in writing and after many failed job applications he started his first step in the ladder in Daventry for a local weekly paper. During this time he learned shorthand. Moving around in the industry learning his trade, Graham eventually joined the Scottish Sun and has been in the position as an editor since 1990.The Scottish Sun is the countries largest selling newspaper at 224,000 copies per day.

He has registered as a conservative candidate for the forthcoming UK elections and at the moment spends his evenings canvassing door to door his constituent . Rotarian Leslie Irvine gave the vote of thanks.

Press Release07/04/15

Should we legalise soft drugs? This was the subject of Jim Duffy, the speaker at last week's East Kilbride Rotary lunch.

Quite a controversial topic but Jim with his 32 years serving in the police force and latterly 4 years as chair of the Police Federation gave him the credentials to speak with authority and knowledge.

When in his position as an inspector , Jim was involved in trying to keep drugs of the streets by using the police resources to catch drug suppliers and users. However as soon as they took the dealer of the street he was replaced immediately by another. Becoming increasingly frustrated with the ineffectiveness of the drugs policy Jim eventually came to realise they would have more control over drugs if they were legalised. Not only would they have up to 80% control it would allow the force to take some of the money enforcing the law and put it into education and rehabilitation. Citing the end of prohibition in the US in 1933 which put Al Capone and his gangster comrades out of the alcohol distribution business.

Jim is currently a member of Law Enforcement against Prohibition, LEAP, which is made of former police officers, retired judges and prison officers who firmly believe a system of regulation and control is far more effective than one of prohibition.

Rotarian Frank McLuskey thanked Jim for giving a very informative and knowledgeable talk on such a contentious issue.

Press Release 2/04/15

After a convincing win the against Renfrew in the semi-final of the curling Garside Trophy, East Kilbride Rotary Club met up with Bothwell Rotary Club at Hamilton ice rink last Monday, 30th March, to play in the final.

Having lost the toss Bothwell lead Jim Jarvie threw the 1st stone giving east Kilbride the advantage of last stone. Fat lot of good that did as we lost the 1st end by 2 shots. However the team buckled down with furrowed brows and lots of concentration and some skill to pull back 1 shot on the next end. The game swung in East Kilbride's favour and by the start of the last and 8th end were leading by 2 shots. We began to "pile" in the stones in the house forcing Bothwell to try take-outs. The match ended with a blank end with East Kilbride winning by 2 shots and retaining the trophy from last year. It was a very challenging and enjoyable game with Bothwell fighting hard for every end.

At the prize giving the Bothwell team of George Waterston, Robert Rollo, Andrew McFarlane and Jim Jarvie collected the runner up prize. Jack Blackwood, George McGraw, Jim Moretti and Ray Porrelli of East Kilbride were presented with the Garside Trophy and a crystal tasting set.

Press Relese 23/03/15

This year's toys for kids quiz was again held in the East Kilbride Golf club with 17 teams competing not for the prize of a bottle of whisky but the pride of being acclaimed winners.

The quiz master was Ronnie Watson with his wife Irene, Jean Harvie , Richard Deacon and Jim Ballantyne assisting with collecting scores and keeping a running total.

A non scoring quiz sheet was issued as a warm up prior to the commencement of set of questions. Half time was at 8.45 when the pies donated by Stevie Sherriff were scoffed along with sandwiches, a very welcome break.

The second half had 6 sets of questions with the final set finishing around 10.45. Some of the sets were quite difficult although it did not reflect in the score of 124 for the winning team, The Association made up with Gordon Fraser, Billy Grant, Ronnie Stewart and Robert Barnes. They retained the title from last year. Runners up were Brain and Anne McKelvie and Brian and Katrina Carson, misnamed "Simple Minds" with a score of 115.

Our own teams Ian Craig's "The Monoplies" , Archie King's "Goggle Box" and "Still Game", of Jaz and Bruce Gunn supported by Jackie and Russell Gill did not finish in the top 3 but had very respectable scores.

