Rotary/Probus news
Whitburn Probus Vice President Bob Nowrie welcomed 43 members to this weeks meeting, held as usual in the Hilcroft Hotel. Todays speaker was one of our own members, John Shields who presented a talk entitled “Cruse Ship Arcadia “Having recently completed a cruise on this ship, John was able to speak first hand about the logistics and operation, engineering detail etc of the vessel as well as showing a superb set of photographs of the places visited. The facts and figures he presented covered about every aspect of the ships operation from the engines & stabilisers, fuel consumption etc to facts about staffing levels, daily consumption of food and water, alcohol stocks etc in fact everything that is required to keep a cruise ship of this size operational during a cruise. Fantastic photos of Rio de Janeiro, glaciers, wildlife and a sentimental first time trip to the Falkland Islands completed a memorable mornings talk. Linlithgow Grange Rotary President Peter Russell chaired Monday evening’s meeting, the club’s monthly business meeting and the last of this Rotary year. The various committees reported a number of upcoming events. The local Primary School Quiz 2016, organised by Linlithgow Grange Rotary earlier this year, was won by St Joseph’s Primary School who then went on to win the Rotary District Final competition at Laurieston Primary School on Tuesday, 3rd May. The proud winners now go forward to the Rotary Area Final in Carluke on Saturday, 11th June. The club will be supporting this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) event having put forward one male and one female candidate. This year’s Young Photographer competition is well underway, the subject being ‘Our World is Beautiful’. A number of entries have been received and a closing date of Friday, 3rd June has now been set. As part of this year’s Sports Bursary Awards, Linlithgow Golf Club’s Professional was presented with a cheque for £400 which will be used to fund coaching for four young players. A Young Golfer Challenge match will take place at Linlithgow Golf Club early in June, date to be confirmed. The postponed visit to the Forth Crossing is being planned for June 2016, final arrangements to be advised shortly. As part of the planting schemes in the Linithgow Club members have volunteered to plant and maintain the flower bed outside the Four in One, planting day Monday 6th June at 9am and the display is linked the with the Disability Sports Project, a charity being supported by the club. The Challenge Enterprise 2016 competition for local schools is to be held at Carronvale House, Larbert from the 7th to 9th October, the interview process with pupils to take place shortly. Lastly, Club members Harry Millar and Ken MacKenzie plan to take part in this year’s Rotary KidsOut Big Day Out in Edinburgh on Wednesday, 8th June, along with pupils from Donaldsons School. This annual event, organised by Rotary volunteers nationally, gives disadvantaged children a fun day out every year and provides the children with an experience that brings both fun and happiness into their lives.