Ian tells of scary tales at the Rotary

Rotarians come in all guises but this lot were even scarier than usual at their last meeting held on the evening before Halloween.

After the usual club preliminaries in came the pumpkins with their owners who carefully laid their illuminated, artistic efforts on a table for judging.

The proud entrants then stood back to allow the Savoy Park Hotel duty manager, Geoff Russell, to examine the exhibits.

Geoff awarded first place to the black cat lantern carved by Douglas Haddow who accepted, appropriately enough, the prize of a box of Black Magic chocolates.

Ayr Rotary member and nearby parish minister, Ian Stirling, then took centre stage to regale his audience with tales of spooks and witches.

He began by telling his audience of an incident earlier in his ministry days when a woman requested he visit to exorcise a ghost from her home.

With photographs of Lewis’s Callanish Stones, Iona Abbey, and a Celtic cross, Ian challenged his audience’s beliefs by suggesting that there can be a sense of unexplained power when encountering these iconic artefacts.

Next, the existence of fairies and witches was examined through the prism of JM Barrie’s works, our very own Tam o’ Shanter’s encounters, and Dunvegan Castle’s Fairy Flag.

Douglas Haddow thanked Ian for his talk.