Ronnie wound up the night with an auction of whisky and brandy which raised the sum of £70.00. He did say that he hoped that team "The Big Fact Hunt" would change their name for next year as it did give him some verbal grief

The members of East Kilbride Rotary Club were looking forward to the speaker at their lunch last Friday, the Rev John MacKinnon from the Calderwood Baptist Church. It was not so long ago John came along to talk about the East Kilbride Co-op food bank.

His theme was "How can business and the church really end poverty". The question is a worldwide one however John started closer to home and the work he and his church were doing in the community in particular getting people back to work. The project includes a job club helping individuals back into work by carrying out mock interviews.

To poverty can be attributed practically every destructive thing - 500B$ would a good economic investment to eradicate world poverty and bring peace - this was from a 1925 issue of a Rotary magazine. His observations were this would not happen through politics or politicians but from the ordinary people.

He did surprise the Rotarians with a quotation that Honest plus Integrity equals Trust and this was from K R Ravidaran, past president of the Rotary Club of Colombo and John was linking this to business ethics. He also used the Rotary project of ending polio as an illustration of the way ordinary people and business persons can help.

Another example was Toms Shoes in California when Toms sells a pair of shoes, a new pair of shoes is given to an impoverished child, and when Toms sells a pair of eyewear, part of the profit is used to save or restore the eyesight for people in developing countries.

His final example was the Guinness family and their philosophy of putting back into the community. The founder Arthur Guinness introduced the first Sunday Schools and sat on the board of hospitals. His son Rupert was given a trust of £5M. In 1890 this was a lot of money and probably in today's economy would be worth £120M.

Rupert set up home in one of the poor areas and assisted many of the poverty stricken families.

Archie King thanked John for a very thought provoking talk which resonated with the Rotarians and their aims and principals.

Press Release 13/03/15

On Monday five East Kilbride Club Rotarians headed for Hunter Primary School to start work on a "tree-mendous" project.

In partnership with the school and Head Teacher Mr Thompson, the Rotarians embarked on the preparation of the ground for the planting of over 300 trees. Digging the first fifty holes was a little difficult however, more friendly soil helped to ease the muscles and the digging of further holes. The first class of 25 pupils were let out to plant and stamp the young trees firmly in the ground with great enthusiasm. However the clouds opened up keeping the remaining classes indoors. Undeterred the wet and bedraggled Rotarians continued with the digging throughout the morning completing 250 holes for the trees and hoping for an improvement in the weather on Tuesday. The cold and tired diggers stopped for a short break midmorning and were invited into the staff room for a welcome hot drink and biscuits. Tuesday arrived along with the clear sky and another group of Rotarians to dig more holes and supervise the planting. The pupils were set loose on the hillside adjacent to the school and planted over 300 trees with lots of stamping the soil, noise and fun. Most of the pupils will be at high school by the time the Birch, Oak, Larch, Hazel and many of the other tree verities planted show some sizable growth. Our own landscape expert and project leader, Roddy Shanks, had purchased the trees a few days earlier and oversaw the digging and planting .

Press Release 13/03/15

Primary Schools Burns Competition, 9th March 2015

Robert Burns said Suspense is worse than disappointment but the suspense last Monday at the Ballerup Hall preceded 3 hours of complete enjoyment with 9 local primary schools reciting, playing instruments and singing at the Primary Schools Burns competition. In its 23rd year the competition, organised by Bruce Gunn of East Kilbride Rotary Club, still produced budding stars of the future. Over 50 pupils and 2 school choirs along with teachers, Mums, Dads, relatives and friends came along on the Monday evening to listen and cheer along the P4/P5, P6/P7, recitations, instrumentalists and choirs. The first half started with Hannah Smith reciting Scots Wha Hae setting a very high standard for other P4/P5's following. Emma Thomson opened the singing with The Birks O'Aberfeldy while intermingled in the first half we had piper Murdo Muircroft and instrumentalist Hannah Smith on the recorder.

