Line dancers step up to the beat in Galashiels and Focus on local charity

Galashiels Focus Centre became a hub of heel splits, quad rockers and applejack dance steps when almost 50 line dancers of all abilities came together from various parts of Scotland to dance the day away. The Rowan Boland Trust received a Â£350 cheque as a donation from the event organisers.

DISTRICT NEWS

ASHKIRK

Village hall

The village hall Annual General Meeting takes place this Friday, June 9, at 7.30pm. Chairman Alec Colvin Smith will report on what has been a successful year when hall usage has increased and various improvements have been carried out. The Tuesday talks continue on June 13 at 2pm, when Rosemary Dean talks about dementia; and the latest film night offering is ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ on Friday, June 30, at 7pm.

Church

The Rev Margaret Steel celebrated holy communion on Sunday and led a series of meditations for Pentecost. The next significant event for the congregation is the Gift Day on Sunday, August 20, followed by a parish lunch at the New Woll Golf Club.

BEDRULE

SWI

The May meeting was the open night, with visitors from the Group J membership and twinned institute, Rochester. Helen Cessford gave a floral demonstration, and her creations were later raffled. Competitions: Arrangement in a wine glass – 1, Molly Marshall; 2, Teela Ferguson; 3, Olive Hogg; Visitors, flower brooch – 1, Christine Roger (Minto).

CADDONFOOT

Parish church

The Rev Elspeth Harley was joined by Trinity elder Alistair Wilson to conduct morning service on Sunday. Mr Wilson gave his personal reflections on his first visit to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, while Rev Harley voiced her views on the church’s discussions and debates in Edinburgh. The Bible reading was delivered by Catriona Bird, and music played by Andy Bird and Anne Grieve. Donations can still be given to the annual appeal and monies will go towards the heating project. Bible study continued this week at the Clovenfords Hotel where members discussed the Church of Scotland’s report on ‘An Approach to the Theology of Same-Sex Marriage’. The total raised for Christian Aid in Clovenfords was £588.29, plus Gift Aid of £64.85. The Christmas Tree festival – a huge success last year in Trinity Church, Galashiels – will again be held in 2017 and a volunteer is asked to assist with arrangements. There will be a meeting on Tuesday, June 20, at 7pm in Trinity – contact Margaret Blyth or Sharon Hume for information.

DARNICK

Quiz night

Darnick Village Development Trust’s next event in the Smith Memorial Hall is a quiz night on Friday, June 9, with doors opening at 7pm ready for a 7.30pm start. Teams of up to six are welcome, but still come if you are without a team and join with others. Also, bring your own alcoholic refreshments if you wish – glasses supplied. Tea and coffee will be provided at the mid-point. Entry is £5 per person and proceeds will go to The Lavender Touch, a local charity supporting cancer sufferers and carers.

EARLSTON

Parish church

On Sunday, June 11, the service at 10.15am will be conducted by the Rev Julie Rennick. Holy communion will be celebrated on Sunday, June 18, at 10.15am.

Thursday lunch club

The May 25 gathering began with a game of dominoes, followed by lunch and then off to the races – on the club’s indoor racetrack. Members placed their bets – not real money – and watched the horses running on the screen. A hilarious time was had by all. On June 1, indoor golf opened proceedings, ending up with the ladies against the gentlemen, and this time it was won by Mrs J. Wilson for the fair sex. After the meal, entertainment was provided by Jimmie Gold and his accordion.

Wednesday club

Members travelled to The Hirsel, Coldstream, for their outing last week. In perfect weather, they went round the gardens and lake, watched the wildlife and had a cup of tea and a cake. This was followed by high tea at Carfraemill. The next meeting is on June 14.

ETTRICK

Exhibition

An exhibition celebrating the life and works of writer James Hogg (The Ettrick Shepherd), author of ‘The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner’, is running in the former Ettrick school until September 24. Open – Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (2-5pm).

FOUNTAINHALL

SWI

To end this session, members will meet on Wednesday, June 14, for a meal at The Woll, Ashkirk, 7 for 7.30pm. Meetings resume in the village hall on Wednesday, September 20. May competitions – pot plant – 1, Agnes Mathison; 2, Dawn Brown; animal-themed photograph – 1, Irene Scott; 2, Agnes Mathison.

