January 30th 2004

Last Thursday, January 22, children at Gardenrose nursery celebrated the Chinese New Year. They wore mainly red or gold clothes and had great fun with Chinese dancing and pretending to be a dragon. This is the Year of the Monkey and our photographer was greeted with "Kung Hey Fat Choy" which is the equivalent of "Happy New Year".

January 23rd 2004

January 9th 2004

January 2nd 2004

The complete text of the headlines above follows.

January 30th 2004

Last Thursday, January 22, children at Gardenrose nursery celebrated the Chinese New Year. They wore mainly red or gold clothes and had great fun with Chinese dancing and pretending to be a dragon. This is the Year of the Monkey and our photographer was greeted with "Kung Hey Fat Choy" which is the equivalent of "Happy New Year".

Jim Sym Memorial Trophy. A new trophy has been donated to Maybole Pipe Band by the family of the late Jim Sym, former Pipe Major with the band. The trophy will be presented at the end of each year for outstanding achievement within the beginners' section of the band, and both pipers and drummers are eligible. Iain Walker was named as 2003's winner and the trophy was presented recently by Jim Sym's daughter Linda Fleming. Iain is a primary seven pupil at Gardenrose Primary who has been learning to play the chanter.

Pupils at St Cuthbert's Primary School have "adopted" Maybole Town Hall as part of an exciting new project. Last year The Lighthouse, Scotland's Centre for Architecture, Design and the City was awarded a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a project called Adopt A Historic Building. This is a project for primary schools in only five areas of Scotland. The aim is to raise awareness of local built heritage and to bring together pupils, communities and a number of national organisations to create a useful local archive. Organisations involved include the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, SCRAN, Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and the Scottish Screen Archive. The pupils will work with professionals such as architects, town planners, historians, property inspectors and archaeologists and they will also create their own models, artwork, films, photographs, drawings of the building as well as many other ideas.

This will develop into a resource that the school and community will be able to use and add to in the future. A website will also be created with pupils updating the information they find. Communication between the schools will take place so that the pupils can discover the other buildings in the project. In South Ayrshire, St. Cuthbert's Primary School has been chosen to take part and they have nominated Maybole Town Hall as their building. Last week they had a guided tour of the building and left very excited that they were going to be involved over the next few months. Lynn Bennett, who works for The Lighthouse, said, "I think it will be a great project and it makes such a difference having the backing of people within the community." The other areas are Aberdeen, Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow and South Lanarkshire.

The Guild of Maybole Parish Church held a Burns' Supper on Wednesday January 21 in the halls of the West parish church. The evening was a sell out with over sixty people attending and a great night was had by all. Jean Dunn gave a very animated address to the haggis and a splendid rendition of Holy Willies prayer. Margaret Davidson proposed the Immortal Memory and highlighted the sheer volume of material produced by Burns. Musical entertainment was provided by Alex Davidson, Margaret Hutchison, Doreen Qua, and Jim Stevens, very ably accompanied by Jenny Graham on the piano. MC for the evening was Mrs Elspeth Kidd who also gave a moving rendition of the poem "Maisie's deid" and everyone enjoyed traditional Scottish fare of haggis, tatties, neeps and the other national drink Irn Bru. The vote of thanks was given by Rev Dave Whiteman who confessed that this was the first Burns' Supper he had ever attended, but he looked forward to many more in the future. The guild would like to thank all who took part and all who attended.

Last week the Maybole "Lydia" Ecumenical Prayer Group met for a grand reunion of current and past members at the Crosshill Arms where a very fine dinner was enjoyed by all. Ellen Hawkes welcomed twenty six members of the group, especially founder members Mrs Elizabeth Purvis, Mrs Jean Docherty and Mrs Rina Paterson. The group was founded twenty-three years ago and first met in the West Manse, and since then it has met in various houses and for a short spell in Maybole Castle. Mrs Eileen Hamilton read Psalm 103 and Mrs Janie Thorburn sang two of her favourite hymns after which Mrs Eva Martin said the grace. After the meal Mrs Elizabeth Purvis reminisced over some of the more eventful memories of past speakers and meetings, and ended with a challenging tale of a medical missionary inspired by an African child's simple faith in God to work miracles. This was followed by a hilarious toast to absent friends, all twenty-one of them, given in very expert fashion by Mrs Jean Dunn. The group's remarkably slow progress in musical talent was a subject of much hilarity and Mr Bennett Ward got a special vote of thanks for his guitar skills which helps the group to get some of the tunes right! The deceased members of the group were also remembered with thanks. The group meets at 7 Kildoon Drive, Maybole every Tuesday evening from 7.30pm to 9.30pm and new members are always welcome. Requests from people for prayer are also welcome.

Sure Start Women’s Group want to know if you are bored! Do you want company on a Thursday afternoon? Are you between 16 and 50? Then why not go along to a new Thursday group at Carrick Academy. If you are a mum there is a FREE crèche availabl and activities include reflexology, self defence, encaustic art, pilates, cooking and much more. Everything is free of charge and held at the Surestart building at Carrick Academy between 12.45 & 2.45 every Thursday afternoon. If you are interested call into the MAP office or phone Cathie or Christine on 882111.

Three members of the Tackety Bit Walking Club took the train to Corrour Station a few days ago and on a crisp morning with a bit of snow about set to climb Beinn na Lap. Asthey got higher the snow was getting deeper and before they reached the ridge it was a good two feet, making walking much harder. Once on the ridge there was a stiff wind but the sun was out and the views into the Grey Corries was beautiful, although it was a bit misty to the north east. They returned to the track and walked round the head of the loch before returning to the station.

