2009 Jan 6 SNP Milestone -With a new year dawning it marked it marked the beginning of a major anniversary in both local and national political history, and people in the Buckie area are being asked to come forward with any memories and memorabilia they may have. The year two thousand and nine sees not only the 75th anniversary of the formation of the Scottish National Party, but also of its Buckie branch, one of the first in the country. In the run –up to the celebrations planned for November 6 in the Buckie British Legion hall, the Convener of the Buckie branch, and local Councillor Gordon McDonald formally launched the appeal for anyone who has been involved in the history of the branch, either directly or through a family member, to share their memories. The very first Convener of the Buckie branch was a Miss Bunyan from Mill Crescent, which was quite remarkable in its own right; only ten years or so after the here we had a woman taking a leading role in a radical party. Friends of Seafield Hospital -The members of the ‘Friends’ augmented by family members and volunteers did a bag-packing stint in the local Co-operative Supermarket as a fund raising project and raised the sum of £756.37. Alistair Robson, Chair of the Friends of Seafield Hospital and Community Patients said: “We were very grateful to all who supported the bag-packing event and a big thank you goes to everyone who made a donation” The Friends are always on the lookout for more volunteers. Anyone interested are asked to contact Alistair. Jan 13 High Praise for BCHS - A “Very good quality of education”- that was the glowing verdict delivered by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), on Buckie Community High School in their report published this week. October 2008 saw inspectors visit BCHS to conduct a rigorous and demanding inspection using a completely new grading and assessment system. Five major areas were evaluated as part of the inspection with the school gaining either good (defined as having important strengths with some areas for improvement) or very good (major strengths) These were: improvements in performance – good; learners experiences – good; meeting learning needs- very well; the curriculum – very good; improvement through self-evaluation – very good. Lights on – Lights off - Peter Cowie a retired electrician of Titness Street, Buckie is the person who has checked the power supply and switched on the display of Christmas Lights in Buckie for the past twenty years and at the end of the festive season switched they back off again. Santa Helps the Round Table - For a number of years past Buckie and District Round Table have made a collection on behalf of the recipients of ‘Meals on Wheels’ this year they were helped by Santa on a sledge and were delighted that with his help the sum of £800 was raised which saw each recipient receive a £10 Co-op voucher. Harbour Log –Five fishing boats came in to Buckie harbour during last week to land their catches. This comprised 24 boxes of white fish, prawns and squid together with 215 bags of scallops. The boats were Calisha, Georgia Dawn, Aspire, Blue Sky and Silver Rock. One cargo boat paid a call. This was the MV Shetland Trader, registered in Barbados that came in from Kilroot in Ireland on New Year’s Day, carrying a cargo of rock salt weighing 2167.220 tonnes. She set sail again four days later, empty, and bound for Lowestoft. Service to the Blind – Service totalling nearly 30 years by two volunteers to a local group for the blind and partially sighted was honoured recently at a celebratory lunch in the Marine Hotel, Buckie. The stars of the event were Jean Redford and Lily Chalmers who have given 16 and 10 years of service respectively to Buckie Community Kaleidoscope, which is affiliated to the Grampian Society for the Blind (GSB). Neil Skene, GSB Fund-raising Manager, handed over certificates of achievement to the duo. Jan 20 High School Switch on -Buckie Community High School took their place as one of the leading lights on the issue of renewable energy when new solar panels were officially unveiled at the school. Last Wednesday morning saw the panels, which have been funded to the tune of £20,000 by the Co- operative Group’s Green energy for School scheme and the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme, officially switched on at the school, aided by Co-operative colourful climate change character Sunny Solar. Burns Suppers a number of organisations celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of the poet Robert Burns by holding Burns Suppers. One such place was the local library. The haggis was piped in by Jim Forbes being carried by Cluny Primary School pupil, Dylan Christie followed by the Address to the Haggis by Jim Bartlett. An afternoon of Scottish poetry, dance and music followed with contributions from