news at one
TRANSCRIPT
NEWS AT ONE No 140 Spring 2021
Wishful thinking?
A long dreary year will end,
We shall not grieve for its passing.
Soon the masks will be cast aside,
Friends and strangers will sit beside each other
smile and say hello, lips extending to shining eyes.
A warm hug will banish the distance between us,
And the old among us know, we are not alone.
Hands will wash when they have to, not that they must.
Loved ones will meet again by the warmth of a fireside
Break bread and share laughter.
The young will dance to the music of freedom,
children sleepover, feast at midnight.
Bars and cinemas will open, and arenas flock with cheering crowds.
Shops will sell, people buy not just what they need but what they want.
Travellers will go, to and from distant places, enjoy wonders, return wiser.
Then the pious will worship together, give thanks for an end, so long in coming.
Specially written by Leela Gaulam, for the Aberdeen December meeting
HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY
ABERDEEN ST FITTICK
Yet another red letter birthday spent in lockdown.
My goodness District 1 are going to have so many
celebrations to catch up on when we can all meet up
again!!!! Well done to you all for celebrating this on Zoom
with a very special guest speaker.
(see club report page 3)
January Sunrise at Nairn Beach
taken by
Debbie Collins, Nairn
These beautiful works by our
own members, perfectly
mirror everyone’s hopes for a
brighter future and a better
year ahead for us all.
2
A message from District Chairman, Lesley Niven
It’s been a strange year! I’ve been very grateful to Inner Wheel for keeping me busy – it’s been a challenge at times but with the support of my brilliant District Executive team and encouraged by the amazing efforts of Clubs across the District, I’ve loved my second year as your District Chairman. What fun I’ve had on Zoom – coffee mornings, quizzes, Club meetings, get-togethers with Club Presidents and GB&I District Chairman colleagues.
The vaccination rollout is well underway but after listening to the First Minister’s statement in Holyrood yesterday, it is clear that the lifting of restrictions will be cautious and gradual. With this in mind, it has been decided that the District
Rally on 20 May will have to be “virtual” – it’s disappointing but the Rally Committee are determined to be positive and put on a good show.
I hope you enjoy this E-magazine. Thank you all for everything you are doing in the name of Inner Wheel.
Remember better days are coming. Take care, stay safe.
Best wishes
Lesley x
INTERNATIONAL INNER WHEEL DAY — January 10th 2020
With our usual acts of friendship and service out of the question due to Covid 19 restrictions, clubs had to find different
ways to celebrate Inner Wheel Day this year. Some held extra coffee and chat sessions on Zoom; others lit candles on the
Sunday evening in their windows; and a great many messages, emails and phone calls took place. There was a huge
number of postings from clubs throughout G B & I on the Association Facebook page bringing greetings from near and far.
Instead of providing entertainment and afternoon tea at a sheltered housing complex, the Kirriemuir club donated puzzle
books and bags of home made tablet to the Kirriemuir Day Care Centre. Picture shows Helen Shearer, Treasurer of
Kirriemuir handing over their donation to the manager.
Meanwhile in Ellon they were being very creative — each
member producing and photographing a flower arrangement in
our colours - blue and yellow. Well done ladies!
International and Home Service Reports
Fundraising has not been the focus for clubs this year. Instead we have been intent on helping out in our communities,
learning new technology and keeping in touch with members. Collectively we have donated to 26 national charities here
in the UK — e.g. MacMillan Cancer Support, Salvation Army, Women’s Aid, Home Start, CHAS and for the first time the
STV Appeal. Your focus was helping out in your own communities and 81 local charities benefitted from your donations.
Many clubs chose to donate either in cash or in goods to Food Banks. A huge amount of crafting, knitting and sewing has
been donated to good causes both at home and abroad. Blythswood has been the recipient of much of this, as well as
1200 knitted squares sent to Syria to be made into blankets. Over 4000 bras were collected and we supported several big
appeals —Australian Bush Fires and the Beirut Appeal—with a couple more ongoing. Water Aid, Roll out the Barrel and
The Butterfly Malaria Project were also well supported—and these are just a few examples.
We applaud this fabulous effort and are pleased to announce that in 2020 our District has raised and donated - a total
of £31,954
with £24,577 going to charities here in the UK and £7,377 to international charities.
3
Aberdeen : President: Lisa Edmonston
We have had a variety of ‘gatherings’ during the last five
months with distanced walks, Zoom coffee mornings for
which we dressed the part for both Hallowe’en and Christmas
and interesting speakers on our usual Inner Wheel dates via
Zoom. The autumn highlight was when we were able to have
a picnic lunch at tables for two which were socially distanced
in an amazingly large polytunnel courtesy of one of our
members. We each brought our own picnic and the weather
was magnificent and it was just lovely being able to see our
friends!
So here’s to a better New Year when we can again be together. Maureen Drummond, Club Correspondent
CLUB ROUND UP . . . . . .
To Aberdeen
“I’m going away” I said.
Where? She asked.
“Aberdeen,” I said
“What? That is far”.
“Not so far,” I said.
“Remember I came from a place, very far”.
“It’s very cold there” she said with a mock shiver.
I‘ve lived in places very much colder”.
“They don’t speak like us” she said finally.
“Don’t they?” I asked, “Then I shall learn to speak like
them”
That was thirty years ago, I came, fell in love and stayed
in this stately city of granite.
A city not too big, not too small.
A place of parks, castles, forests, and rivers,
A seaside city with a beautiful beach, within reach.
In time, it was the welcome in the eyes that defied my
fears,
I was no longer one alone, but one of them.
I could understand and be understood; not always I admit,
Words like quine, loon, watery and dreich caught me out.
No problem with this though,
When someone said “Come awa Darlin, hava cuppa tea.”
I knew what it meant, I went, and I did.
Leela Gaulam December 2020
Myra Williamson -
masked ghoul
Spider cup cake!
Margaret Currie -
beautiful witch
Maureen Drummond
- scary witch!
