The 166th AGM was held on Thursday 26 April 2012 at the Reception Suite of Glengoyne Distillery. Drinks were served from 7.30 p.m. after which the meeting and prizegiving took place, followed by tea, coffee and shortbread.
The only major change in the committee was the replacement of Norman Robertson as league convenor by Mike Jackson. Sheila Sturrock had become Vice President during the year.
The results of the main competitions can be found at Archive. Both the main Club and the Ladies Section had awards for the Curler of the Year which went to Sheila Sturrock and Elspeth Murdoch respectively.
Particular points to note from the Province competitions are Strathendrick's victory in the Forest Hills League, the Province Medal, the Province Points and the Gordon Mitchell Rosebowl. This last is our first victory in this competition for 22 years.
Fiona Glass circulated the following note about this competition: "Last night we won the Gordon Mitchell Rosebowl very convincingly. Donnie MacDonald. Sheila Sturrock, Maurice Rennie and Stan Moore had an excellent first session handing on 7 ends and 20 shots having played Port and Loch Ard. Donnie very nearly had an 8-ender, but was happy enough with a 7. John Phillips, Norman Robertson , Fiona Glass and George Harris then continued the good work and beat Castle and Kippen gaining another 6 ends. Overall we won with 13 ends and 27 shots up! Drymen were 2nd and Balfron 3rd, each with 11 ends. 10 clubs were represented - the only one missing was Forest Hills.
This trophy was presented to mark the centenary of the RCCC by one of the most influential members in the history of Strathendrick C.C., the Rev. Dr Alexander Gordon Mitchell. He was made Chaplain to the club in 1898 when he became minister at Killearn Church, and Sec/Treasurer from 1899 - 1938. Nearly 40 years! He was also chaplain to the F.& E. Province AND the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. Dr Mitchell was a well known raconteur, enjoyed a few drams, was a very keen curler and even wrote poems and curling songs: altogether, a great 'character' of his time. ( Don't know when he had time to write his sermons!)"
This took place on 19 March. Our team of Norman Robertson, Steve Holden, Bob Glass and Di Jackson beat Heart of the Highlands from Perthshire by 7 points to 6.
Fiona has been playing in Annette MacDonald's team again and they nearly repeated their win of last year in the National Masters Championship at Greenacres. They lost in the final by 6 shots to 8.
Fiona Hawker (formerly Barrowman), who was a junior member of the Club and now lives in England, is the skip of the current English Ladies champions and is due to play in division B at the European Championships in Sweden next December. The following is a quote from John Brown's blog about English Curling: "It was Fiona’s fourth Championship victory, her first having been back in 2000 when she played with Joan Reed, while she also won it in 2002 (with Sarah Johnston) and then again last year as skip in her own right. In 2002 she was successful in getting a large sponsorship deal from Twinings Tea which helped them gain promotion to the European A Group at the Europeans in Grindelwald and then in 2003, when the same team had been unchallenged in the English Championships, she was thrown into skipping in that A Group when Sarah had to stay at home when she fell ill. A baptism of fire indeed. Again in 2004 she represented England in Sofia when there were no other English challengers." For full details see Toothy's Curling Blog.
This took place on 8 March. The match was won by Club 90 who won 2 matches by 10 shots to 3 and 14 shots to 1 and lost the third by 4 shots to 8. The match and lunch was much enjoyed by the participants. For the record, the teams were: Rita Harris, Carol Hill, Rita Hallam and Norma Thornton. Pat Roger, Elspeth Murdoch, Marion Richardson and Gail Pain. Rita Barth, Helen Loudon, Norma Mitchell and Angela Higginson. The opposition included two of our own members, namely Sheila Sturrock and Gillian Kingslake.
Mike Jackson was joint winner of the individual competition which took place at Braehead on 5 February. He scored 31 points and received the club's Points Trophy. Strathendrick also won the Trophy for the two highest scores. Donnie MacDonald and Allan Watson both scored 27 giving a total with Mike's score of 58.
This match took place on 3 February. The Strathendrick teams beat both Fintry and Balfron for a clear win. For the record, the teams were: John Phillips, Bob Glass, Di Jackson and Walter Macgowan against Fintry (with Gavin Scott skipping). Mike Jackson, Fiona Glass, Maurice Rennie and George Harris against Balfron.
This took place on 25 January. The match was won by Strathendrick Ladies who won the 2 matches by 10 shots to 4 and 10 shots to 3. The match and lunch was much enjoyed by the participants. For the record, the teams were: Fiona Glass, Helen Loudon, Gill Smith and Elspeth Murdoch. Rita Barth, Jean Anderson, Rita Mearns and Alison Robinson.
This took place on 17 November. The match was won by WSL who won the 2 matches by 10 shots to 7 and 8 shots to 5. It was a pity we played the 8th end as at 7 ends, Strathendrick were leading 7 shots to 4 and 5 shots to 4! The match and lunch was much enjoyed by the participants. For the record, the teams were: Pat Rodger, Rita Harris, Gill Smith and Marion Richardson Jenny Knox, Jean Anderson, Norma Mitchell and Gail Pain. The opposition included some of our own members, namely, Fiona Glass, Elspeth Murdoch and Rosemary Miller.
Three of our honorary members have died recently.
John MacGowan, who was a long-standing member of the club, died on 1 November 2011. His family have been curling for many years. His funeral was attended by many members of the Club.
David Clark died on 2 November 2011. With his wife Jean, he owned the Drumore Curling Pond. Both were enthusiastic for the Club to use the pond and have been active in arranging for the hut to be repaired and the pond cleared out.
Bill Sinclair died in January 2012. He helped the club with printing various items including the 150th anniversary booklet.
The tri-annual bonspiel between Strathendrick, St Andrews, Falkland, Bridge of Weir and Haddington took place on 30 October 2011 at Murrayfield Curling Rink. Unfortunately, Strathendrick did not do well and lost all their matches to finish up bottom. The winners were Bridge of Weir.
For the record the Strathendrick players were: Bob Glass, Walter Macgowan, Allan Watson and George Harris; Fiona Glass, Sheila Sturrock, Helen Watson and Gill Smith; Donnie MacDonald, John Anderson, Gillian Kingslake; Mike Jackson, Betty Meikle, Jean Anderson and Richard Kingslake.
The Texas Scramble took place on 2 September 2011 at Buchanan Castle Golf Club. The golf was well supported and but unfortunately the weather was rather wet. The golf was followed by an excellent meal in the dining room and a general knowledge quiz.
The winning golf team was John Anderson, Jim Meikle Eddie Redman and Rita Harris who accumulated a total of 50 points. Second was the team of Phillip Pain, Jean Anderson, Allan Watson and Matt Gingles.
The quiz was won by Donnie MacDonald, Diana Jackson, David Hale, Rosalind Macgowan and Gillian Kingslake who scored 20 points out of 20.
The Club members were shocked to hear of the death of Marshall on 1 July after a brief illness. Many members of the Club attended his funeral at Clydebank Crematorium.
The 165th AGM was held on Thursday 14 April 2011 at the Reception Suite of Glengoyne Distillery. Drinks were served from 7.30 p.m. after which the meeting and prizegiving took place, followed by tea, coffee and shortbread.
George Harris has replaced Mike Jackson as president, Fiona Glass has replaced Stan Moore as secretary and John Phillips was seconded after the meeting to replace Fiona Glass as Province Match Secretary.
The results of the main competitions can be found at Archive. Both the main Club and the Ladies Section had awards for the Curler of the Year which went to George Harris and Betty Meikle respectively.