After a welcome break the second half got underway with the 2 school choirs Maxwellton and Auchinraith then the older pupils of P6/P7 with recitation, singing and instrumentals. The audience sat in silence and admiration listening to the young pupils reciting poems such as Parcel of Rogues in a Nation and Address to a Haggis and singing My Love is like a Red Red Rose and Charlie is my Darling.

The competition was presided over by Rotarian Ian Macpherson, a past President of the Bridgeton Burns Club, introducing each competitor and relating stories on the bard.

Undoubtedly the most onerous task on the night was in the hands of adjudicators Wendy McNab and Audrey McKirdy, Another of the bards quotations "Critics!Those cut-throat bandits in the path of fame" was far from the truth for the two adjudicators. The high standard presented difficulties for Wendy with marking the recitation section and for Audrey the singing, choirs and instrumentals.

Each entrant received a certificate with the winners presented with their trophies from East Kilbride Rotary

Club President Archie King and MSP Linda Fabiani.

The winners in P4/P5

Recitation was 1st Rebecca Goutcher, Kirktonholme, 2nd Shaun Fitzpatrick, Auchinraith, 3rdMatilda Frew, Hunter.

Press release 05/03/15

Our speaker on the 27th February 2015 was Sally McCandless from Hope and Homes, an International Charity set up in 1994 by British UN Commander Mark Cook and his wife Caroline having seen the devastation of shelling of Bjelave institution, Sarajevo.

They initially focused on improving living conditions of children in state run facilities.

Latterly the charity concentrated on closing the institutions reuniting the children with their families or placing them in foster care or adoption. When this was not possible the charity set up small homes with a maximum of 12 children.

The consequences of institutionalisation are a dramatic reduction of opportunity in life and personal development. Hope and Homes operates in 9 countries across Central and Eastern Europe and Africa.

Rotary is a supporter of this charity and has raised £3M since 1994.

EU policy is to close the institutions or orphanages and Hope and Homes works closely with the state governments by a process of Deinstitutionalisation by enabling children to return to their families or alternatively family based services.

On giving the vote of thanks, Eddie Robertson congratulated on her excellent talk on the work done by Hope and Homes and for managing to keep within our lunch time limit. Before asking the members to show their usual appreciation Eddie gave her a task of finding the roots of her surname!

Press release 23/02/15

Opening her talk with the philosophy of East Kilbride Community Trust, CEO Monique McAdams condensed 5 years of intense, frustrating but very successful charitable work in the community into a 20 minute presentation to the members of East Kilbride Rotary Club. Their purpose and aspirations is to bring harmony, fitter future and promoting a healthy life style in the community by providing the facilities and support such that all ages and genders can participate in outdoor activities and programmes. Monique delivered an extremely informative presentation on the history of the Trust since its inception in 2009, surprising the Rotarians with the lengthy list of achievements since its start up.

One of the first projects was the construction of K Park Training Academy in Calderglen Country Park which now services over 2000 young footballers each week. The £2M facility was built within 2½ years of establishing the Trust.

In association with Strathclyde Police, Tony Andrews and Isobel McCarthy started a project called "Move the Goal Post", set up to encourage disruptive youngsters from East Kilbride , Hamilton, Blantyre and Halfway to come along and take part in football training. A representative from Strathclyde Police commented on the success of this venture and on 14 known youngsters on the pitch saying it had saved them£2M by keeping these youngsters out of trouble.

One of the current ongoing projects is the creation of a Woodland area close to Hairmyres Hospital which will not only benefit patients but also the community with its natural play area, walking, rehabilitation and recovery all in an idyllic setting of trees, plants and natural paths.

Recognising the shortage of children play parks in the town the Trust in partnership with SLC are providing a new activity play area in the Calderglen Country Park.

The planning and construction of a Sports & Events Arena in Langlands has been delayed by a local councillor despite the Trust having raised required funding of £17M and is not dependent on public funding. The Arena would include

International standard training, visitor facilities, an industrial facility and an activity centre.