Picnic in the polytunnel
Clubs reports are in random order to make best use of the
space on each page. Ed.
DISTRICT QUIZ : 13 teams contested the District Quiz.
Three heats were held culminating in the final just before
Christmas. This new competition was hosted and organised
on Zoom by District Chairman Lesley (assisted by other
members of the Executive) and keenly contested by the
clubs. Pitlochry were runners up (see p13) but the 2020
Winners were the ABERDEEN team of Caroline Davies,
Eveleen Garvie and Margaret Currie. A prize of £50 was
awarded to the Club to be donated to a charity of their choice
and on this occasion Aberdeen chose Instant Neighbour —
a local charity which provides support to some of the poorest
and most vulnerable people and communities in Aberdeen
and Aberdeenshire. Well done ladies! A great social event
in spite of COVID19 restrictions.
4
Aberdeen St Fittick : President : Jennifer Logan
The Club has been quiet over the last six months, missing like many our monthly face to face get togethers at the Atholl
Hotel. We were determined to re-start meetings in some way for the new IW year 2020-21 with everyone keen to get
their heads round zoom as a platform for keeping in touch. In September this took the form of a chat, a catch up and a
support session to help each other with the new technology. These coffee “chats” and book group via zoom have
continued each month, to encourage and improve our use of technology and in October we heard from Rotary President
David Birnie that St Fittick Rotary Club were meeting the same challenges for their activities.
In November we celebrated officially our 50th
Birthday at which members were encouraged to “zoom in” with their cake
and a glass of something special to toast this landmark. Our speaker for the night was Jim McColl, of The Beechgrove
Garden fame. It was hugely interesting hearing about his life and he also answered a wide variety of our horticultural
questions with great patience. Pictures are on the cover and have been shared on our own and the Association’s
Facebook pages which generated a great many birthday greetings.
Sadly, also in November, we said goodbye to our longest standing member Muriel Mutch. Muriel had been a member for
most of the 50 years of our Club. A lovely, warm, friendly lady who welcomed everyone and always had a smile and
time to chat. I sat next to her on one of my first meetings and was so taken with the welcome I received; I was truly
encouraged to keep coming back. Sadly, Muriel had been ill for quite some time and unable to attend meetings in
person but she kept in touch via other members and we kept up to date with her news too. She really was an amazing
lady who will be remembered fondly by many.
Our Christmas meeting involved a very interesting talk about jewellery, a bit of sparkle for the festive season. Also in
December, I joined with the St Fittick Rotary Club members signing up for the Sue Ryder December
Daily Dash, completing a minimum of 5km walking, running or cycling each day during December.
Quite a challenge for someone like me who enjoys nothing better than to curl up and read a book. I
was surprised to thoroughly enjoy the challenge
and am pleased to say I completed it and even
slightly exceeded the total required. Our target
was to raise funds for a Virtual Reality (VR) kit
which enables residents to enjoy the benefits of a
visit to the beach, to the jungle and even outer
space to name just a few. Research using this
equipment had been carried out and showed an
improvement in resident wellbeing and the local
Sue Ryder facility in Aberdeen was keen to
extend the use of this equipment. The target of £5,500 for one VR
machine was exceeded and in the end £12,000 was raised. Well done!
Gette Cobban, Club Correspondent
Brechin:
It was with great sadness that Brechin Inner Wheel lost one of their members, Marchia May in
October after a short but courageous fight with cancer. Marchia was a much-loved member of
our group and within our local community. She led a very active and inspirational life. Her
involvement within many of the local community organisations, her family, her operatic
talents, and her travels made her a most enjoyable companion at Inner Wheel events. She is
remembered with great fondness.
In lieu of our cancelled Inner Wheel Day for
Re-engage, formerly known as Contact the
Elderly, Christmas gifts were purchased and
distributed. Our meetings have latterly moved to
Zoom and we finished the year with a festive
drink and a game of Christmas Bingo.
Happy SMILES at Christmas ZOOM Elaine Sim, Club Correspondent
Maybe when social distancing is a thing of the past, we’ll hug a little harder, hold on a little longer,
and remember that nothing matters more than the time we spent with the people we love.
So the other day I yelled into a colander
and strained my voice!
I’m on a nut free diet . . . . . .
I avoid people who drive me nuts!
5
Aberfeldy & District : President : Liz Bruce
What a strange year we have had but our friendships have held strong by use of emails and telephone calls. We made the
most of a fine day in September to organise a Putting competition, and in October and November organised walks and a
socially distanced get together for coffee and cake. Now we are faced with dull days and no chance of getting outside in the
garden, so once more books and jigsaws are coming into their own.
Normally we have a Secret Santa at our Christmas meeting, but no meeting this year so we issued a challenge to members
to make a gift for a designated recipient costing no more than £5 from items within the home, to be delivered during
Christmas Week.
We send Good Wishes to all our friends in District One and hope we can meet again soon. Thanks in particular to you Jean
for doing a wonderful job as District Editor and to all the Executive for keeping us all up to date.
Diana Taylor, Club Correspondent
Elgin : President : Edna Ross
What a different year this has been! We in Elgin were very disappointed to miss our 70th Birthday in March. The lovely cake our Vice President baked had to be cut up and little parcels delivered to our doors with chocolate reindeer. The less greedy ate it during our last Zoom meeting. Despite not being able to meet we have managed to donate to local charities.
We were delighted to donate twenty bags of toys, toiletries,
food etc to our local newspaper - The Northern Scot. This
was for their annual appeal for the needy of Moray and was
organised by our President, Edna Ross.
We are looking forward to meeting in person in 2021, we hope.
Winnie MacDonald-Green, Club Correspondent.
Pam Sutherland, Vice President, with some of the gifts for The
Northern Scot Appeal
Objects of Inner Wheel
To promote true friendship
To encourage the ideals of personal service
To foster international understanding
My going out clothes have missed me so much!
I put them on yesterday and they hugged me so tightly
I couldn’t move!
