ARDROSSAN & SALTCOATS HERALD BEITH LOCAL NOTES DONALD L REID (Tel. 01505-503801 e-mail: donaldleesreid@hotmail.com) BEITH LOCAL NOTES BARRMILL JOLLY BEGGARS BURNS CLUB Last Friday evening the ever-so-jolly cronies of the word-famous Barrmill Jolly Beggars Burns Club met in the Masons Hall, Beith, to enjoy their 59th annual celebration of the life and works of our national bard, Robert Burns. The president, Joe Jardine, welcomed 60 members and guests who enjoyed a first class meal courtesy of Mr and Mrs Sandy Higgins of Dalry. Fraternal greeting cards were received from kindred clubs both locally, nationally and internationally. The evening began with a tribute by past president and secretary, Donald L Reid to Alex Sanderson, an honorary president of the club who died on 1 February 2002. This was followed by piper, Neil McTaggart playing a lament, the Flower o’ the Forest. The principal toast of the evening was very ably delivered to a very appreciative audience by Alan K Saunderson of Largs who took as his theme some of the myths about the poet which he then endeavoured to debunk. The reply to the orator was given in his usual humorous manner by vice president Norman M Henderson. The club readers who performed a ranged of poems were Iain Skene, Tom Osborne and Alastair Wylie. Some of the most popular songs of Burns were performed by cronies Bob McBride, Harry Young and Pat Harkins. The toast to the lassies was given by Gordon Wilson which highlighted in a very humorous way, the real and imaginery inequalities which exist between the sexes. A very full and thoroughly enjoyable evening of fun and fellowship was rounded off in an entertaining vote of thanks by cronie Iain D Shaw. The club now look forward to next year’s celebration in their diamond jubilee year. BEITH HISTORICAL SOCIETY The next meeting of Beith and District Historical Society is at 8.00 pm on Thursday 30 January in the lounge of the Eglinton Inn. The speaker is Tom Barclay who is a librarian at Carnegie Library, Ayr. Tom takes as his subject the "Roundheads in Ayrshire". Members and visitors will be warmly welcomed. ROTARY CLUB OF GARNOCK Rotary Club of Garnock met last Monday in the Dalgarven House Hotel under the chairmanship of club president, Rev Fiona Ross. There was a 75% turnout of members. The speakers for the evening were Valerie Ferminger and Hillary Clayton of Ardrossan. Valerie originally hailed from Toronto, Canada and Hillary has her roots in the Emerald Isle. Both are committed volunteers are the RSPB centre, Lochwinnoch. They took as their theme for the talk, The Four Seasons, and gave a delightful illustrated lecture with some superb slides highlighting the countryside at its best. The speakers responded to a number of questions from the Rotarians and the evening closed with a vote of thanks to the speakers. AYRSHIRE CANCER SUPPORT GROUP Billy Haining of the Beith Branch of Ayrshire Cancer Support Group advises that last week a very kind local couple presented him with a whisky bottle filled with 1d and 2d. After counting the total donated to the Beith Branch amounted to £42.50 for which he send his grateful thanks. The Beith branch annual supper dance will be held on Friday 14 February from 7.30 pm – 11.30 pm in Beith Community Centre. Tickets priced £7 are available from Billy on 502671 or at Billy’s of Beith in the popular Wilson Street shop or on 502444. The Beith Branch recently received the magnificent sum of £500 from Beith Masonic Club which was the money raised by the club during the festive season dances. Billy and Moira Haining pass on their thanks to all concerned for this donation and for their continuing support over many years. BEITH ARTS Last Sunday Beith Arts Guild held their first concert of the 2003 session which was given by the Bobby Wishart Quartet and featured music by Duke Ellington, Dizzie Gillespie, Gershwin, Charlie Parker, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Rodgers & Hammerstein and many others. The Quartet consisted of Gino Cianco on Keyboard, Tony Sherry on Bass. Sandra Cianco on Percussion and Bobby Wishart on Soprano & Tenor Saxophones, Flute and Piano. Bobby Wishart is well known in music circles and has performed with Gerry Mulligan, Ronnie Scott, Stephane Grappelli, Annie Ross, John Barry and many others. He has also recorded the main title sound tracks for the BBC TV series “Chewin’ the Fat”, “Offside” with Tam Cowan and the new Karen Dunbar TV series, which commenced this year. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed a great afternoon of delightful music. SCOUTS Beith Scouts are keen to invite young folk to join their ranks and have a wide and varied programme of activities to suit all tastes. All meetings are held in the BB Hall. The Beavers meet every Monday from 6.30 pm – 7.45 pm and boys aged 6 – 8 years will be made welcome. The cubs meet every Wednesday from 7.00 pm – 8.45 pm and caters for boys aged 8 – 10 years. The Scouts meet every Tuesday from 7.00 pm – 9.00 pm and boys aged 10 – 14 years will enjoy a varied programme of activities. The Explorers, a relatively new section in the Scouts which replaced the Rover Scouts, meet each Monday from 7.45 pm – 9.30 pm for boys aged 14 years and upwards. All sections meet in Beith BB Hall. Like most other organisations, the Scouts are always on the lookout for leaders and adhoc helpers. For further information on any of the groups or becoming a helper, contact Jimmy on 01505-340228 or Lesley on 01505-502999. DOMINOES AND WHIST Mrs E Robinson was in fine form last week at the Beith Dominoes and Whist Club. She took the honours at the dominoes on Tuesday with Mrs M Gardiner second and Mrs A Gibson third. She repeated this feat on Thursday with Mrs I McAusland second and Mrs A Smith and Mrs M Carey joint third. Mrs J Smith certainly played-her-cards-right on Tuesday as she left Mrs S Brennan and Mrs B Smith in her slipstream. However on Thursday Mrs B Smith took the honours with Mrs E McEachan second and club organiser, Mrs May McLeish third. 1st BEITH BBS All sections OF 1ST Beith BBs met as normal on Friday evening. There was a good turn out of Anchor Boys who spend the evening in a program of games and craft work. The Junior Section had an excellent turn out of boys. After an initial session of drill the 1st year boys continued with their badge work, progressing towards their green badge. The remainder of the evening was spend doing P.E., followed by the ever-popular tuckshop. There was another good turn out in the Company Section, with all boys being involved in badge work, followed by a session of P.E. All sections meet at the usual time next Friday TRINITY CHURCH MENS' FELLOWSHIP President Hugh Gibson welcomed an excellent turn out of 30 members to this weeks meeting of Trinity Church Mens Fellowship. After a reading lesson by Ian Buchanan, Hugh welcomed the guest speakers for the evening who were Donald L Reid and Ian Shaw. Both retired policemen, their subject for the evening was Robert Service, The People’s Poet. Robert Service was born in Preston in 1874 and spend some time in Scotland before emigrating to Canada. Donald's well researched talk on the life and works of Robert Service was illustrated by readings from his work by Ian, and the talk was accompanied by a slide presentation put together and presented by Donald's son Fraser. Robert Service is better known in Canada, but is slowly becoming more popular here as more and more people become aware of his work, with its simple and direct message. His poems exhibit a range of emotions, and he has the ability to conjure up scenes in the mind of the reader. As well as his poems concerning the Yukon, he also wrote many poems about the Great War, written from his first hand experiences as an ambulance driver, and later an intelligence officer, and these show passion and understanding. After a question and answer session by the members, Jim Mitchell proposed a vote of thanks, and the meeting closed. Members are asked to note that next weeks meeting is a joint meeting with the Guild, and will be held on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm BEITH HARRIERS The final meeting of the North Ayrshire Schools Cross Country Championships took place on Saturday 18th January, with some great results from Beith Harriers members. Final meeting results and overall placings for the season are as follows:- S2 – Scott Keil 2nd and 2nd overall S1 – Stephen McGoldrick 1st and 1st overall P7 boys – Ian McNaughton – 3rd and 3rd overall P7 girls – Mhairi Hodge – 2nd overall P6 boys team - 1st prize overall – Sam Harkness, Alastair Turner, Graham Evans,