Monique was running out of time and could only gloss over the other charitable activities carried out by the trust such as providing the indoor facility for special needs and disabled children to be coached and play football each week and in December they all receive their invites to a fabulous Christmas Party.

Press release 25/01/15

Friday the 23rd the of January seen East Kilbride Rotarians enjoy yet another Burns lunch at Stewartfield farm where they hold their weekly meeting. District Governor John Waddell was in attendance which added to the proceedings of the day. Past President Roddy Shanks had once again the honour of piping in the haggis that was carried in by the chef of Stewartfield Farm and placed before Bill Rodger who had been invited to render the Address to the Haggis. Bill completed this task with great gusto and to the delight of those in attendance.

Chairman for the day was President Elect Ian Macpherson who gave an excellent Immortal Memory on the life and works of Robert Burns seen East Kilbride Rotarians enjoy yet another Burns lunch at Stewartfield farm where they hold their weekly meeting. District Governor John Waddell was in attendance which added to the proceedings of the day.

Press release 16/01/15

It was business as usual, or lunch as usual, as East Kilbride Rotary club returned to their Friday lunch meeting after the festive break. After the usual business and an enjoyable lunch at the Stewartfield Farm, President Archie King introduced our speaker, Stephen Wilson, son of one of our members, Tom Wilson.

Stephen's talk was on his journey to becoming an "Ironman". It all started in 2009 when he decided to make a determined effort to shed some weight from his 26st:11lbs. He joined a fitness club in Clarkston who by chance had some Ironman members. From then on he followed a very rigorous fitness regime based around the 3 disciplines of the Triathlon, swimming, Cycling and a marathon. In the 6 months prior to the event Stephen trained for over 664 hours. The event starts with 2.4 miles swimming then 112 miles cycling and a marathon of 26.2 miles, a gruelling total of 140 miles. If you complete the course within the strict time limit of 16 hours you are recognised as an Ironman.

When Stephen arrived in Zurich, Switzerland to compete in the Ironman Triathlon in July 2014 he had lost 11st and was in good shape for this endurance event.

Over 3200 participants lined up for the 2.4 mile swim in the clear Swiss water which featured an Australian exit over a small island. From a precarious and nervous start Stephen got into his rhythm, reached the island and was sure he had a superb exit until he saw his belly flop on a video! It was then on to the spectacular bike course through the city centre and along the shore of the town. The two climbs were lined with spectators cheering and ringing the typical cow bells. As he set off on the marathon he thought he was doing really fine until he heard in the distance an announcement, the winner Boris Stein was giving his winning speech. However undeterred he charged ahead an finished in 15 hours and 58 minutes with the added recognition of now being an Ironman. He is back in training to take part in the 2015 Ironman Triathlon.

Roddy Shanks, a marathon man himself, gave the vote of thanks enlightening us to the origins of the Ironman Triathlon. In America a debate was ongoing as to who was the fittest, a swimmer, cyclist or runner so in 1978 CDR Collins and his wife Judy decided to resolve the debate by organising a Triathlon with the winner being called an Iron Man. The runner up ,a Navy seal was in lead after the 2nd discipline, the cycling, but his support team had ran out of water and gave him beer . The club wished him success in his next Triathlon.

Press release 16/12/14

It has been a busy week for East Kilbride Rotary Club members starting on Monday with a visit to Sanderson School.

A small group of 3rd year Sanderson pupils braved the icy conditions to make a start on planting a variety of tulip bulbs on the banking at the top of High Common Road entrance to the school.

Pupils Rachel McGlame, Caitlin McPherson, Lewis Bemie, Keirin Shaw, Cameron O'Brien, Robert Grey and Tanya O'Neill with the assistance of their teachers Susan Templeton, Eddie Law and Susan Black enjoyed getting their hands dirty in the process of planting around one hundred tulips under the watchful eye of Rotarians Roddy Shanks and Archie King. They can now look forward to seeing the fruits of their labours adding colour to the grounds sometime in April next year. This will be the first part of an initiative between Sanderson School and East Kilbride Rotary Club to helping improve and add colour to the community.