6
Anstruther ; President : Corinne Peddie
In common with the world at large, Anstruther Club has not
found 2020 the easiest of years. Ladies were not keen to
embrace Zoom so it has not been possible to meet,
although we did attempt to have a rota of hostesses
prepared to entertain 2 at a time (when 3 households could
meet). Before we could get started this was reduced to 2
households . . .. quickly followed by no households meeting
at all! So, that plan had to bite the dust! Communication has
been by email, telephone & a monthly newsletter ably edited
by President Corinne & circulated by Secretary Kara either
by hand or by email.
A delivery of blankets, hats, scarves, gloves, bootees and
tops was made to the Fife Linus Project Co-ordinator who
also runs the group "A Good Yarn in the Bay" in Dalgety
Bay. The items were distributed to Fife Linus Project for
traumatised children, Leven Homestart, the Cottage
Family Centre in Kirkcaldy & the dementia ward Queen
Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline. It has been comforting
to accomplish something in these difficult times.
Elspeth Hunter, Club Correspondent
Arbroath: President : Annetta Anderson.
Although our social lives have been curtailed somewhat, we've agreed that our gardens have never been so well tended and our homes have seen DIY projects carried out, cupboards and drawers tidied and more baking done.
A few ladies have been on socially distanced walks and keeping in touch by phone which keeps mind and body healthier.
Our pre-Covid committee meetings were usually held in the President's home. The man of the house would often help to take coats then offer refreshments before magically
disappearing to another part of the house. Zoom Committee meetings and having to get our own refreshments is just not the same! This year will soon be behind us and 2021 promises to be a year of hope and recovery. To quote a line from Dickens, from A Christmas Carol - 'God bless us, Every one'.
Creel Christmas Tree at Arbroath Harbour
by kind permission of Adventures in Angus
Lockdown Poem featured in the Auchterarder Club Newsletter
I won’t arise and go now, and go to Innisfree
I’ll sanitise the doorknob and make a cup of tea.
I won’t go down to the sea again; I won’t go out at all,
I’ll wander lonely as a cloud from the kitchen to the hall.
There’s a green-eyed yellow monster to the north of Kathmandu
But I shan’t be seeing him just yet and nor, I think, will you.
While the dawn comes up like thunder on the road to Mandalay
I’ll make my bit of supper and eat it off a tray.
I shall not speed my bonnie boat across the sea to Skye,
Or take the rolling English road from Birmingham to Rye.
About the woodland, just right now, I am not free to go
To see the Keep Out posters or the cherries hung with snow.
And no, I won’t be travelling much, within the realms of gold,
Or get me to Milford Haven. All that’s been put on hold.
Give me your hands, I shan’t request, albeit we are friends
Nor come within a mile of you, until the virus ends.
Anonymous
Auchterarder & District : President : Issy Anderson
What a year it has been! President Issy Anderson and
her committee have worked hard to devise a rich and
varied programme despite the limitations imposed by the
various “lockdowns”. Highlights include an online bingo
session and a painting competition! We were all delivered
a child’s paintbox and paper and asked to release our
inner Picasso to paint a flower scene. The results were
quite outstanding.
We ended the year with a
Xmas Party. A goody bag
was sent out to all members
containing this programme
and a few wee treats –
including a mince pie and
home made tablet. An
afternoon of songs, jokes,
quiz and laughter – with a
wonderful selection of Xmas hats and jumpers on display.
Toys have been collected for the local Covid Christmas
Appeal; donations and funds for transport have been
made to Blythswood and to Women’s Aid: REACH has
received knitted goods and an impressive array of stars
and angels were knitted and distributed to local care
homes along with cards. Well done everyone!
We are now waiting to be
vaccinated and look forward to
being able to meet up in person
once again.
Christine Grant,
Club Correspondent
Wearing a mask inside your home is now highly
recommended. Not so much to prevent the spread of
the virus, but to stop you eating!!!
Life is like a jar of jalapeno peppers.
What you do today may be
a burning issue tomorrow.
Doreen Doig: Club Correspondent
7
Banff : President : Mary Cumming
For our December club meeting we held a Zoom quiz. Mary Berstan acted as question master and provided a splendid mix of questions all relating to Christmas in some way. One question in particular stumped us all. Who wrote the poem “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees“? Nobody had ever heard of it, let alone knew who the author was! However it has an interesting background. It was penned by T. S. Eliot in 1954. The Faber publishing company commissioned several young poets to write a series of poems which they made into Christmas cards by adding a decorative cover. They were then given to their customers or sold in their shops for a shilling, which was quite a lot of money in the mid 1900s. T. S. Eliot wrote 6 poems for this series. The Christmas tree one urges people to retain the same wonder in life that a child has for a Christmas tree.
Anne Stirling, Club Correspondent
Eileen Brown (left ) and Anne Stirling, delivering Christmas presents (shoe boxes filled with gifts for adults
and children) to Blythswood Care.
Club members donated 60 food bags to local food banks. Iris Stuart (left) from the Portsoy Action Group
receiving some of the bags from members Mary Berstan and Eileen Brown.
President Mary Cumming delivering food parcels to
the Banff Food Bank.
Cupar : President : Marvyn Johnston
Cupar members, no doubt like many others, were not able
to meet in person after March but we decided that Covid
would not stop us! We decided to embrace the new
technology and got to grips with Zoom for meetings.
We had a wonderful and inspiring Zoom
presentation by Linda Mitchell, of Leading
Change Uganda - a charity which tries to
increase access to education, information and
basic needs among women and children in
Uganda. In December we had a coffee and mince pie
get-together. We all dressed for the occasion, with reindeer
antlers, Christmas jumpers, Christmas earrings and
wonderful Christmassy sunglasses! We shared some great
Christmas jokes and Past President Elspeth rounded the
morning off with her poem (see below)
Cupar Food Bank was not forgotten, they benefitted from
the reverse Advent Calendar food items which members
had collected. It has been hard at times, but we have tried
to keep in touch with phone calls and Zoom in these very
strange times.
