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CRIEFF CHORAL GROUP
Crieff Choral Group’s first session of the new autumn term takes place in the Strathearn Arts in Crieff on Monday, September 13.
The rehearsal itself is within the auditorium of the Comrie Street venue and will run from 7.30-9.30pm.
Anyone interesting in heading along is asked to arrive at 7.15pm so that Scottish Government Test and Protect entry guidelines can be observed.
In addition, every choir member will be issued with a personal face visor on arrival and seats will be apart.
The evening will start with a short AGM. Meanwhile, the group is taking part in the Queen’s Green Canopy project, which is encouraging people to plant a tree at some point between October this year and the end of 2022 to celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 years as the reigning monarch, an anniversary which falls next year.
Crieff Choral Group members will be planting a Gean Tree – otherwise known as Prunus avium – to mark the milestone on November 20, the same day as the group’s concert titled ‘Songs from the Hills’.
Chosen by new conductor Ulrike Wutscher, the repertoire will include songs about the hills and countryside from Germany, England and Scotland, by classical, traditional and modern composers.
Once of the pieces will be ‘The Gean Trees’, based on a poem written in 1915 by Violet Jacob of the House of Dun, near Montrose, and researched by Dr Nicky Small.
The melody was written by Perthshire tree expert and forester Syd House MBE.
Nicky and Syd are behind the music double- act PlaidSong and contacted Perth composer Helen MacKinnon to adapt their song into four-part harmony with piano accompaniment for Crieff Choral Group.
Syd is a member of the Scottish committee for the Queen’s Green Canopy.
A spokesperson for Crieff Choral Group said: “Crieff Choral Group is delighted to be supporting this nationwide initiative, and are pleased to have such close links to one of the committee members.
“Crieff Choral Group is extremely grateful for the support of RTS Forestry, which is sponsoring our Gean Tree and will be helping to prepare the site in November.”
CRIEFF AND STRATHEARN MUSEUM
Crieff and Strathearn Museum, working in association with local photographer Blanche Haddow, is hosting an exhibition to allow people to view some of Blanche’s work at Strathearn Community Library in Crieff between September 21 and October 6.
The work will be able to be viewed between the libraries opening hours at Strathearn Community Campus.
Blanche has lived and worked for most of her life in the Crieff area and knows it very well.
One of her main hobbies is studying wildlife, with another being photography.
A spokesperson said: “Crieff and Strathearn Museum proudly presents Blanche’s first photographic exhibition showing the many forms of wildlife to be found in our local area.
“Beautiful images of butterflies, wild flowers and birds can be seen, along with many different, lovely, local views of Strathearn’s amazing scenery, coupled with unusual views of Crieff.
“There will also be some quizzes for the eagle-eyed to identify various items from the photos, and a chance for you to learn some great places to see local wildlife.
“Blanche will be attending sometimes, and volunteers will be on hand, should you wish to know more or to buy one of the items, with proceeds going to Crieff and Strathearn Museum.
“There will also be display cases of various old and unique items relating to Crieff and Strathearn, and information about the Crieff and Strathearn Museum group as we try to establish a local museum to tell the amazing history of our local area and the part it has played in the wider Scottish and UK context – and even globally.”
This exhibition has been supported by The Gannochy Trust, The William Syson Foundation and Culture Perth and Kinross.
The spokesperson added: “Crieff and Strathearn Museum would like to extend their thanks to them.”
Janice Bourelle, library supervisor at Strathearn Community Library added: “We are delighted to be working with Crieff and Strathearn Museum, and local photographer Blanche Haddow, in bringing this display to life at Strathearn Community Library.
“We are familiar with Blanche’s outstanding work. Her photography is truly inspirational and I do hope that people will make time to visit.”
FOWLIS WESTER SWI
Fowlis Wester SWI welcomed guests to an afternoon tea on Sunday, August 29.
The weather was kind and the hall was dressed inside and out.
The sun shone on members as they scurried inside and out to serve tea and replenish the delicious array of goodies on the cake stands.
President Wilma Brown thanked members for the food and raffle prizes, as well as the afternoon tea- goers for contributing to the institute’s fundraising efforts.
The magnificent sum of £ 1000 was raised for Breast Cancer Care.
SWI YOUNG DIPPERS GROUP
Until Covid struck Perth and Kinross Federation of the Scottish Women’s Institute ran a very successful Young Dippers Group.
The group has been meeting occasionally via Zoom but members have said they are delighted that they can now get back together with others again.
The group will commence again from Saturday, October 16, at the Oakbank
Community Centre on Viewlands Road in Perth.
The session runs from 10.30am until 2pm
This first class will include making button pictures.
This group is open to all girls in primaries three to seven, or first to third year at secondary school.
The aim of the group is to encourage the girls into crafts and baking in a fun and friendly manner, where SWI members will share their skills.
The joining fee is £10, with a charge of £2 at each meeting to cover the costs of materials.
All the girls need to bring is a packed lunch.
For more information, contact Linda Retson by sending an email to Retson linda@jsrservices.co.uk or calling 07971 803557.
SOROPTIMISTS INTERNATIONAL OF CRIEFF
Members of SI Crieff started their 2021/22 session on Thursday, September 2, at Crieff Golf club.
This was the first time the club was able to meet face-to-face since the Covid-19 outbreak.
The speaker for the evening was local artist Sybil Galbraith, who is also a member of the club.
Sybil has had a very varied career, working in both industry and the arts sector.
As a mature student she returned to her love of art through the College of Art in Johannesburg.
She uses watercolours for her paintings, taking her inspiration from observing the natural world.
This year she has designed the 2022 Crieff Calendar.
As a published author, Sybil informed and entertained the club by talking about her recent publications.
The first was her great-grandmother’s cookery book, which she translated from Dutch.
Attention was drawn to the large quantities in the recipes, which was due to the need to feed everyone on the farm at the same time.
In her talk, Sybil provided a lot of social history of the time – around 1884.
She described how she was able to visit the actual farm in South Africa where her great-grandmother had lived.
Sybil’s second publication was entitled ‘A 1924 Grand Tour’, which was taken from a handwritten diary kept by her grannie when she came to the Great Empire Exhibition and undertook a tour through Europe with her husband.
The diary was written in Afrikaans, meaning translation and further research on the details were required.
The trip lasted three months and took place in August 1924.
One of the first challenges was planning for the European weather having left South Africa in mid-summer.
Their travels took them to London, Edinburgh, Aberfoyle, The Trossachs, Glasgow, Holland, Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium – arriving back in South Africa in November 1924.
Highlights of the trip included meeting Jackie Coogan, the American actor and comedian, tea at the Lyons Tea Room in London, crossing the Forth Railway Bridge, and staying at what was then the North British Hotel in Edinburgh.
The diary also included descriptions of European mountains and lakes, beautiful art and concerts by wonderful orchestras.
This provided a very informative and entertaining talk for club members.
To know more about SI Crieff and the syllabus for 2021/22, visit the website www.sigbi.org/crief or email crieffsi@ gmail.com
The group’s next fundraising event will be a recycling bazaar.
It will be held in the WRI Hall in Comrie from 10am until 4pm on Saturday, October 9.