Lee Thomson, Calum Hercus, Jordan Cree and Stuart Marshall
P6 boys – Sam Harkness – 2nd and 2nd overall
P6 girls – Hannah Boyd – 1st place overall
Rachael Kane – 1st and 2nd place overall P5 boys – Alexander Duncanson – 1st place overall
P5 boys team - 1st prize – Alexander Duncanson, Jordon Pollock, Ross McIsaac,
Greg Irving and Frazer KeilThe above creditable results highlight a tremendous achievement by the dedicated and very speedy young Beithites and everyone will join in congratulating the fastest kids in Beith and wishing them every success in the future. IN THE SWIM Can your children swim? If not why don’t you enrol them for swimming lesson at Garnock Pool. It’s never too early to learn! Classes are available for parent and baby, ducklings (aged 3 years) and juveniles. It’s never to late to learn either so Garnock Pool also has classes for adults. For further information contact Susan, Angie or Norma on 01505-683304 BEITH BOWLING CLUB Tonight (Friday) Beith Bowling Club are holding their ever-popular January games night which kicks off at 8.00 pm. Members and visitors can take part in competitions including pool, dominoes, whist and darts. The club are also holding a Valentines dance on Saturday, February 15 from 8.00 till late when dancing will be to popular group, Overdrive. There will be a cover charge of £2. NEW BUSINESS OPENS Interesting news to report, particularly for those who enjoy the occasional holiday in the sun on the Balearic Islands. Ibeitha is the name of Beith’s latest business which opened its doors last week. Ibeitha is a tanning studio employing a staff of four and also provides manicuring services. So before you head for the Balearic Islands on holiday, why not call in at your local Ibeitha in Eglinton Street! YOUNG FARMERS Beith and District Young Farmers’ Club is holding a Burns Supper and Ceilidh tonight (Friday) in Beith Community Centre at 7pm. Tickets are priced £5 and everyone is welcome! For tickets please contact any committee member or telephone Anne. The club is holding a Traffic Light Dance on Saturday 1st February in the Grand Hall Kilmarnock at 9pm. Everyone Welcome! Wednesday 12th February is the date of the Annual Whist Drive in Beith Community Centre at 7.30pm. To take a table please contact Anne. The Annual Dinner Dance will be held on Saturday 1st March in The Lauriston Hotel, Ardrossan at 7pm. Tickets will cost £18 and are available from any committee member or telephone Anne. The next club meeting will be held on Monday 27th January in the Patrick Memorial Hall, Gateside at 7.30pm and will take the form of a split meeting. Group A will receive a talk from Mr D Howat, Auchincruive Lecturer on Waste and Group B will receive a talk from Hessilhead Wildlife, Beith. This is an Open Meeting for the NFU, Discussion Society, Rurals and Parents. For tickets, information or transport to any of these events please contact any committee member, telephone Anne on 01294 832424, Lewis on 01294 832262 or email Gillian at: BeithYFC@hotmail.com KIDS R US Kids R Us is a mother and toddler group who meet on a Monday and Wednesday in Beith Community Centre from 1.00 pm – 3.00 pm. The women and children enjoy singing activities, play and story time and generally have a very happy and rewarding time together in an atmosphere which promotes learning and positive behaviour. A few vacancies are available. Why not come along and try out this happy group. Contact Winnie on 01505-504941. BOUNCE AND TICKLE Beith Library are again holding another session of their popular Bounce and Tickle programme on Tuesday, February 4 at 10.30 am. Mums are asked to call in at the library to register their children for these fun sessions. RSPB LECTURE The RSPB at Lochwinnoch are holding a lecture on Wild Life Art by Duncan Watt, a Wild Life Artist. The venue is the RSPB Centre, Lochwinnoch and the talk will take place between 7.30 pm and 9.00 pm. On Saturday, 8 February from 12 noon – 2.00 pm you can enjoy a guided walk round the reserve which will include investigating the different homes of birds and mammals. . Booking in advance is recommended for both events and this can be done in person at the RSPB centre or by telephone on 01505-842663 or by e-mail: Lochwinnoch@rspb.org.uk DISABILITY FORUM Garnock Valley Disability Forum are keen to ensure that citizens