Hopefully we can look forward to meeting in person during
2021. Anne Foley, Club Correspondent
Christmas is Cancelled The politicians tell us we should cancel Christmas Day That the risk of spreading COVID brings a price we’ll have to pay. They’ve agreed on our behalf - as far as politicians can - To have a different celebration, a FACTS based Christmas plan. You must cancel noisy parties, you must cancel too much food You must cancel too much driving – those must surely do some good. You can cancel over-spending on the things folk may not need You can cancel futile wish-lists, you can cancel selfish greed. We must all live in a bubble and two bubbles must not meet. We cannot visit Santa or sing carols in the street. We may not go to pantos or to concerts or to plays. We may not do so many things – we’ll just have to change our ways. We may have to spend our Christmas in a very different way. We may have to save up all the hugs for a later, safer, day. We may have to have our gatherings in a virtual sort of way But you cannot cancel Christmas or the love that came to stay. So they’re wrong! You cannot ever do away with Christmas Day ‘Cos it happened long ago, when a babe lay in the hay, When a virgin lass called Mary unexpectedly gave birth And God gave to every one of us a present of great worth. No! You cannot cancel Christmas or the angel song of glee Or the shepherds on the hillside, who chose to go and see, In a stable warm and crowded, a miracle come true As God gave the gifts of love and peace and hope to me and you.
Elspeth Smith
Friends are the fruitcake of our lives
Some are nutty, some soaked in alcohol,
some firm, some sweet,
but altogether, they are great to have in your life.
8
Dunfermline : President : Laura Craig
Like most clubs we have had to get used to having ZOOM meetings, however we have embraced this new medium and
also introduced a monthly newsletter to keep our members up to date with Club News. In October we celebrated our 74th
Birthday (without our usual afternoon tea!). The club has focused greatly on collecting items for donations to charities.
Two car boots were filled with donations for Haiti Help (including books, a Sat Nav, cameras, DVDs, CDs, and watches)
and over 80 toys were donated to the Salvation Army Christmas Toy Appeal.
In November our 5 newest members each gave a 10 minute talk introducing themselves to the club. This worked very
well and I would thoroughly recommend this to any club who have been fortunate enough to recruit new members during
Lockdown. We ended our year on a high with a very entertaining Zoom Cocktail Demonstration evening with speakers
Adam Murphy and Dougie Sharp from Kingdom Cocktails – many of us joined in and enjoyed making them at home!
Here’s to a better year for all of us!
It is with great sadness that the club note the passing of Past President Isabel Campbell, in December.
Margaret Steedman, Club Correspondent
Dundee: Presidents : Jacqui McGreavey & Beverley Horner (since January)
During the summer months, our Coffee Mornings continued to be held but
for very small numbers in various gardens. Any photographs taken were
shown in “The Hub” to help members feel included. The Hub also included
some photographs of occasions over the
last few years with no facemasks and no
social distancing as a reminder of what
Inner Wheel was like under normal
circumstances. We are planning to hold our
World Inner Wheel Day by Zoom. Our
monthly meetings have continued by Zoom.
We held a virtual Christmas Lunch with
Rev. Dr Fiona Douglas the University of
Dundee Chaplain speaking, followed by a
sing along of Christmas songs. Beverley Horner did two webinar sessions showing how to
ice and decorate a Christmas cake—seen right. One of the cakes is being donated to the
Foodbank. Brave ladies joined in, but some may still be adding the final touches on
Christmas Eve! We are keeping those not on Zoom up to date with phone calls and
delivering paper copies of the Hub including any general Inner Wheel business. Ena Barr, Club Correspondent
President Laura and International
Convenor Jackie Chalmers with
donations for Haiti Help.
President Laura superimposed
with donations for the
Salvation Army Xmas Toy appeal.
Community Convenor Margaret
Livingstone handing over the gifts
to the Salvation Army.
Winter Spiced Punch (can be made with or without alcohol)
Ingredients : Rum – preferably spiced e.g., Dark Matter Scottish spiced rum or Morgan Spice Rum (50 ml); Juice of
one lime ; Cloudy apple juice (100ml) ; Honey (a good squeeze); ground cinnamon (a pinch on the top); Ice
Equipment : Cocktail shaker or use a clear jar or Tupperware tub; Juicer for lime; Egg cup or a measure
Method : Put all the ingredients into your cocktail shaker give it a good 2-minute shake then strain into
a glass filled with plenty of ice
Editor : I asked Margaret to include a recipe of one of the cocktails for us all to try! CHEERS —Thanks Margaret!
9
Kirriemuir: President : Sally Campbell
Kirriemuir Inner Wheel has continued to keep in touch with
all our members during this second wave of COVID 19 by
having a Zoom coffee morning every Tuesday. This has
been wonderful for keeping everyone in touch, even one of
our members who has been in Australia, for months longer
than she intended. She has been able to keep up to date
with us all and it has been great hearing about all her
adventures. The wonder of Zoom!!
Thank goodness for the phone too, now that the weather
isn’t as good and the nights are long it is good to know we
have Inner Wheel friends who we can phone for a chat.
We have had 3 full Zoom meetings too. The first was in
September when, David Hoskins, President of Kirriemuir
Rotary talked on his life as a photographer. He was
followed by Linda Stevens telling us how she has enjoyed
learning about her family history and encouraged some of
the members to go on line and do the same. One or two
members have tried this and have been quite surprised at
how easy it is and have had some success solving family
mysteries. And finally, in November, Sally Davidson
enlightened everyone with her enthusiastic talk about
Mary’s Meals which was enjoyed by all. She is keen to
give a talk to any other
group to spread the word
of Mary’s Meals.
We were delighted to hear
one of our members,
Frances Martin and her
sister Elsbeth from Cupar
Inner Wheel were joint
winners of the Alternative
Bridges competition. Well
done to both of them!