On Monday evening Rotarians George McGraw and David Brown ventured along to the Dementia Carers Group house in Pine Crescent, Greenhills to put up decorations. They both spent a couple of happy hours stringing up an assortment of Christmas decorations bringing a little cheer to the residents and carers.

Press release 6/12/14

It is not often nowadays the East Kilbride Rotary Club Lunch time speakers do not use PowerPoint presentations however our speakers last Friday, Jill Scott and Bill Hicks, demonstrated skilful speakers can still captivate their audience.

Jill started with introductions and some background on their talk about the history of the Grand Central Hotel before handing over to Bill.

Both were employed by the Sunday Post for a lengthy period of time until they accepted redundancy in 2010.

In 2010 Bill was approached by Laurie Nichol, manageress of the Central Hotel, asking if he would be interested in researching the history of the hotel and producing a book. Bill and Jill grasped the opportunity and being retired journalised had the expertise and resources for the project.

The format of the talk was very novel with Jill asking questions of Bill and vice versa.

Through this technique we learned the hotel had been built by The Caledonian Rail Company in 1883 and designed by architect Robert Rowland Anderson in the style of Queen Anne.

All the celebrities, actors, actresses and politicians who came to Glasgow stayed at the Central Hotel.

Crowds in their thousands often gathered in the street outside to see the stars and in those days no police control was required.

The list of stars was endless including Sophie Tucker, Danny Kaye, Bob Hope, Gene Kelly, Roy Rogers with Trigger and Winston Churchill. In 1947 Mae West stayed at the hotel when performing Diamond Lil at the Alhambra.

In those days the city boasted many theatres and attracted many of the stars of the screen.

The world's first long distance television pictures were transmitted by John Logie Baird from London the hotel on 24th May 1927.

The hotel boasted one of the top restaurants in Britain at the time, the Mal Maison, opened in 1920 and closed in 1987. The hotel's restaurant, Tempus Bar and Restaurant, is run by James Murphy, voted hotel chef of the year for 2014.

Much of the research information came from the Mitchell Library, very early editions of the Herald and of course meeting with people whose relatives had some connection with the hotel.

Press release 21/11/14

On the 21st of November 2014 Dr Henry Doig on the right introduced Charles Devennie (on the right of Henry) to the members of East Kilbride Rotary Club followed by Past President Edwin Robertson reading to those present the Objects of the Rotarian Organisation followed by President Archie King finalising the proceedings to complete the installation of a new member. 2014 has seen 3 new members coming into the Club and it is hoped that this trend can continue into the future.

Rotary International like many organisations have been struggling to attract new members in recent years. The organisation itself is the largest charitable group worldwide and membership is open to those who feel that they can give time and expertise to help others whilst in return gain the fellowship of many others who are of a similar disposition. If anyone feels they wish to find out more about Rotary here in East Kilbride please contact our Club who meet each Friday at the Stewartfield farm 12.30pm for 12.45pm start and we finish at 2pm contact our secretary email: membership@ekrotary.co.uk

Press release 14/11/14

Bill Griffin captivated the Rotarians with his photographs and talk on his ambition to travel the East-West Route 66 also known as Will Rodgers Highway or Main Street America.

His first task was to find suitable transport and after rejecting the expensive Winnebagos he opted for a Fifth Wheel Trailer. This led to his next task of buying a Tow Truck to pull the trailer. His reasoning for the trailer was you could park use the truck for local exploring. In his presentation , Bill, an expert photographer scrolled through the many remarkable panoramic photographs including his visit to Grant Park where the focal point is the Buckingham Fountain used in the opening os the American sitcom Married with Children.

