47th CULTER BOYS' BRIGADE COMPANY
AFTER a nice two week break during the Christmas and New Year period, the Boys and Officers are now back in full-swing again. Indeed, this next year looks to be a very busy year for the BB lads. We shall be continuing to meet every Thursday evening until May for the usual Boys Brigade activities. The Bands will continue meeting every Monday and Wednesday evening especially over the contest season and we will be entering all the major and local contests this year, which includes Dumbarton, Belfast, Glasgow, Ayr and Dunoon. The Band has had a very busy winter learning new competition sets for the forthcoming piping season, which begins this month with the quartettes at St Machar Academy, Aberdeen.
A month ago, I received a very nice letter inviting the Boys and Officers to participate in the Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations in London, which obviously we were delighted and proud to have received, and accepted with pleasure. The long-weekend plans are still in the early stages; however please check the local press for updates.
We held an Officers meeting three weeks ago, when one of the main topics was the organising of the annual Summer Camp held during the first two weeks of July. This year we have decided to keep most of the activities we used at last year's camp as the boys thoroughly enjoyed them all, although we have made one or two small changes to the activity plan. We also have organised a very special activity never seen before at the BB Camp kindly donated by HJS Helicopters, Peterculter - more details of this available soon. The camp will begin on Friday 28th June, which is the Advance Weekend for Officers, Fathers, Old Boys and ex-BB members. The Boys arrive on Friday 5th July for their fun-packed week of activities. It's not too early to subscribe for attending the Camp at our fantastic Ballater site. Simply complete your details online www.47culterbb.com
This year saw us organising a full-colour, 12 leaf Boys' Brigade Calendar, which included various photographs of all three sections, pipe bands, summer camp and the Friends of the 47th. As well as a fundraiser, the calendar has helped raise the general profile of the organisation. The calendar also includes dates of all the pipe band's contests, summer camp and other special events within the 47th calendar. We sold just under 500 calendars, and I would like to thank everyone who purchased one and in particular to all the local shops and businesses who kindly helped to sell them and sponsor them.
Other pieces of merchandise are still available including Fleeces, Umbrellas, Pens and Mouse Mats. Again please check our website for further details.
The Company will soon be beginning another recruitment drive to encourage more village boys to join the 47th. We are seeing many new boys joining every week through their friends being involved and enjoying our activities, however, we still feel there are families, perhaps new to the area who are not aware of what is on offer for the youth of the village - please spread the word after reading this!
We have a few fundraisers planned over the next couple of months, however not yet confirmed so please check the local press and village advertisements for full details on how you can support us.
Finally, I would like to finish with a reminder of the section's meeting times. All three sections meet on a Thursday Night at Culter School - Anchor Boys 6.30pm-7.30pm, Junior Section 6.30pm-8.00pm and Company Section 7.15pm-9.30pm. Please feel free to contact me for further details.
Best Wishes
Mike Findlay (Company Captain)
47TH/CD PIPEBAND
This is a plea to any one who may still have parts or all of their piping outfits but no longer play for the band. We are having a Uniform check soon as several of the young members have out-grown their existing Uniform and we have a shortage of several items.
If during your "Spring cleaning" you find any thing, it can be handed in to Neil Selbie's Shop,
Thankyou