We are all looking forward to a happier 2021. I recently
read on Facebook this little saying “ The best things in life
are the people we love, the places we’ve been and the
memories we’ve made along the way “. So true.
Sandra Boath, Club Correspondent
North Fife : President : Moira Brown
This, it must be said, has been a year like no other in our recent history. Like so
many other clubs we have had to adapt, improvise and overcome, not least by
moving our meetings to an online platform. The format of our monthly Zoom
meetings has become familiar to all — with speakers, a chance to catch up with
each other in break-out groups, and our ever-popular 100 Club draw all being
combined with the obligatory business meeting. We have enjoyed a wide range of
speakers who have, despite the vagaries of IT, bandwidth issues and wi-fi faffs,
managed to provide us with fascinating
insights into their chosen topics. We are most grateful to them all.
The year concluded with our Zoom Christmas Social, during which our
President, Moira Brown, found a characteristically innovative way of sharing
with members our Christmas charities (see left). We all fervently hope that
2021 marks a return to something more akin to normal service, and that our
members are once again able to enjoy the friendships and camaraderie on
which we pride ourselves face to face rather than through a screen.
Alex John, Club Correspondent
Ellon: President : Joyce Dryburgh
The Inner Wheel year started a bit tentatively in late
August as we tried to get our heads round the mysteries of
technology and meeting each other via Zoom. But as
autumn closed in, and it became obvious that social
distancing was going to be with us for the foreseeable
future, confidence grew and even those technically
challenged have participated in the Zoom meetings.
We started with a fun, informal evening where we learned
what liars the committee could be; we’ve had a talk on
supporting people with mental health issues; an update on
how Ellon Rotary is coping with the restrictions; and a
Christmas flower arranging demonstration.
Best of all we now have a WhatsApp Inner Wheel group
which has been perfect for sharing everything from the
arrival of a new grandchild or some special Christmas
music, to the latest daft cartoon which is doing the rounds.
For the few members we have not been able to persuade
on to Zoom or WhatsApp, we rely on phone calls and
doorstep visits. Roll on spring and the vaccine.
Anne Hamilton, Club Correspondent
10
Forfar: President : Lynda Stobbs
Like all clubs, Forfar has got to grips with digital technology and now conducts coffee /chat mornings, our committee and
club meetings on Zoom. Members have contributed to bumper editions of our monthly newsletter with their own articles,
jokes and pictures, in an attempt to involve and entertain everyone. These are emailed to most members but some are
printed and hand delivered. Those unable to Zoom are kept in touch by regular phone
calls. In the autumn, we started having speakers again, mostly drawing on home grown
talent! 3 Rotarians did presentations for us; Club President Colin Muir updated us on
Rotary projects and spoke to us of the highlights of his many years in the club: Richard
Watt told us of his professional life as a journalist at Holyrood: and James Grey-Cheape
enthralled us with tales and slides of a dog sled adventure he undertook in the Arctic. At
Christmas, we were asked to join Forfar Rotary for a joint Zoom. Members had gone to
town with their headgear, especially President Lynda, who half way through the evening
transformed herself into the star on top of the Christmas tree! We distributed masks to
two local dementia support groups who were doing outreach work in the community and
over Christmas members supplied food to fill over 100 of these RECIPE FOOD BAGS
for our local food banks. Each bag contains the long life ingredients for a simple hot
meal for a family of 4 (Cowboy Pie, Hot Dog Pasta, Chilli etc) along with the recipe on
the front. Having posted this on Facebook we have had requests for the recipes from a
few other IW clubs — both in our District and further afield! We are happy to share!
Jean Hale, Club Correspondent
Inverness : President : Sandra Clarkson
A mile of scarves : Inverness ladies were very busy during early lockdown, and the months following, quilting, knitting and sewing. Scarves were a big item to the extent it became let’s aim for a “mile of scarves”. The scarves soon got hats and mittens attached to them! We also had a “celebration” of teddies with many teddies being knitted as well as blankets, quilts, jumpers and even knitted handbags. In total the club produced in excess of 1,000 items. These were handed over to Blythswood when the club went on a visit to their new sorting and distribution centre which had recently been opened in Inverness. This allows them to sort over 25,000 boxes & bags for distribution to Bulgaria and Romania.
This is a huge effort this year by the club and they were thanked by fundraising manager, Danny Muschate who said that these items to fill “shoe boxes” were even more necessary this year due to the pandemic.
Club pictures: Left : the start of the SCARF MILE! Masked club members from left, Alice Cliff, Sheila Moir, Sheila Cooper, Heather Sheerin and President Sandra Clarkson Right: some of the many items produced.
The club also received some very welcome publicity at the handover with an article and pictures appearing the following day in the “Press and Journal”. Hilary Noble, Club Correspondent
Photographs above are by kind permission of Aberdeen Journals
Club President Sandra Clarkson with Danny Muschate Masked members with some of the items
Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of the heart
Who's the boss of the hankies? Its gotta be the hankie chief!
11
Laurencekirk & District: President : Frances Wallace
From the outset of Lockdown we have been very conscious of maintaining regular
contact with all our members - whether through weekly phone calls, newsletters or
our very successful Zoom coffee mornings. Until we began our monthly Zoom
meetings in September, we held fortnightly Zoom coffee mornings on a Friday. The
discussions were varied - cancelled holidays, favourite holidays, treatment for insect
bites, favourite Scottish words, “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme and general family
news.
We were able to host our Rotary President Alan McNaughton in September and
Kym McWilliam – granddaughter of member Mildred McWilliam, joined us on Zoom
in October. She spoke about her involvement in establishing a highly successful Pick Your Own Flower Field on the
outskirts of Laurencekirk. We concluded the year with our laughter filled Zoom Christmas Party – Goodie Bags, Prosecco,
Bingo and appalling singing!!
