Senior Citizens Christmas Dinner, December.
Once again the Club, with President John in the chair, was host to a number of senior citizens at our last meeting before the Christmas break. Guests were picked up from their homes and driven to the castle where they were wined and dined before being shown a film of Scottish scenes set to Scottish music. The evening was then brought to a close with a short Carol concert before it was time to escort them home again. Unfortunately there are no photographs to record the evening.

Millennium Lecture 2000.
This years lecture was presented by the well known writer, journalist and political commentator John Lloyd whose theme for the evening was, "The World in 2000 - A Review". John's career is wide and varied. Born in the East Neuk of Fife, where he still has a home, and educated at Waid Academy in Anstruther, he has won world wide respect as  the editor of The New Statesman, Moscow Correspondent for the Financial Times, a Television Reporter, he also writes articles for Scotland on Sunday  and his book on the Gorbachov period, "The Birth of a Nation", an anatomy of Russia, is considered to be the standard reference work by students of the period.

President John Kerr welcomed the large audience and then invited Rotarian James Storrar, who organised the event, to introduce the speaker. The audience were then treated to an extremely interesting  lecture. John's love and knowledge of his subject soon became apparent as he dovetailed many amusing anecdotes of his upbringing in Pittenweem with his present life in Moscow.  Afterwards, when questions were invited, the replies given were related in such detail that each reply could easily have been made the subject for another .lecture.

The Club's thanks go to John for a highly entertaining and interesting evening made even more special as he was still in Russia the evening before and laid his trust in Aeroflot, Railtrack and GNER to help him fulfill the commitment he had made many months before - it seemed to be a toss up as to which gave him, and James, the most cause for concern over the previous 24 hours .      

The picture on the left shows, (from L -R) Rotarian James Storrar, Speaker John Lloyd and Club President John Kerr.  

Foundation Dinners February.
Once again the round of Foundation Dinners is nearing completion and thanks must go to the hosts and hostesses for the time, care and planning which went into making this annual event one of the most enjoyable on our calendar. There are few other pleasures which can rank alongside an evening of scintillating conversation with friends round a dinner table.
Last night six of us were fortunate to be invited to the home of Secretary Sandy Matthew to enjoy the culinary delights of his lovely wife Dianne. Thanks from us all go to you both for an exceptional evening.
As you can see from the menu below a great deal of thought went into making the evening a resounding success.

Ceilidh.
On the 18th March, over 100 members and their guests made their way to the village hall in Strathmiglo to make merry and dance to the Hebridean Ceilidh Band. With a buffet meal and bar, organised by the Club Service committee, the scene was set for a good night and nobody that attended was disappointed. The evening turned out to be a great success. Once the final receipts are counted we are confident that last years target will be outstripped.
Many thanks to all who donated prizes for the raffle and to the ladies for making the salads that were served with the buffet.
The only unfortunate part of the event was that our intrepid photographer was so busy organising and serving behind the bar that he was unable to take any photographs - though some of the company may take this as a blessing in disguise.

Falkland Backpackers
After a request for assistance from project manager Anne Pattullo, of Falkland Backpackers, President John can be seen presenting Anne with a computer on behalf of the club.
The Backpackers are a "not for profit" independent hostel with a difference and offer a tranquil, comfortable

Euroscola, April.
Thanks to Rotary clubs in Scotland the voice of youth was heard in the European parliament in Strasbourg last week. 29 senior pupils from across the country were able to take part in a debate with 370 other young citizens from France, Germany, Greece and 6 other European Union countries.
Our representative, Lisa Anderson from Bell Baxter School in Cupar, said, "I found the whole atmosphere very stimulating and I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk to other young people from other countries. It was all very impressive and I especially enjoyed sitting in a MEP's chair and using the same electronic voting

system that they use. We did feel that our views had been listened to and we were pleased to have learned more about the way the Parliament works."
Besides interviewing local townsfolk on the street about Scotland and their impressions of the Scottish people she also took part in discussion groups of mixed nationality where there was no common language between the delegates and a Eurogame quiz.
Lisa visited the Club on May 16th to give us a report of all she saw and did during the four days she was there.

The photograph shows the Scottish group photographed at the VIP entrance, ( Lisa is fourth from the left in the Middle row). The vignette is, of course, a photograph of Lisa

Schools Quiz April.
Once again six of the primary schools in the Howe of Fife area took part in this year's competition. In a change to our normal format this year it was held over two weeks at Fernie Castle Hotel after the Club's meeting . The heats on the first night were hotly contested by Kettle, Freuchie, Auchtermuchty, Newburgh, Strathmiglo and Falkland with some old school rivalries showing in the closeness of the scores.

On the night of the heats Auchtermuchty, Falkland and Freuchie primary schools went through  at the expense of Newburgh, Strathmiglo and Kettle respectively and will contest the final.

