Helensburgh & District Highland Association

Dance held at the Commodore Hotel 25 August 2023

For the last dance of the calendar summer the rain gods grimaced rather than scowled as a slightly soggy evening welcomed a passable roster of 57 dancers (49 members and 8 guests) to the Commodore. Membership fees for the coming year were taken with entrance fees at the door and membership forms distributed for completion along with the syllabus for the dances until next June.  44 members renewed their membership and 6 new members were added to the role on the night.

The evening commenced as always with opening remarks by President Neil MacLeod and an introduction of the band, the ever dependable Ewan Galloway, accompanied by his drummer and a one man entourage (his dad) hosting a table full of Ewan's CDs, DVDs and memorabilia available for purchase. As was to be expected the music was splendid and the first half concluded exactly on time for the break at 9.30.

Sadly, after early delivery of tea and coffee at the last dance, the Commodore service reverted to type with delivery of refreshments delayed to the point that it had almost been decided to go ahead with the raffle before they finally arrived, and that despite several reminders from the committee members organising. In addition, as has become the norm, the coffee quickly ran out and was not speedily replenished. Two pots had been requested at the outset, but apparently it was impossible for more than one to be provided at a time!

Nor was that the extent of the Commodore's lackadaisical attitude to its customers. For an organisation seeking to attract weddings and other mass events the large hole in the plasterboard at the entrance to the Osprey Suite was highly unlikely to provide a good first impression of the facilities; the stage lighting (or inadequacy thereof) was commented on by the band at the outset and it was explained that the President had raised this on numerous occasions with the Commodore management to no avail; instead of the customary long rectangular tables, round ones more appropriate for a meal were set out and were presumably left over from the last function;  finally, and most damning for a dance event, the floor had obviously been treated and polished to a slight sheen with some substance which, while slightly tacky at the outset became more and more adhesive as the evening wore on, presumably the heat from the hall and pressure of the dancers' feet producing some sort of melting effect on the polish – again the treatment of the floor had previously been raised on several occasions with the management. Add in the dilapidated state of the toilets and all in all this was a far from stellar service from the Commodore!

The raffle was held as usual at half time and raised the respectable sum of £178. Thanks as ever to those participating and in particular to donors of the prizes.

Admittance fees for the evening amounted to £586 with a further £250 generated by membership dues. Total income with raffle included was £1,014 with outgoings of £515.90 leading to a net profit of £248.10 discounting the membership dues received.  

Dancing continued (with ever more floor related difficulty) after the interval and the evening ended with the usual address from the President followed by the last waltz and Auld Lang Syne.

The next dance will be held in the Osprey Suite of the Commodore on 29 September with music provided by the Wayne Robertson Duo.

Ewan Galloway, accompanied by his drummer and a one man entourage

(his dad)

And Well Done all the Dancers   

Regret to announce the passing of Katie MacDonald.

Katie was a Life Member and past President of the Helensburgh & District Highland Association, as well as President of the Clydebank Association.

If you met Katie once, you would never forget her - Just such a lovely character, and one of the few remaining Gaelic speakers left in the Helensburgh Association.

Katie died in hospital on 27th July.

There will be a funeral service held in Cardross Church 

at 11am on Tuesday 8th August.

The burial will take place subsequently on The Isle of Skye.

Dance held at the Commodore Hotel 30 June 2023

And......normal service resumes! After the bright sunshine and cloudless skies of

 May's dance,  

Dreich and dismal were the epithets best describing the conditions greeting those attending the latest event,

heralding a return to something more closely approximating the Helensburgh norm. 

spirits of those attending may have been dampened by the weather, however, the 

the excellent music provided by the Steven Carcary SDB was guaranteed to put a spring in the steps of the dancers,

particularly with reference to a superb selection of 6/8 marches gracing several of the dances. 

Some mellifluous vocals from Steven Carcary also added to the ambience.

The evening commenced after

the customary welcome by President Neil MacLeod with the peculiarly idiosyncratic 

Helensburgh version of the Eva Three Step followed by a varied programme of dances.

It was pleasing to note that numbers were fairly substantially up on recent months with 48 members

and 10 guests attending producing revenue almost, but not quite, sufficient to break 

even on the night without reference to raffle income. One can only hope that the upward trend continues.

The prompt arrival of tea and coffee for the interval refreshments slightly truncated the last dance of

the half, but better that than the late delivery at recent events. Detracting from that positive,

however, the coffee ran out before everyone requesting it was served and a replacement supply took

an unreasonably long time to arrive and was stewed when it did.

The raffle was held as usual at half time and raised the respectable sum £169. Thanks to those

participating and in particular to donors of the prizes.

Following on the raffle a presentation was made to representatives of

'Helensburgh and Lomond Foodbank'

 and 'Food for Thought' as part of the Association's charitable remit, with each organisation

receiving a cheque for £400.

Before the the commencement of the second half Secretary Anne Thorn outlined the options for the

Christmas Dance, with a choice between a supper dance with one course meal and tea/coffee at a

price of £24 per head for members and a normal dance at the standard price. Members present were

asked to vote on the matter and, although a number did not register a vote, the majority of those

voting opted for a supper dance.

Admittance fees for the evening amounted to £484 with an additional £10 kindly donated by a

member unable to attend. Total income with raffle included was £663 with outgoings of £525

leading to a profit of £138.

Dancing continued after the interval and the evening ended with the usual address from the

President followed by the last waltz and Auld Lang Syne.

The next dance will be held in the Osprey Suite of the Commodore on 25 August with music

provided by the Ewan Galloway SDB.

Dance held at the Commodore Hotel 26 May 2023 

Clear blue sky, bright sunshine and warmth – not attributes normally associated with HHDA events, but all the more welcome for that to the attendees at last Friday's dance (45 members and 5 guests, slightly up on attendance at the April dance). The President opened the proceedings with the usual welcome and introduction of the band, the music provided on the night by the Stuart McKeown SDB with the man himself in good form despite recovering from a bout of ill health over the winter period. A full programme of dances was enjoyed, with a few more dances than hitherto following a reduction in the number of set dances, Stuart rattling through them with his usual gusto. 

Following on complaints about the state of the venue at the last couple of dances there was some improvement. The ladies toilets had been cleaned and everything seemed to be working, though the corridor lighting was still out, the dance floor, though still somewhat glutinous, was not nearly as bad as on the last two occasions. The stage lighting, however, still left something to be desired. 

While the first half of the programme ended on time at 9.30 there was no sign of the tea and coffee and the raffle was held while waiting for refreshments. The usual thanks go to those who contributed prizes and bought tickets to produce a raffle income of £156. The tea eventually arrived, but production of the coffee was again delayed and quickly ran out with a further wait for an additional supply. 

The Association's AGM was also held at half time with the previously circulated minutes of the last AGM and financial statement taken as read and approved and the existing officials and directors confirmed in post for the next year. There were no other volunteers to serve on the committee for the future. A motion was also tabled and unanimously approved to increase the admittance price to £10 for members and £12 for guests with the Secretary explaining the need for an uplift consequent on the rising cost of venues and bands and the consistently low level of attendance at the monthly functions. 

Entrance fees on the night amounted to £410 producing a total income of £566 inclusive of raffle proceeds which, after outgoings of £503.60 (venue, band, whisky and suppers for the band), led to a small profit of £62.40. 

Dancing continued after the AGM and the evening ended with the usual address from the President followed by the last waltz and Auld Lang Syne. 

The next dance will be held in the Osprey Suite of the Commodore on 30 June with music provided by the Steven Carcary SDB.