January 23rd 2004

Ayr News ...as redoubtable George calls it a day Jan 21 2004. GEORGE Foulkes will quit Westminster before the next general election. The MP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley won’t stand for re-election to the House of Commons but revealed that he could be setting his sights on the Scottish Parliament. He said: “I feel that I’ve done everything I can in the commons. I was in opposition for 13 years, a minister for five years and an elder statesmen for the past two years. “The time’s come for me to move on.” Mr Foulkes explained that he won’t stand for selection for the Labour Party for the new Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency when the general election is called in two years time. He added: “I’ve represented this constituency for nearly a quarter of a century and it’s been a great privilege. The high spots have been winning the constituency in the first place when I stood against Jim Sillars and when the Labour government was elected in 1997 and I became a minister. “It’s a great wee constituency and I am proud to have represented it all these years.” Mr Foulkes was first elected as MP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley in 1979 and has continued to increase his substantial majority - making it one of the biggest in Scotland - during successive elections. And he refused to rule out the possibility of vying for a seat in the Scottish Parliament. He went on: “I haven’t ruled that out. It depends on whether the party decide to select me to stand either for a constituency or on the list at the next election. “But given my interests in education and health, which are both devolved to the Scottish Parliament, it is something that I would be willing to consider.” MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Cathy Jamieson insists that Mr Foulkes would be an asset at Holyrood. She pointed out: "George Foulkes has worked hard for the constituency throughout his time as a member of parliament and also in his roles as International Development Minister and in the Scotland Office. He will be missed both in parliament, where he always had witty but pointed ripostes at the ready, and locally in the constituency. “I know that he wants to spend time doing other things, including being a doting grandfather. And knowing George, I don’t expect we will have seen the last of him in politics when he leaves Westminster. I would be delighted if he chose to seek election to the Scottish Parliament, as he was one of the foremost campaigners for devolution. He and I have worked very closely as colleagues and would continue to do so if he came to Holyrood.

January 9th 2004

Last week two members of the Tackety Bit Hillwalkers Club spent the night in the bunkhouse at Roy Bridge and the following day, Tuesday, they set off from near the dam in Glen Spean to climb Beinn Chaoruinn. Then they went down to the cairn at the bealach and up onto Beinn Teallach. It was very misty above 750mtrs with 3 to 4" of snow on the top but on the return route it was a pleasant walk down by the Alt a`Chaoruinn burn until the daylight disappeared. On the Thursday some members were in Glen Nevis where they had spent the night under the stars, setting off in frosty conditions to climb SgurrChoinnich Mor but the weather changed to mist and torrential rain as they got to the top and it stayed that way for the rest of the day.

What do Maybole people think about NHS Ayrshire & Arran's plans to merge all children's inpatient services at Crosshouse Hospital? They will get their chance to put forward their views at a public meeting which is being held at Carrick Academy on Tuesday January 27 at 7.30pm. Posters advertising the meeting are on display in the town along with details of how to let the Board know what they think in writing or by email or telephone. The Board is consulting the public, patients, partner and voluntary groups, interest groups and staff until the end of February. They have also published a booklet which explains the need for change and the process that led to Crosshouse being the preferred option. People in the south of the county, however, have not generally been in favour of the proposals and Maybole Community Council has certainly lodged objections to them. Now the community council is urging as many people as possible to attend the public meeting and make their views known. A spokesman for the community council said, "This could be the last chance to let the NHS Ayrshire & Arran Board know what the feelings of the community are."

January 2nd 2004

Maybole Community Association held a Christmas competition for Best Decorated Christmas house frontage and best decorated Christmas window/door. The competition was sponsored by J Dunlop Florist and out of the many houses in the town who decorate their houses, over 20 entered. The winners, who received flowers and chocolates were: Best Decorated house front : Quinten Turner, Fineview. Runner Up: Mr John Connell, Fineview Best Decorated window/door: Mr McGougan, Dunlop Terrac Runner Up: Ann Thompson, Hicks Ave The judge has now fled the country!!!!

The year 2003 may have been one of the best ever as far as the weather went but it certainly went out in style in Maybole. Hogmanay 2003 turned into a wild and wet night with some historical damage as well. One of the oldest trees in the town at the West Church was blown over and members of the congregation had to quickly start to lop off branches as they blocked the pathway to the church. In addition the flag on the war memorial flagpole at the Greenside was once again left in tatters.

Maybole Pipe Band was out and about the area visiting various premises and ended up "drookit" although they brought the old year to a great end and welcomed in 2004 at Carrick Sports Club where the band holds its weekly practices.

Members of the Tackety Bit Hillwalkers Club had a pre Christmas walk to the Mamores last week. They started at Mamore Lodge in the rain, going up the Alt Coire Na Ba onto the ridge and then climbing to Na Gruagaichean where they got some views. The visibility was better as they went round onto Binnein Mor, with some snow still there where it had drifted. The return was over Sgor Eilde Beag and onto the stalkers path back to the Lodge. The next meeting of the club is 8th January in the Welltrees Inn Maybole at 8 o`clock and new members are welcome.

Winning numbers in the December draw for St Cuthbert's Church's "150 Club" are £25 Eileen Hamilton no. 111 £15 Joan Robb no.59 £10 Nancy Flanagan no. 124