President Archie King gave the vote of thanks commenting on his long friendship with Bill and thanking him for an excellent talk.

Parents, friends and Rotarians were held captivated at the Schools Youth Speaks competition held at the East Kilbride Group Training Association premises last Thursday.

There were eight teams entered for the event which is organised each year by East Kilbride Rotary Club. Teams were from Calderglen High, Duncanrig Secondary and St Andrews & St Brides High School with each team of 3 comprising a chairperson, speaker and proposer of the vote of thanks. The chairperson and proposer were allocated 2 minutes each with 6 minutes for the speaker. Penalty points were deducted from their scores for any overrun of the allocated time. Teams selected their own topics ranging from The Demise of Modern Languages to Technology 0 Pandora's Box or Treasure Trove.

Adjudicating the competitors were 4 members of East Kilbride Speakers Club, Ken Murray, Alex Rintoul and Ross Hammond with Isobel Dunlop operating the timing lights. It was a difficult night for the Speakers Club as they had to select an intermediate winner and senior winner form a very high quality group of speakers.

Alex Rintoul summed up the proceedings with some valuable advice for all the team members, commenting it was one of the highest standards of speakers he had attended and the extreme difficulty they experienced in selecting the winning teams.

The intermediate winning team was Duncanrig B comprising Chloe Currie, Maria Goodarzi and Hannah Murray with a topic on The Self Hate Craze, a talk about the adverse effects of peer pressure in the media.

Senior winners were Duncanrig C team of Megan Sutherland, Sandy MacLeod and Amy Cook and their topic was Can we trust our Politicians with the conclusion of our Politicians are not to be trusted.

Winner Trophies were presented by Counsellor Alice Marie Mitchell who also has an interest in schools debating and encouraged the teams to continue with speaking and debating.

Duncanrig teacher, Jo Whiteford, who trained and coached the successful teams, was delighted to not only retain the intermediate trophy but to add the senior trophy to their collection.

East Kilbride Rotary Club President Archie King closed the competition thanking the teams and teachers for their extensive work in preparing the teams, EKGT for use of the premises, Speakers Club, Alice Marie Mitchell and guests for helping to make it a superb night.

The 2 winning teams now go forward to the Rotary District competition being held at the Pollokshaws Burgh Hall in February 2015.

Our speaker this week was Michael McCann, MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow.

His talk was to be non-political but about Politics, a difficult undertaking for a Politician. He started his career as a civil servant with the ODA, becoming a trade union official, Counsellor and eventually a member of Parliament.

His experience as a trade unionist and counsellor gave him the skill set in his future role as an MP. However even with this background there was still a steep learning curve in the intricacies of Parliament and after 4 years he is still discovering there is a lot more to learn about its workings.

Liam Donnelly, an old friend of Michael's , gave the vote of thanks , remarking he had assisted with Michael's successful campaign and watching him grow from a raw recruit to an accomplished MP

Press release 02/11/14

The Rotary Club of East Kilbride enjoyed a mix of contrasting speakers at their last two Friday lunch meetings.

Anne McLean of The Foot Place in Graham Avenue presented some very graphic and gruesome pictures of foot diseases ranging from seriously overgrown toenails to diabetic related foot problems.

She delivered a highly informative talk on the art of Podiatry and how we should take as much care about our feet as do with our teeth and general health. When asked what one single piece of advice she would give it was that you wash your wash your feet thoroughly each day. Eddie Robertson gave the vote of thanks.

Our speaker last Friday transported us into the wonderful world of magic. Scott Cuthbertson, one of Scotland's foremost magicians, regaled the members on the exciting history of magic however he began with an illusion using an invisible pack of cards where one of our members ,Jim Anderson, had to take them out of an imaginary box, shuffle the cards and then select a card ( without letting him see it !). Scott then produced a real pack of cards and picked out the ace of spades, the card Jim had selected. His love of magic is not confined to illusions but also in the history of magic and how it could be dated back to the time of the pyramids in Egypt with the cup and ball trick shown in some of the hieroglyphics. The magicians of the past who inspired him were Robert Houdin, Houdini, Blackstone and Chung Loo Soo who in fact was William Robertson from New York.