In addition the club wishes to recognise the wonderful work of club
member Margaret Maclean as she retires from the position of ISO —
which she has held for at least 10 years! Margaret has been a member of
Inner Wheel almost 40 years, joining in Dundee then moving to Derby and
Ashbourne. After the death of her husband she moved north again to be
nearer her sons and their families, becoming a member of Laurencekirk.
Throughout her life Margaret has been involved in fundraising for the less
fortunate—collecting stamps, knitting hundreds of teddies and sewing
thousands of squares to make blankets. She gathered around her a band
of willing knitters spurred on by her enthusiasm and commitment. She
has hosted numerous sew-ins where members could join her to make up
blankets. In return she made many “a fine piece” to keep them motivated!
She has collected wool donations to pass onto other knitters and she has
delivered all the finished items to the charity, NE Support for Romania, who are the recipients of all these items.
(pic — Margaret with over 200 items for the charity)
All of this has been done quietly, without seeking attention in any way, just for the joy of helping those less fortunate and in
need. We are sure there are many other ladies of a certain age (over 80) who have given a lifetime of service in much the
same way without recognition, but we thought this is a time, when so many are isolated in their homes, deprived of social
interaction due to Covid 19, to publicly acknowledge the valuable service provided to the community by this lovely lady.
(I am sure many clubs will be able to think of similar individuals. Ed) Kathleen Murray, Club Correspondent
Laurencekirk Christmas Lights which
the club supports every year.
Nairn: President : Eleanor Harcus
We as a club have not met up due to local restrictions
and hotel Covid 19 policy restrictions. Our committee
had a few Zoom meetings and phoned round members.
We have also kept in touch via an email newsletter with
photos of projects and makes during the year, a ‘round
robin’ at Christmas, and through a What’s App Chat
Group which was set up by Past President Marie.
President Eleanor has kept us up to date and entertained
with what’s going on at her family farm as well as Inner
Wheel News.
Many of our group have been shielding, others still
volunteering at local food banks, at charity shops when
they were open, and with other community groups. Some
of us have been back at work - or working from home —
all under very different circumstances.
At the end of 2020 a few member managed to do a social
distance hand over of cheques to local charities — Men’s
Shed, Befrienders, James Main – Helping Hands
Highland. Here you can see the ‘photo shoot’ when they
met up at the top of Nairn Links, outside the park.
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain.
Mardie Fraser, Club Correspondent
12
Kinross & District: President : Gwen Perry
This summer was a good one for Kinross and District Inner Wheel, as we kept up contacts in the club over the phone and in person as it got easier to meet. Several members were involved in knitting twiddle-muffs, baby hats and toys and these in turn have been donated to Knit for Peace, a London based charity and Loving Hands which is based in Kinross. Other members baked for our local charity cafe and many contributed to community life by helping in the churches, the library, the local museum, and the children’s hospice.
Kinross Rotary very kindly shared their Zoom facility with us for the autumn meetings, and we were fortunate to have speakers who used the medium enthusiastically. We heard talks from our Rotary President, from a friend of IW who recounted her walk along the pilgrims’ way to Santiago de Compostela, from a caving expert who showed us an unsuspected side of the Scottish landscape, and ended the year with another friend of IW, who had made a quiz for us about ancient cooking utensils.
Now that we are restricted again, we have continued our contacts by phone - a sort of buddy system - and will continue our meetings on Zoom in the months ahead. All very good wishes from the Kinross club for a better New Year for us all.
Montrose: President : Lynda Taylor
As many other Clubs will have realised, the challenges of 2020 have brought home to us just how invaluable the friendship and support provided by the Inner Wheel can be.
The Montrose Club has not let the ever varying restrictions of the past few months diminish our contact with each other. When we were allowed to, we have met up for socially-distanced walks and coffees. At other times, we simply kept in touch by phone, or have
availed ourselves of the ever more familiar online platforms, where we have met either as individuals or have embarked upon larger coffee mornings. One thing is for certain - we are all considerably more tech-savvy than this time last year!
We have also used the Club newsletter as a means of sharing our recent experiences with each other, as well as some jolly bits and pieces to keep us smiling. From photos of our flourishing gardens earlier in the year to examples of Christmas crafting and funny pieces of original writing, we have had a wonderful amount of contributions from members!
An Ode to Wright's Coal Tar...
There never was a better buy! In “Savers”, it just caught my eye. Just before “lockdown” came Will habits ever be the same? “Happy Birthday” twice was ace, But could our stocks last out this pace? And there it was What’s been our saviour! Fast imprinted on our behaviour. I trust our paths will never alter This new found friendship cannot falter. The perfume wafting from our sink Certainly is not “floral pink” Instead it whiffs of strong carbolic And really reeks quite alcoholic. Ten weeks on, and still so far We haven’t tired of “Wright’s Coal Tar”!!
Anon, Montrose
Perth : President : Chris Townend
And so our strange year continues!! The last few months have been pretty quiet as far as the Perth Club is concerned and that must be the case for clubs up and down the country. We have been continuing our weekly phone calls to members and these would seem to have been a huge success. Everyone seems to enjoy them and it’s been a great way of keeping in touch.
In December we held a zoom Christmas coffee afternoon and 14 members signed up to this and we had most enjoyable hour or so chatting and catching up. There was a lot of amusement too at some of the outfits worn – reindeer antlers, flashing necklaces, Santa hats etc! In the New Year we are starting a Coffee Club – this is a private lottery and members will be asked to contribute £3 a month for a cash prize of £20. The balance of money raised will be shared between Community and International projects.
Sue Hendry, Club Correspondent
I relabelled all my spice jars yesterday,
I’ve not got a problem yet but . . . . .
the thyme is cumin
Fun fact :
If you refill a wine glass before it’s empty,
it still counts as 1 glass!
Rachel Creegan, Club Correspondent
Jenny Macleod, Club Correspondent
13
Pitlochry: President : Linda Moyes
The Pitlochry club send greetings to all other Inner Wheel members. We have held weekly Zoom coffee mornings which has allowed members to keep in touch. Full meetings were held in October and November. Unfortunately we have many members who are not happy using computers so they have been unable to join in with this. So we have done our best to keep in touch by phone .
