Rotarians awarded for years of service

Published 5 Jul 2012 09:30

THE last meeting of the Rotary Club of Bridge of Allan and Dunblane turned out to be a surprise for almost all of the 32 members who turned up to what they thought was 'only' going to be a business meeting in the final one of President Rod Jones' year in office.

After an excellent meal President Rod announced that he, and the Club, were about to award Paul Harris Fellowships to two Club members to recognise their outstanding contributions to Rotary over many years. These very special awards are named after the founder of Rotary and this is the first time in the Club's almost 40 years that two members have been recognised at the same time and brings the total awarded to 11.

The first award was to David Mackie who is a founder member of the Club. David, saw service during World War 2 in the Royal Navy and part of this was spent escorting the Arctic convoys to Russia. Professionally he was the manager at the Doune and Dunblane branches of the Bank of Scotland.

David was Treasurer of the Club for 5 years from its formation in 1973 and was President in 1986-7. He is still a very active member and joins in its many fund raising challenges and events. Last month, he was one of the volunteers to marshall at the Strathcarron Hospice Ladies Midnight Walk.

The second was an even greater surprise to the recipient, Graham Russell. Graham is currently Club Secretary and as such, is normally involved with everything that goes on each week. President Rod had, however, managed to keep this award secret from him! Graham has been a member of the Club since 1996 and was President in 2003-4. The award was to recognise Graham's invaluable efforts over the years and particularly since he became Secretary in 2009.

Unfortunately the annual Am-Am Golf Tournament on Thursday June 28 had to be called off for the first time in 28 years due to Dunblane New Golf Course being unplayable. The match is played in aid of Strathcarron Hospice

It was a huge disappointment to the organisers, sponsors, teams, volunteers and staff who put so much effort into making this day the biggest fundraising event run by the Rotary Club of Bridge of Allan and Dunblane.

Chair of the Hospice Support Committee, Jim Gardner, expressed his thanks to everyone who had been involved and said he had managed to arrange an alternative date for the event on 2 August and was hoping conditions would have improved by then.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Rotary Club, please visit the Rotary website: www.dunblanerotary.org.uk or

send an email to: secretary@dunblanerotary.org.uk.

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