2017 marked the 100th
anniversary of the opening of the Erskine
Hospital for Veterans.
The subject chosen for the
readings was a poem or 500 words – “Lest we forget”.
A wide range of topics were
covered ranging from actual childhood memories from the time of WWII,
stories of based round the events following the first and second world wars and
further back, from the Napoleonic wars. We learnt of the origin of the term
‘Vanishing willows’.
The tone took on a whole
gamut of emotions from simply recalling the history to remembering the horrors.
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The entries to the Betty
Munnoch Poetry Competition had been judged by Nalini Paul.
First Kate
Gordon Scents
Second Kate Gordon Granda
Third Elspeth Munro Kim’s Game
H. Commended Pete
Marrison Special Days
Commended Morag Moffat Death and
Laughter
All of the submitted works were read by their
respective authors together with Nalini’s
somewhat-difficult-to-read-but-appreciated, handwritten comments. Members
speculated on the possibility of using ‘plywood’ to improve their poetry.
The theme had been “Memory” with a cross-over in some cases
to the earlier topic of “Lest we forget”.
There was some laughter,
regret and bitter-sweet stories and verse.
How the Memory works imperfectly and how it can be triggered by the
different senses.
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Donnie thanked Hilary for
her tremendous work as President and for taking on the hopefully temporary role
as stand-in secretary. Hilary was presented with a ‘spalted’ wooden platter.
Sandra was unable to come
to the Dinner following her adventures in Canada. We hope that she will
continue to convalesce to a complete recovery.
Everyone enjoyed a
successful evening which included a 60 seconds electricity power cut just as we were leaving.
The Cheesecake
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