The club has managed to support local charities and a great deal of knitting and crochet work has been donated throughout the Covid crisis.
Our team of Irina Alexander, Betty Stark and Barbara Bright were narrowly beaten into second place by Aberdeen Inner Wheel in the District Quiz but thoroughly enjoyed the fun and friendship meeting all the other teams in the various rounds. Better luck next time!
We are just all keeping our heads down and waiting for the vaccine!
Jan Conacher, Club Correspondent
Stirling: President : Judy Richardson
In spite of Covid and lockdown measures, the Stirling club has continued to thrive and has embarked on innovative and interesting projects to serve the community, to raise funds and awareness and to cement friendships within the club.
Zoom meetings are held on the 1st Friday of each month, with a coffee morning on Zoom on the other Fridays. Newsletters are sent out to keep members informed. In October, each member tried to meet up with one other member—to walk, have coffee, lunch or just chat.
Throughout the summer members began to collect and paint comfort stones. Originally, set up as a response to Covid 19, the demand for these stones spread. Hospital patients received a painted pebble which could fit snugly into their hand, bearing a message on one side. This amazing display of stones was donated to patients at the Forth Valley Royal and the community hospitals in Falkirk, Stirling and Bo'ness.
In December, over 150 gifts were donated to the local Salvation Army for their Christmas Appeal
Anne Rankin and
President Judy hand over
parcels to the
Salvation Army
October outings
President Judy Richardson
takes over from
Jessie Stuart
Comfort Stones
Marjorie (left) with Nanette Thomson at
Lecropt Steading, the half way point
and with club members at the finish
And finally, before Christmas, Past District Chairman, Marjorie Duncan undertook a 10k walk in aid of Shelter. Marjorie is now a member of the Stirling club having moved from Ellon. She was inspired to take part in the fundraising walk after a talk given to members by Emma Jackson of Shelter. The walk was part of The Big Walk and Marjorie was encourage along the way by other members of her club. Well done, Marjorie.
Members are saddened to report the death of one of their longest serving members, Betty Mitchell,
who originally was in the Alloa Club.
Janet Macaskill, Club Correspondent
14
FROM THE ARCHIVES
As promised in our Mini News@1 here is more from our submission to the 50 Year Project. This was compiled by
Doris Campbell, our 2nd
Vice Chairman and Historian. As a starter, she had been given a list of the 26 clubs that
existed in 1974 with their charter dates. From this, through a lot of phoning around and research through magazines
and personal reminiscences, she was able to add any new clubs that had been formed in the interim and find out
any closure dates of clubs no longer with us. Here is the result — a total of 45 clubs at one time. The table below
shows all this - the charter dates and closure dates with our 24 remaining clubs. I am sure that many of us will be
surprised at how many clubs we had at one time and you can see there is a pattern to new clubs forming probably
all down to key individuals encouraging new clubs. We have our oldest Club, Aberdeen still going strong along with
Dundee, Dunfermline, Perth and Stirling dating back to the 1940s. These are closely followed by Elgin, Forfar,
Inverness and Nairn founded in the 1950s. It was sad when the St. Andrews Club closed earlier this year - but one
of their members, Barbro Scott who joined in 1967, was helpful in providing lots of information by telephone.
Barbro along with three other St. Andrews members have transferred into the Dundee Club this year.
Thank you Doris for all this information and for your report for the 50 Year Project .
DID YOU KNOW?
Over the years, Inner Wheel has donated two Lifeboats to the RNLI.
The first, named simply “Inner Wheel” was launched in 1984 in Poole to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Association of Inner Wheel Clubs. It is a "Brede" lifeboat and served for 16 years being launched over 600 times. She was stationed at Poole from 1983-2001, and then in Calshot from 2001-2002. She was then sold in 2002 to the South African Lifeboat Service and renamed Spirit of Nadine Gordimer and then MTU Nadine Gordimer
Club Name Charter & Closure
Dates
Club Name Charter & Closure
Dates
1 Aberdeen 1943 24 Inverness 1959
2 Aberdeen St Fittick 1970 25 Inverurie 1993 - 2012
3 Aberdeen St. Machar 1971 - 2009 26 Kinross & District 1982
4 Aberfeldy & District 1990 27 Kirkcaldy 1949 - 2009
5 Alloa 1974 - 2012 28 Kirriemuir 1987
6 Anstruther 1967 29 Laurencekirk & District 1985
7 Arbroath 1975 30 Leven 1948 - 1989
8 Auchterarder & District 1982 31 Montrose 1975
9 Banff 1959 32 Nairn 1958
10 Brechin 1990 33 North Fife 1981
11 Buckie 1966 - 2003 34 Perth 1946
12 Carnoustie 1978 - 1990 35 Perth Moncrieffe 2004 - 2013
13 Cowdenbeath 1949 - 2002 36 Peterhead 1962 - 2013
14 Crieff 1946 - 2001 37 Pitlochry 1993
15 Cupar 1974 38 Portree (Isle of Skye) 1994 - 2018
16 Dundee 1947 39 Spey Valley 1999 - 2010
17 Dunfermline 1946 40 St Andrews 1948 - 2020
18 Elgin 1950 41 Stirling 1948
19 Ellon 1992 42 Stonehaven 1979 - 1989
20 Forfar 1950 43 Stornoway 1985 - 2011
21 Forres 1954 - 1986 44 Thurso 1988 - 2014
22 Fraserburgh 1951 - 2014 45 Wick 1968 - 2009
23 Glenrothes (Rothes) 1958 - 2018
Moored in Poole Harbour
Commemorative Cover from
13:6:84
Naming of
RNLI Inner Wheel
15
The second lifeboat, named “ Inner Wheel 2” , was launched on the 10th September 2000 — again at RNLI Headquarters in Poole. The RNLI’s policy is to name a new boat in honour of the major contributor of the funds required. Fundraising was done over a 3 year period. The Association Presidents of the previous 3 years had chosen RNLI as their charity and around £500,000 was raised. A great outcome for this millennium project for Inner Wheel G B & I.
