Helensburgh & District Highland Association

Dance Held at the Commodore Hotel on 29 November 2019

The dance took place on a bitterly cold and frosty evening with 40 members attending together with 15 guests and 1 carer. It was good to see a number of folk from the Monday evening Dumbarton class attending for the first time as well as a young couple who gamely attempted some of the more unfamiliar dances.

The evening commenced with a welcome by President Neil MacLeod who also referred to a letter handed out at the door outlining the need for new committee members for the coming year and commenting on the fall in numbers attending the monthly dances.

The dancing got under way with superb and lively music provided by the Wayne Robertson SDB ( a two piece on this occasion). 

The tea break ran to time with refills of fresh tea and coffee being promptly provided. The raffle followed and raised  a total of £144. Due to the absence of Gordon Hendrie and his laptop the draw had to be made manually from the old tombola tumbler and it is to the credit of Colin and Ronnie that all went smoothly. Thanks to those purchasing tickets and in particular to those who donated prizes. 

Tickets for the Christmas dance and Hogmanay dances were on sale on the night.

The band fairly raced through the programme and following an enjoyable second half's dancing, closing remarks and thanks were made by the President before an additional two dances were  completed and the evening ended with Auld Lang Syne.

The next dance will be the Christmas Supper Dance on 6 December with Charlie Kirkpatrick followed by the Hogmanay Dance with the Stuart McKeown SDB, both being all ticket affairs. The next regular monthly dance will be on Friday 31^st January in the Osprey Suite at the Commodore as always with music provided by the Nicky McMichan SDB. 

Dance Held at the Commodore Hotel on 25 October 2019

On a chilly but blessedly dry Helensburgh evening  a reasonably respectable turnout of 60 members and two guests (one of whom, most unusually, was a young lassie) were treated to some excellent music by the Martainn Skene Scottish Dance Band. The man himself was on keyboard on this occasion while, in a welcome surprise, the box was in the hands of the inimitable and ever popular Charlie Kirkpatrick, a last minute substitution.

The evening began in usual fashion with a welcome by President Neil McLeod and the dancing then got under way accompanied by Charlie's usual patter.

The tea break was on schedule (though curtailing the last dance of the first half) and the provision of tea and coffee seemed to run more smoothly than on recent occasions. The raffle followed and raised  a total of £150. Thanks to those purchasing tickets and in particular to those who donated prizes. Before the dancing recommenced the President made a plea for members to volunteer as committee members, pointing out that due to imminent retirements from the committee there was a real risk that the Association may have to be wound up next year if numbers could not be maintained.

Tickets for the Christmas dance were on sale on the night and are still available from Gordon Hendrie while tickets for the Hogmanay dance will be on sale at the November dance and may be acquired from Colin Crawford.

Following an enjoyable second half's dancing closing remarks and thanks were made by the President before the last dance and the traditional end to the evening with Auld Lang Syne.

The next dance will be held on Friday 29 November in the Osprey Suite at the Commodore as always. All welcome

Dance Held at the Commodore Hotel on 28 June 2019

An unusually warm and sunny evening in Helensburgh saw a somewhat disappointing attendance of 38 members and 8 visitors at the June dance.

Playing on the evening was the Liam Stewart Scottish Dance Band producing excellent, lively music and not a little amusing patter. Commencement of the dancing was delayed for about twenty minutes by problems with the stage lighting. Once resolved President Neil MacLeod gave the welcome address.

Notwithstanding the paucity of numbers the floor was fairly consistently full for most dances and, unlike recent experience, most of the attendees stayed until the end of the evening. While the delay at the start meant that three dances scheduled for before the interval were missed out these were neatly incorporated in the second half.

The raffle raised 143 and thanks go to those who bought tickets and especially to those who contributed prizes.

Closing remarks were made by the President before the last waltz and the traditional end to the evening with Auld Lang Syne.

This year, after a long period we are reinstating a summer break and there will be no July dance, with the next event scheduled for Friday 30 August in the Osprey Suite at the Commodore. All welcome

Dance Held at the Commodore Hotel on 31 May 2019

Turnout at the May dance on a thoroughly dreich evening was modest with only 49 members attending. The numbers were, however, boosted a little with a count of 10 non-members.

Music was provided by the ever reliable Ewan Galloway Scottish Dance Band who drew dancers onto the floor with a perfectly judged selection of tunes. The band fairly raced through the programme and two extra dances were fitted in at the end.

The Annual General meeting was held at half time, with the Minutes of the last AGM being read by Secretary Ronnie Reardon, financial report by Ewan Howieson and the President's report by Vice President John Johnston in the absence of Association, President Neil MacLeod. 

It was announced that two Directors were retiring from the committee, Jim Gray and Andrew Rankin.  

The rest of the committee, as per the constitution, stood down at the meeting and all were re-elected, no other names being put forward to fill the vacancies. 

A minute's silence was also held at the commencement of the meeting in honour of two members who have sadly passed away since the last AGM, Andy Love and Jack Inglis.

There was a slight delay for refills of the tea and coffee pots at the interval leaving some dancers waiting to slake their thirsts.....apologies to those affected. It's also worth noting that the condition of the floor was not ideal, being somewhat “stickier” than usual. Hopefully that will have improved for the next dance.

The raffle raised a respectable total of £167 and, as ever, thanks to those donating prizes and purchasing tickets.

Closing remarks were given by John Johnston and the evening ended in traditional fashion with a last waltz and Auld Lang Syne.

Our next event will be a dance in the Osprey Suite of the Commodore on Friday 28 June 2019 with music provided by Liam Stewart. All welcome as ever.