GALASHIELS

Waterways group

Last Saturday, a total of 13 volunteers took part in a very successful tidy-up of the area upstream of the Douglas Bridge. Approximately 44 cubic metres of vegetation was pruned back and 22kg of rubbish removed. Included in the items removed were a child’s scooter, a 1.5m x 0.5m x 0.5m galvanised metal cover and a five-gallon plastic barrel.

Songs of Praise

On Pentecost Sunday evening, Gala Fellowship of Churches put on a Songs of Praise hosted by Old and St Paul’s Parish Church. A bumper attendance filled the building with the sound of both old favourites and new hymns, accompanied by instrumentalists from different churches, pianists and an organist. Also, Music Makers from St Paul’s sang two songs, ‘Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God’ and ‘Throughout the Earth’; Fiona McDougal, Caddonfoot, played Elgar’s Chanson de Matin as a flute solo; Susan Henderson, St John’s, accompanied herself singing ‘Getty, Getty’ and ‘Townend’s Still, My Soul, be Still’, while Jim Tennant, St Paul’s, sang ‘How Amazing God’s Reflection’, words and music composed by himself.The scripture account of the first Pentecost 2000 years ago was read. The Rev Dr Leon Keller, who welcomed the gathering, closed it with a blessing.

St Peter’s Church

Thursday, June 8 – 10am, communion service. Saturday, June 10 – strawberry tea. Sunday, June 11 – 9.30am, Sunday Squad; 10.30am, sung eucharist (Rev. Grace Redpath); 6pm, healing service (Father Philip Blackledge). Thursday, June 15 – 10am, holy communion.

GLENDOUGLAS

Whist

A whist drive will be held on Monday, June 12, starting at 7.30pm.

Lunch club

The lunch club meets on Wednesday, June 14, 11.30am to 1.30pm.

SWI

The outing to Johnsons of Elgin was enjoyed by members last Wednesday. A factory tour was followed by a lunch. The next event is a visit from the Jethart Callant and his Henchmen on Wednesday, June 21, starting at 7.30pm. Supper will be served, followed by a raffle and sales table. Tickets are £2.50, or pay at the door.

HAWICK

Bridge club

Tuesday, May 30 – N/S – 1, Mary Millar and Patsy Gilligan; 2, Morag and Fraser Beaton; 3, Bob Francombe and Anne Hislop; E/W – 1, Helen and Malcolm Ouldcott; 2, Michael Tuson and Bob Witherington; 3, Valerie Mcpherson and Inez Wyse.

INNERLEITHEN

Service

A service will be held on Sunday, June 11, at 11.30am in Innerleithen Church.

JEDBURGH

Coffee morning

St John’s Episcopal Church is holding a coffee morning in the town’s Royal British Legion on Saturday, June 10, from 10-11.30am.

Blood donors

At a blood-donor session in the town on Sunday, May 28, 113 volunteers offered to give blood and 103 donations were given. There was one new donor.

KELSO

Bridge club

Wednesday, May 31 – match-pointed pairs – 1, Lynda Douglas and Lesley Dick; 2, Brian Saywood and Ken Ross; 3, Bob Stevenson and Annie Mitchell; 4, Joyce Thomson and Helenor Pratt; 5, Dominic and Diana Alkin; 6, Sheena McPherson and Sheila Urquhart. Thursday, June 1 – pairs – 1, Gerry Eglington and Jon Bridger; 2, John Urquhart and Janet Kyle; 3, Michael Horwood and Alison Ireland; 4, Brian Saywood and Sheila Urquhart; 5, Dick and Kirsty Johnson; 6, Mary Tait and Bill Elliot.

The Planet Cafe

Cheviot Youth’s The Planet Cafe will now be open every Saturday from 10am-2.30pm, with all meals and light snacks at under £2, and all teas, coffees and fresh juices under £1. For further information, volunteering opportunities and to be sent a menu, email Ian at [email protected], or ring/text him on 07958 277766.

LANGHOLM

Colours

The Langholm Common Riding colours for 2017 are purple and white. As is tradition, the colours are taken each year from that worn by the Derby-winning jockey for the owner. The winner was Wings of Eagles by threequarters of a length, ridden by Padraig Beggy at 40-1, trained by Aidan O’ Brien, and owned by Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier and Mr M. Tab. Trainer O’Brien also had the second with Cliffs of Moher at 5-1 and Cracksman, the 5-2 favourite, was third.