During the same week East Kittoch Rotary club collaborated with East Kilbride to select two 6th year pupils from the local high schools to represent East Kilbride in the European Rotary project " Euroscola". The pupils are sponsored by the clubs and spend 5 days in Strasbourg. The selection process is based on a number of qualities but in particular their ability to converse fluently in French. The two pupils selected were Simon Little of Calderglen High and Caitlin McDonald of St Andrew's and St Brides.

The Euroscola day is hosted 10 times a year by the European Parliament in Brussels or Strasbourg. Around 500 young people from across the EU take part in a day of presentations, questions, discussions and voting on issues relevant to them. The day is multi-lingual with the expectation that all participants can communicate in French and English. The day is led by officials of the Parliament and is structured to ensure all young people participate to the full. It is a prestigious event with the young people being treated very much as MEPs: sitting in the main debating chamber; using electronic voting etc.

Rotary DISTRICT CHALLENGE 2014

EAST KILBRIDE v CUMNOCK

The Stewartfield Farm was the venue for the first round of the Rotary District 1230 Club Challenge when the challengers, Cumnock Rotary Club, visited East Kilbride.

Following an enjoyable evening in a previous Challenge two years ago at Cumnock, East Kilbride Rotarians were anticipating another close competition using the same format of darts, pool and table top curling. This turned out to be the case with both the darts and pool competitions drawn at 2.5 points per team. As previously it was to be decided by the last game, table top curling, and East Kilbride again prevailed winning two of the three games played.

The evening was concluded with an excellent finger buffet provided by the Stewartfield Farm during which the East Kilbride team of John Cardno, Archie King, George McGraw, Frank McLuskey, Ray Porrelli and Iain Wiseaman again enjoyed the "craic" with the Cumnock Rotarians.

The team now look forward to hosting Renfrew Rotary Club in the next round.

Press Release 05/10/14

East Kilbride Rotary had the pleasure of welcoming a new member to their club last Friday. President Archie King introduced and inducted Charter Surveyor Iain Henshaw, presenting him with his Rotary badge and certificate,

Iain, who is employed with Whyte & Barrie, is the clubs youngest member at 33, lives in East Kilbride and has 3 daughters aged 8, 9 and 12.

It was a busy Rotary lunch time at the Stewartfield Farm as we also had a speaker, Ashley Hunt, media organiser for Meningitis Research Foundation, who gave an informative and eloquent talk on Meningitis and Septicaemia. Her task is to promote awareness of the symptoms of meningitis and raise the profile of the Foundation. Founded in 1989 the Foundation does not receive any government funding and has raised over £17M to fund and support research resulting in a vaccine for MENB and MENC. They also recently launched Meningitis Action to provide vaccine for children in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world.

Babies, youngsters and students are most at risk with 50% of all cases occurring in the under fives.

Dr Henry Doig gave a vote of thanks to Ashley on behalf of the club.

Press Release August 2014

Due to holidays during the month of July East Kilbride Rotary Club do not have any speakers at their Friday lunch and to entertain the members and guests Gary Loutit, Assistant Rotary District Governor, President Robin Garside of the Glasgow Club and Ron James of East Kilbride Kittoch, they have a 4 minute waffle.

Last Friday's waffle topic was about the city of Chicago recounted by past president Frank McLuskey. Frank and his wife Isobel had recently returned from visiting their daughter in Chicago. The time restriction was his biggest challenge for the waffle as he is known to ramble from time to time.

Supported by lots of photographs he described in the detail the history of many of the sights and buildings. Starting with Navy Pier a tourist hot spot for restaurants, cinemas etc , Chicago Riverwalk with stunning architecture, boat tours and river taxis and some of the striking buildings such as Water Tower Palace, Chase Tower and the Chicago Board of Trade.