with disabilities are not disadvantaged because of environmental problems such as high kerbs at road juctions. Anyone in the Garnock Valley who suffers from a disability may well have had experience of junction locations in Dalry, Kilbirnie, Beith or the villages where pavements are too high and have created problems. North Ayrshire Council Roads Department have kindly offered to look at any such location with a view to taking remedial action to improve the situation for people with disabilities. Anyone in the Garnock Valley who has encountered particular problems at road junctions which would benefit from having kerbs lowered is invited to contact Jean Gilbert on 01505-502521 or Donald L Reid on 01505-503801 who will visit the site and if appropriate after discussion, pass on the matter to North Ayrshire Council for consideration of remedial action. TRINITY CHURCH TODDLER GROUP Trinity Church Toddler Group meet in Trinity Church Hall each Thursday afternoon from 1.30 pm – 3.00 pm. This is a friendly group where you can meet other mums and enjoy seeing children develop through play. For further information contact Karen Campbell on 01505-506479 or Karen Millan on 01505-502283 BARRMILL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Barrmill Community Association are organising and soup lunch with entertainment for senior citizens in the district. This will be held on Thursday, January 30 at 12.30 pm for 1.00 pm in Barrmill Community Centre. Invitations have been issued, but should any senior citizen not have received a formal invitation, they should contact Jean Gilbert on 01505-502521. Jean would also appreciate a call from those who will be attending so that catering requirements can be finalised. BEITH ACCORDION CLUB Beith Accordion Club had a good turnout of members and guests at their monthly meeting last week and everyone had an enjoyable social evening to the music of James Coutts and his Scottish Dance Band. The next meeting is scheduled for 17 February in the Anderson Hotel, Beith at 7.30 pm to Andrew Knight and his Scottish Country Dance Band. Anyone wishing further information about the club can contact the secretary on 01505-863673 TRINITY TODDLERS The Trinity Church Morning Toddlers Group have received a grant of £4,700 from the Awards For All Scheme. This money will be spent on safety mats, barriers, play equipment and outing costs for the group. The group meets on Thursday at 9.30 am and currently has vacancies. Anyone wishing further information about the group is asked to contact Jill on 01505-503631, Allison on 01505-502713 or Catriona on 01505-504798 INTERNET COURSE A full range of community based computer course aimed at developing the practical skills and knowledge required to access the internet are now on offer in the Arabica computer suite at 47a Main Street (above Riverhills). They are also now offering After School Specials from 3.00 pm till 5.30 pm when young folk can access the internet, gain extra computer skills, play games, learn a variety of computer packages or simply brush up on homework. Interestingly a number of enthusiastic older people have recently signed up for courses, thus emphasising that the computer age is not just for young folk. Anyone wishing to register or find out more about the full range of current and future courses should contact Alan on 01505-504489 BEITH OPEN AWARD GROUP Last Sunday evening there were only 19 members present at the meeting of Beith Open Award Group at Beith High Church. The evening was spent with the young people taking part in a team quiz with a section specifically aimed at testing their knowledge on Scotland. At the end of the night everyone was a winner with prizes going to everyone who took part. Members are reminded that the group are holding an evening of entertainment on Sunday, February 2 at 6.00 pm and accordingly there will be no formal meeting of the group on that evening. BEITH PLAYPARK ACTION GROUP Beith Playpark Action Group are still working very hard to ensure that the town’s public park eventually has a state-of-the-art play facility for children and young people. The energetic committee have lately applied to North Ayrshire Council for a grant via the landfill tax credit system. They have also applied to Children in Need for funding and applications will