LAUDER

Church

There will be a joint service of worship on Sunday, June 11, at 10.30am in Channelkirk Church. Anyone who needs assistance with transport, speak to Billy Anderson or Jim Archibald. There will be no service at Lauder that day. The Walk with St Cuthbert will take place on Saturday, June 10. All walkers who have registered should now have received a walkers’ pack. The stated annual meeting will be held in the Church Centre, Lauder, on Wednesday, June 28, at 7pm.

LINDEAN

SWI

Members enjoyed dinner at The Fleece for their final gathering of the session. Margaret McKinley held a raffle – the prizes being ones left over for the year. The next session begins on September 7.

MELROSE

Rotary

May proved to be a busy month for the club, with a car boot sale on St Boswells green and a street collection in Melrose for Help for Heroes, which raised £192.91. In addition, Rotarians played their part in stewarding at the Schools Countryside Day in Kelso. Visitors to the club included Sarah Dannfald, from the Children’s Hospice Association of Scotland (CHAS). In recognition of this charity’s work, Sylvia Grundy, club president, presented Sarah with a cheque for £500. David and Barbara Dalglish represented the club at CHAS’s new strategy launch in Edinburgh. The club continues to meet in the King’s Arms Hotel on Thursdays, 6 for 6.30pm, and welcomes visitors and anyone interested in the work of Rotary.

Recitals

Visitors to Holy Trinity Church can sit back and enjoy their lunchtime sandwiches in style with two recitals this month. On Friday, June 16, the church’s state-of-the-art digital organ will be on show with a performance by Chris Achenbach, music therapist, jazz pianist, composer and director of music at Holy Trinity. The following day, popular classics will be performed by local string quartet Sapphire Strings. Both recitals run from 1.10-2pm. Free admission; donations welcome.

Parish church

It was Pentecost – ‘Birthday of the Church’ Sunday – at Bowden and Melrose. £4,618 was raised for Christian Aid locally via door-to-door collection and a coffee morning. Food bank contributions are always welcome and volunteers are wanted for two-hour ‘slots’ for church opening during the book festival. Services – Sunday, June 11 – Bowden (9.30am, baptism) and Melrose (11am)

Trimontium

The week began with a slightly unsuccessful race to beat the rain as Philiphaugh PS Route Marched up the hill from Leaderfoot to Newstead en route to the museum. There were seven adventurers on the Trimontium Walk last Thursday – with no complaints about the weather and a new member for the trust. Uncertainty was one of the problems discussed at the Trimontium Trustees’ quarterly meeting on Thursday evening. The renewed application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) faced competition from other un-named projects and, in order to meet the constant goalpost-changing of the HLF, had had to be altered seven times. However, the outcome will be known in a fortnight. More museum volunteers are needed – anyone interested is welcome to pop in for a chat. Thursday, June 8 – Trimontium walk (1.30pm).

MOREBATTLE

Fishing

Results of the fishing competition held last Saturday – 1, David Gray; 2, Jim McNulty; 3, Stuart McNulty; heavy trout, David Gray; heavy 3, Stuart McNulty. The pairs competition will be held on Saturday, June 17, with the draw made on Thursday, June 15, at 9pm in the Templehall.

Coffee morning

Morebattle Institute coffee morning will be held on the premises on Saturday, June 10, from 10.30am.

SELKIRK

Coffee morning

From 10am on Saturday, June 10, in the parish church hall, members of St John’s Episcopal Church are running a coffee morning. There will be stalls selling gifts, plants, Fair Trade items, home baking, jams, marmalade and chutneys. There will also be three raffle prizes.

Young entrepreneurs

P6 pupils at Knowepark primary are becoming entrepreneurs on Friday, June 9, as part of their enterprise topic. They have been manufacturing dream catchers to sell through their company, Dream Machine, on Enterprise Day at the school. The event is open to all and runs from 9.30-10.30am.

TRAQUAIR

Service

The service in Traquair Kirk on Sunday, June 11, starts at 10am.

WALKERBURN

Service

The next service in Walkerburn Public Hall will be on Sunday, June 18, at 10am.

YETHOLM