Some were more notable, the Willis Tower the tallest building in Chicago, Wrigley Building clad in glazed terra-cotta, the Trump International Hotel and Tower with a stainless steel façade and the Carbide & Carbon Building, sometimes known as the Hard Rock building, with green tinted terra-cotta and 24 carat gold leaf highlighting the building features at the spire. The shape and colour were inspired by a champagne bottle and was erected during the 1920's, the time of prohibition.

However the highpoint was his visit to Chicago No 1 Rotary club in the Union League Club building, enjoy lunch and meet with the current President Pedro Cevallo. Paul Harris set up the first ever Rotary club in Chicago in 1905 and today there are more than 1,2 million members world wide.

TAYLOR SALVER

Nine club members entered the competition for the Taylor Salver at East Kilbride G C on 28 August and the sun did smile on the righteous, as the heavy rain disappeared ten minutes before the first tee off, and playing conditions were perfect for the rest of the day.

The good conditions were reflected in the scoring with almost all the players scoring over thirty Stableford points, but the clear winner with a magnificent score of 36 was Ian Macpherson whose steady play throughout his round proved the old saying about wine improving with age. Playing in the same group was the runner up, Liam Donnelly, who scored 33 points, the same as newcomer Russell Gill who finished third due to a slightly poorer inward half.

The other winners, who also received their prizes after a fine dinner and fellowship in the golf club, were Jack Blackwood whose was nearest the pin at the 3rd hole, and Jim Moretti whose drive on the 9th was the longest of the day.

Press Release July 2014

Fine weather heralded the start of East Kilbride Rotary Club golf AMAM,the 4th year of the club organising this event. At 10.20am last Friday "The Ryder Cup Rejects" were first to tee off at East Kilbride Golf Club, having slapped on plenty of factor 50.

22 teams consisting of 4 golfers entered, each team and each hole sponsored either by local companies, Rotary Clubs or individuals.

All the golfers were fed hamburgers at the 8th hole by Brain Doig of Dementia Care assisted by Jim Moretti, a very welcome break for the players.

The golf club chef, Brian, prepared delicious meals for all the wearied participants.

Fortunately the forecasted rain, thunder and lightning passed East Kilbride by with a slight drizzle in the late afternoon.

Many of the teams stayed on after the meal for the raffle, auction and prize giving. David Brown, past president of East Kilbride Rotary Club and auctioneer on the day, auctioned a number of donations ranging from a Tom Tom Sat Nav to 4 ball gifted by golf clubs throughout Scotland.

Included was a special raffle donated by Phoenix MG who donated the use of an MX5 for weeked and an overnight stay at the Cardrona Hotel.

The winning team was Gordon Campbell Painters and Decorators comprising Gail and Gordon Campbell and Irene and Danny Morton with a score of 127.

Second was team Gordon Russell comprising A Ronny, Stevie Morrison , Alex Henderson and Tom Leith with a score of 128 and coming in at third with a score of 132 was team James Murray made up of James Murray, Darren Cochrane, G Grimsby and W Heron.

Longest Gents drive was won by David McLaren and the ladies longest drive by Jean Brennan.

Nearest the pin at the 8th hole was David Mclaren and Mitchell Ronald, the youngest player at the event and son of local golf professional Craig Ronald won nearest the pin at the 17t hole.

East Kilbride Rotary Club President , Archie King, wound up the evening thanking David and Gail Brown and Jim Moretti for organising the AMAM, the staff and catering staff for the excellent hospitality, the lady members who welcomed the teams as they arrived and compiled the scores.

A very generous sum of £5300 was raised and will be shared between Dementia care at Pine Crescent and the Rotary Club's "Toys for Kids".

An estimated 82,000 people in Scotland have Dementia, over 1000 in East Kilbride, and the number is increasing.

The Rotary Club work alongside the Social Work Department who have identified over a 1000 local kids who will not get a toy or gift at Christmas.