After her launch, the boat was part of the “Reserve Fleet”, so was used as relief boat and moved around the UK substituting when a reg-ular boat went in for service or repair. In that way it saw service in all areas of G B & I. Inner Wheel 2 is a Trent class self-righting Lifeboat which cost more than £1,250,000 – and is officially capable of a speed of 25 knots. She is still in service and is currently stationed at Barry Dock Lifeboat Station, in South Wales. As our Association had do-nated such a large amount they were then allowed to name the boat.
In September 2000, 4 ladies from District 1 travelled to Poole in Dorset for the naming ceremony. They were Past Member of Council, Barbro Scott, Past District Chairman Olive Henry, Frances Wallace and Judith Vaughn-Sharp (Dist. Treasurer). None of them can recall exactly why they were chosen — but both Barbro and Judith were heavily involved with the RNLI themselves. Olive recalls the journey — a flight to Heathrow and then the bus to Bournemouth. Frances thinks she was included as she was to attend a family wedding nearby!
Below — our 4 ladies at the launch
(L to R) Judith Vaughn Sharp, Barbro Scott, Olive Henry and Frances Wallace
In an article Barbro Scott wrote for News at 1, after the event, she describes the day as bright and breezy. While sitting on the quayside, they were entertained by the Bournemouth Salvation Army Band, who played nautical selections. The rain stayed off until they were under cover in a marquee enjoying the finger buffet. The boat was described by a staff officer and then Eileen Harsant, the project’s initiator, handed the boat over to the RNLI. This was followed by a service of dedication then Margaret Roberts and Alma Smith were asked to name the boat.
“A proud moment for all Inner Wheel members when the champagne bottle crashed on the bow”.
I am sure it was Barbro!
When I have been researching for this article — everyone
involved at that time recalls the huge effort put in by our clubs
up and down the country and especially here in District 1.
Barbro, who must be one of our longest serving members,
recalls this project with great affection, saying that it is one of
the most prominent memories she has from over the years. “It
was a huge project but united clubs up and down the country
with one purpose!” It certainly shows what can be done by
working together - which we look forward to doing again when
we can.
Platform Party ~ seated are the
Association Presidents involved
(L to R) Margaret Roberts (1998-99),
Eileen Harsant (1997-98),
Alma Smith (1999-2000)
and Janet Day (2000-2001)
My thanks to all for these reminiscences (Editor)
16
DIARY DATES
Saturday 13th March - District Meeting - 2pm - virtual
Wednesday 14th April - Association AGM - virtual
Saturday 17th / Sunday 18th April - International
Inner Wheel Convention, Jaipur, India - virtual
Thursday 20th May - District Rally - virtual
Wednesday 2nd June - District AGM - virtual
Better days are coming . . . . .
Not everything is locked down
Sunrise is not locked down
Fresh air is not locked down
Family time is not locked down
Friendship is not locked down
Creativity is not locked down
Prayers are not locked down
Hobbies are not locked down
Hopes and dreams are not locked down
Kindness is not locked down
Learning is not locked down
Conversation is not locked down
Imagination is not locked down
Sunsets are not locked down
Hope is not locked down
Cherish what you have
Stay at home and make the most of your time
May you be safe,
May you be happy,
May you be well
Posted widely on Association Facebook page
LINKS
Join our Facebook page ~ Inner Wheel District 1
Other Facebook pages to join are ~
Association of Inner Wheel Clubs in GB & I
and NEW ~ Inner Wheel in GB&I
or check out the updates and photographs
on our WEB PAGE ~
http://innerwheeldistrict1.org.uk/
Membership Changes
Despite the difficulties Covid19 has created, for most clubs,
membership has remained fairly stable over the year. We
have been delighted to welcome two new members. We
were sorry to see the disbandment of St Andrews in June
but delighted that some of the ladies chose to transfer to
neighbouring Dundee.
The move away from face to face meetings and events may
have hastened the decision of some members to resign or
retire; we hope that when things improve and meetings
resume they may reconsider and re-join. Overall
membership is now 690.
My thanks to all who have helped put together this magazine, our second in lockdown, and second as a digital edition. Printed
copies have been posted to those not on email. I am astounded by the ingenuity, commitment and dedication of our members who
are not only using new technology to hold meetings, but are managing to thrive and embark on projects to support their local
communities or charities overseas. Well done to the Club Correspondents for all their efforts with the Home Service Reports, which
highlight everything done in GB&I by our District this year, as well as their reports for this magazine. Many produce their own club
newsletters which have helped members stay in touch. A special thank you to the 4 Club Correspondents who have acted as
proof readers — Maureen Drummond (Aberdeen), Kathleen Murray (Laurencekirk), Christine Grant (Auchterarder) and Jenny
Macleod (Kinross) and to the District Executive team for their support and guidance. Let us hope that we will soon be able to meet
up again and enjoy more normal Inner Wheel activities, now that the vaccine roll out is well underway. Keep well everyone
Please send ideas, stories or contributions for future magazines to [email protected]. Jean Hale, District Editor
FRIENDSHIP GOLF
There will be no formal golf
competition this year. Members are
however encouraged to get together with club members
for a friendly 9 or 18 holes, a putting competition or
even a practice at the range. Stay for a coffee or lunch.
Whatever is allowed under COVID restrictions. Let us
know or take a picture to pass on for the magazine.
I W member getting ready
to ZOOM . . . . .
Image redesigned by Julia Donaldson
International Women’s Day,
March 8th 2021
Association President Enid is
encouraging all clubs to send Thank You cards to
local hospitals on International Women’s Day this
year. This could also be extended to include GP
surgeries, vaccination and health centres. This is a
way of thanking NHS staff and local volunteers but
also to promote Inner Wheel in our local communities.