District News
Dalziel St Andrew’s Parish Church The second service of Advent will take place at the church on Sunday, with all welcome. Anyone who is unable to attend the service can join in online via the live stream accessed on the website’s home page at (dalzielstandrews.org.uk). As usual, the service both at the church and online includes British Sign Language signing and electronic note taking to assist those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Men’s Club will hold their Christmas meal on Monday evening; the Guild’s lunch will take place on Saturday Lunch)m and the Sisterhood will host their next lunch today (Wednesday, December 6). GLO Christmas market will take place this year on Friday, from 5.30pm to 8.30pm. The morning service on Sunday, December 17, will be conducted by all sections of the Sunday school and Fusion Bible class)and will feature their nativity presentation - an event not to missed. Following the service, the annual congregational Christmas tea will be served in the large church hall, with all welcome to stay and join in the festivities. Reverse Advent calendar has begun with baskets at the doors of the church to receive donations of non-perishable goods for collection by the church and onward delivery to people in need in the town. Octave at Christmas takes place on Saturday evening, starting at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 (including refreshments) and are available by contacting Shona Fisher on 01698 721607 or emailing octave8@gmx.com. Chris’s House will be hosting their annual Christmas fayre at its base on Belhaven Road on Saturday, December 9, from 11am to 2pm. As well as Santa’s grotto there will be tea, coffee, home baking, hot dogs, sweet stalls, a memory tree, nearly new toys, raffles and much more. All the money raised will go towards continuing to fund the centre which provides peer support, intervention and assistance to people who feel suicidal and their families. All welcome. Motherwell Photographic Society Members of the Society were delighted to welcome guest speaker Mark McColl to their recent meeting in Holytown Community Centre. Mark specialises in landscape photography and the first half of his presentation concentrated on Iceland. There were some superb images in both black and white and colour which displayed the graphic beauty of waterfalls, ice floes and the northern lights in winter conditions. He discussed various photographic techniques for achieving successful results and showed how the inclusion of a figure in the frame could enhance an image by giving a sense of scale. After the break, he showed a selection of equally stunning images taken on various trips to Finland, Sweden and Norway. These included the picturesque Lofoten Islands, and he concluded the informative, entertaining and inspiring evening by answering questions from the audience. Tomorrow (Thursday) the club is holding its second digital image competition of the season which will be judged by Anne Marie Westwood, from Inverclyde Camera Club. Motherwell Photographic Society meets every Thursday, at 7.30pm, and new members of all levels of experience are welcome. More information can be found on the club’s website www. motherwellphotographicsociety. co.uk and on its Facebook page. Lanarkshire Family History Society The final meeting of the year will take place on Thursday, December 14. It will be their Christmas social evening, and the theme will be family heirlooms and other unusual objects. Everyone is invited to bring along ‘something from the past’ that they