Pat Fraser, Jim Forbes and pupils from Cluny Primary. An audience of 82 people were present, being welcomed by Librarian Eleanor Kidd. The Probus Club held their event in the Marine Hotel. Those taking part here were Bob Jamieson who gave the Selkirk Grace; Jim Findlay who gave the Address to the Haggis, Jim Pirrie gave a classic rendering of ‘Holy Willie’s Prayer’ while Hugh Patience gave the Immortal Memory. The Ga’an Aboot Folk provided entertainment. John Legge gave the vote of thanks. The Rotary Club also held their Burns Supper in the Marine Hotel while a Burns Supper was also enjoyed at Parklands, Struan and Netherha. Over in Portgordon the Parent Council also got in the act Jan 27 Old established firm to close -Buckie’s employment landscape looked that much bleaker last Thursday when it was announced that W & J Cruickshank, & Co. who have been in business for over one hundred years, were to close near the end of February with the loss of 24 jobs in the town. A further nine jobs connected to the soft drinks and wholesaling firm are also to be axed. A statement issued by the company’s Managing Director, William Cruickshank, stated, “ I regret to announce that, due to a serious downturn in sales, our company will close for business on February 27th. 2009. Sadly, this means that 33 employees (24 based in Buckie, four at Inverness, one at Tain and four at Wick) will be made redundant.) For many years the firm’s premises were on Blairdaff Street but in recent times they have traded from a large site off the Rathven Road near Cunningholes and the former Pot O’ Linn. Councillor Anne McKay said: “It is most depressing when we hear of long established businesses like Cruickshank has to close. I don’t think there is anyone who has been brought up in the north east of Scotland who will not have heard of ‘Crookie’s dazzle.’” Regeneration group - A steering group has been launched aimed at fostering the economic regeneration of Buckie after, what has been described, as years of neglect. The members are Councillor Gordon McDonald (Chairman), Dr. Nick Brown, planning and regeneration consultant, Jim Johnston, local businessman and Executive Director of Moray Chamber of Commerce, Barry Taylor, Buckie Area Forum Chair, Alan Beresford BAF vice chair, Feb 3 Rotary Club Burns Supper -This was held in the Marine Hotel where the president Jeanette Brown welcomed members and guests before Hugh Patience gave grace, the haggis was piped in by youthful piper Graham Goldie and addressed by member Jim Findlay. Ayrshire native Jim Pirrie gave the Immortal Memory. Marie McDonald and Charles McKay delivered Burns readings. Alistair Farquhar gave the Toast to the Lassies with a reply by Heather Pirie. James Alexander and Clare and Craig Lambourne provided singing and musical entertainment. David Paterson gave the vote of thanks. Burns Supper at Cullen – A sell out crowd enjoyed the first event in the Cullen Homecoming 2009 programme with an evening of laughter and entertainment being provided at a Community Burns Celebration. The evening, which raised funds for the Buckie RNLI demonstrated the richness of local orators and the wealth of local artistes. Professor Ashley Mowatt introduced the event by welcoming everyone to Cullen. The Selkirk Grace was performed in the Doric by Rev Sean Turner before the haggis was carried in by Joyce Henderson preceded by piper Mhairi Sellar, a sixth year pupil at Buckie High School. James Findlay addressed the haggis, which he complemented later with the Reply from the Haggis. Councillor Gary Coull gave the Toast to the Lassies with Sandra Taylor giving the reply. Peter Wilkie gave an outstanding rendition of ‘Holy Willies Prayer’. The following – Duncan and Claudia Wood, Cathall McConnell, Alex and Madeline Green, Euan Watt and Ronnie Ewan and Joe Mowat, provided entertainment Another Home Care Facility opened - Care for the elderly was moved to a new level in Buckie last Friday when the award-winning Parklands Care Home Group officially unveiled their state of the art Burnbank House facility Situated to the rear of the existing Parklands care home adjacent to the Linzee Gordon park off High Street, the £2million building not only provides assisted/living/very sheltered housing accommodation, but also dementia and other nursing beds. It represents the first increase in bed space for the care of the elderly in Buckie since 1993. Doing the honours in declaring Burnbank House open was the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire, Clare Russell, and Ballindalloch Castle. The Managing Director of the Parklands Care Home Group is Mr Ronald Taylor. The Buckie area gets a share of winter conditions - The Buckie area and the rest of Moray finally joined most of the country under a blanket of snow last Thursday and Friday as winter’s grip became even wider spread.