shortly wing their way from Beith to the Community Fund and Onyx Environmental Trust. The committee have recently received a donation of £250 from Warburton’s Ltd. The process of raising the large amount of money required for this project is long and drawn-out, but the committee are encouraged by the support they continue to receive at local level. MATES MATES is a acronym for motivating and training educational support. This is a project run by North Ayrshire Council Community Education Service, for young people aged 16-25 years in the Garnock Valley. The project aims to help participants compile CVs and covering letters, find the college place of their choice, how to perform well at an interview, search for jobs effectively and develop independent living skills. MATES is held in Walker Hall, Kilbirnie, Monday – Thursday from 11.00 am – 3.00 pm for 16 – 25 year old and from 7.00 pm – 9.30 pm for age 14+. MATES will also be providing a drop in service at Dalry Public Hall and Beith Community Centre every Friday between 12 noon and 3.00 pm. For further information about this innovative personal development course for young adults tel. 01505-683652. GATESIDE WRI Gateside WRI members are reminded that the next meeting is on Thursday, February 6 when there will be a short concert. BEITH PRIMARY SCHOOL Last week the children’s author, Julia Donaldson, paid a visit to Beith Primary school. Julia wrote, among other things, “The Gruffalo,” which is a favourite of younger children everywhere. She took workshops with the Primary 3s and these included storytelling, music and drama, with the children making up their own play. Julia also read her new story “The Magic Paintbrush” which has not even been published yet, so the Beith pupils were first to hear it. All the pupils thanked Julia for giving them a thoroughly interesting and memorable day which made school-work great fun. The Flyright Dance Company is in Beith Primary for the next three weeks working will all children on aspects of dance. The sessions are going well and everyone is learning a lot. Primary 7 pupils at Beith were working with the “Learning Game” team last week. The “Learning Game” is an activity based learning experience which demonstrates how we learn, the importance of water hydration, relaxation strategies and similar ways to ensure that learning is maximised. The pupils undertook the module “My Amazing Brain,” and found it to be very worthwhile. The feedback was that they learned a lot from a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Parents and those uplifting and dropping off children for Beith Primary School are reminded that cars are not permitted in the school playground. This is important for the safety of children. Similarly, dogs are not permitted in the playground at any time other than guide dogs. Last Friday Beith Primary School seems to have been taken over by celebrations to Scotland’s National Bard, Robert Burns. Several of the classes, including the Nursery School, entered fully into the spirit of the season and dressed traditionally. Several classes enjoyed a traditional Burns Supper with readings and toasts. Everyone in the school enjoyed hearing a piper parade through the school and most of the children followed the lead of their teachers and endeavoured to perform some highland dances. In all probability, Robert Burns would have been really impressed. NORTH AYRSHIRE YOUTH THEATRE Commotion, North Ayrshire Youth Theatre are holding sessions for young people who may be interested in theatre between 27 January and 30 March. The Garnock Valley sessions will be held in the Valley Arc, School Road, Kilbirnie each Tuesday evening between 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm. For further information contact the Valley Arac on 01505-684225 RANGERS SARACEN SUPPORTERS CLUB Beith Saracen Rangers Supporters Club have arranged for a ‘bus to travel to the game at Ibrox against Aberdeen tomorrow (Saturday). The bus will leave Dalry at 1.30 pm, Kilbirnie at 1.45 pm and Beith at 2.00 pm. Those intending to travel are asked to contact John on 01505-500264. It is also intimated that there will be an open meeting for all supporters in the Masonic Arms in Beith’s Main Street after the game. All welcome. Long Ago news |
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