 Golf Tournament at St. Michael's Golf Club , Leuchars, May.
The event was started in 1998 when the then President, Oliver Will, looked for a different way to raise monies for the Club's charity account . St. Michael's Golf Club  were approached and generously gave us the courtesy of their course to hold a golf tournament. Eighteen teams of four turned out on the day with the format being a "shotgun" start where each team was allocated a tee and they all drove off when the starter fired a shot, from a shotgun, at 1.00 in the afternoon, the winners being the team with the best two net scores at each hole over the eighteen holes.

Some of the competitors at the back of the 18th green

The day proved to be such a success that it was decided to try to make it an annual event and every year since St. Michael's GC have very kindly allowed the use of their course. Today is the third year that the tournament has been run and the Club's thanks go to the committee and members of St Michael's for their generosity.
This year proved to be as popular as ever and teams such as the G  T Bunch, Last of the Summer Wine, Ladybank Louts, Gilmour's Golden Oldies, Oliver's Will, Sharp's Shooters, Sandy's Hackers and Matthew's Mavericks turned out again for what has become one of the most enjoyable days on the calendar.

Rotarian John Ewan enjoying the sun while looking after the bar at the starters box at the first tee.  Soft drinks only of course, (well - they were all driving).

The one o'clock gun

"Defending Champions" at the 9th green - sadly not in the prizes this year.

Some people took the day more strenuously than John

Rotarian Oliver Will takes time out from organising the event to play

Above Rotarian Andrew Kennedy of Wilson & Partners, (far right), sinks a long putt much to the disbelief of his team.
While (upper left) Sandy Rennie tries to make sure that the "hackers" do not live up to their name.

Winners on the day were the team from Allied Dunbar, (Scott Edmiston, Ambrose Hunter, Dave Cameron, Perry Hutchens), with a score of 117, second was the G. T. Bunch, (Sandy Green, Tom Donaldson, John Barclay, Dave Balfour), with 122 and third was the Friday Men, (Pres. John Kerr, Steven Anderson, Nevin Kerr, Peter MacDonald), also with a score of 122 but lost out on the better inward half rule.
The prize for the Par 3's, (best 3 gross scores at the 4 par 3 holes), went to Sharp's Shooters, (Douglas Sharp, Phillip Ballard, David Donaldson, Ken Gray), with a score of 38  an average of 3.2 strokes per player per hole - not bad shooting.

Annual Cricket Match, June.
One of President John's last, but more enjoyable duties, was to lead his team out on to the pitch at Falkland Cricket Club in the annual match against the Rotary Club of  Cupar. The scene for the game is a most idyllic setting at the foot of East Lomond Hill next to Falkland Palace, the ancient summer retreat of Scottish kings. Every player, except the wicket keeper, must bowl four overs and every player must bat for four overs. Then after a session of creative accountancy, which would cause concern to an honest accountant, a winner is declared.

The President's Barbecue, June.
On Sunday 25th June we gathered at Gorno Grove, the home of Sandy and Dianne Matthew, for the President's barbecue. The sun shone brightly, good food and wine were in abundance, the company excellent and the sports hotly contested.

The afternoon was voted a major success by all who attended and, on behalf of the Club, President John thanked Sandy and Dianne for hosting the event, once more, at Gorno Grove

This year's winners were as follows
Ladies                                                                                       Men
 Croquet                           Jeanette Storrar                              Croquet                        Sandy Green
 Golf                                  Jeanette Storrar                              Golf                               Oliver Will
 Boulle                              Jeanette Storrar                              Boulle                           Sandy Matthew
.22 Rifle                            Dianne Matthew                e           22 Rifle                        Bob Simson

The Final Act
President John Kerr finished his Presidential year by stating that he was grateful for the support he had received during his year of office - particularly from his Vice President David Rankin , Secretary Sandy Matthew, Treasurer Eric King, and the Chairmen of the Community & Vocational, and International & Foundation, Charles Samson and Andy Thomson.   He had been impressed by the commitment of the membership and had got a particular buzz out of people who had taken up and completed tasks.
What was the outcome of his year as President? - returning to his opening remarks of a year ago he mentioned:-
Continuity - RYLA and our continued involvement with English Teachers from Eastern Europe and Asia)
Consistency - Not as good as he had hoped in that we had not achieved contact with the community in            either Newburgh or Falkland)
Credibility - Needed to keep in touch with each other and the district, needed to maintain a high profile)
Challenge - Use our resources wisely, and be careful in accepting further commitment,
and finally
Change - Rotary must change and the Howe of Fife Club must change too if we are to survive in an ever and more quickly evolving world.

He then handed over the President's Insignia of office to David Rankin

John receives his Past President's insignia from President David Rankin