Issue 17 email: Kathleen.allan332@btinternet.com Spring/Summer 2016

Sponsored by Mintlaw Gala Committee

Issue 20 email: jmwhyte@hotmail.com Winter 2017

FREE!

W hat constitutes a ‘hero,’ local or otherwise? There are many in our community, mostly unpaid but never unap-preciated, with the one thing in common - all go that ‘extra mile.’ However, when it comes a physical example

of one, none is more deserving of the title than Mintlaw lad Ewan Simpson, a police officer based in Fraserburgh As many of you may know, Ewan was the victim of a hit and run acci-dent one dark, cold night in late October 2015 and had it not been for the chance passing of two cancer-care nurses a short time later, his story might not have the outcome it has today. Ewan has fought to overcome his horrendous injuries, including am-putation, with humour, courage and determination, never losing hope that one day he would be back doing the job he loves, the job he literally always wanted to do - a beat bobby. At the time of going to press it looks as though this is one ambition Ewan will fulfil once more. Ewan, we salute you - a truly inspirational local hero.

Lola rattling her bucket for this year’s charity collection which raised £130 for Crisis at Christmas

CLAIK CONTACT DETAILS: Joan Whyte, 01771 622588

jmwhyte@hotmail.com

Kath Allan, 01771 622424

Kathleen.allan332@btinternet.com

Myra McCredie, 01771 622517 mccrediem@hotmail.com David Coull, 01771 623043 djcoull@gmail.com Closing date for next issue: 15 May

Doesn’t Christmas seem like a long, long time ago! However long ago it was, though, it’s never too late to say ‘thank you,’ so with that thought in mind the Christmas Lights team would like to accord a hearty vote of thanks to: Keith, Jonny and Dave for putting the lights

up and taking them down again. The ’ground’ crew - Colin, Graeme, David,

Alex and new recruit Ralph. The Davidson Family, Auchtydonald for the

beautiful tree. The Happy Plant Garden Centre, Sheena

in particular, for the new lights. The ‘catering crew’ - Kerry, June, Wilma, Sandra, Lorna and Anne. The choir from the ‘Mormon’ church - such

amazing voices! The Hall & Parks Trustees for use of the

Hall facilities. Myra McCredie for the hall decorations. Last, but by no means least, yourselves for

turning out and raising £130 for the ‘Crisis at Christmas’ charity.

Thank you!

OBITUARY It was with great sadness the Community Council learned of the untimely death of one of its members, Sheena Marshall. Sheena had been an enthusiastic member of the Council for a number of years, always interested in what was going on in the community and always with the best interests of the community at heart. She campaigned on its behalf on several issues, litter, potholes, road gritting etc to name but a few and her input and cheerful personality will be sorely missed. To Sheena’s family we extend our sincere condolences.

BALUSS PIG FARM UPDATE.............. At the time of going to press, Councillor Jim Ingram (right) is to be meeting with senior Council officers, including the Chief Executive Jim Savege, (left) on Monday 20 February in an attempt to bring about an amicable solution of ‘smells’ which have dominated the lives of local residents for some years now. The next Liaison Committee meeting will

be held in Mintlaw Academy on Monday 27 February at 7.00 pm. This is an open meeting which anyone can attend regardless of where in the village they live.

DAB Plus Driver Training is proud to be a partner in the new Scottish Government funded D1 Training for Trainers programme for the Community Transport Sector.

Dial-a-Community Bus and DAB Plus, have been working hard over the last twelve months along-side the Community Transport Association, an-other Edinburgh based Community Transport pro-vider, and the Scottish Government to create a programme to up-skill Community Transport op-erators and drivers throughout Scotland. We were proud to be named as one of the only two training providers in Scotland before Christmas. D1 training is imperative for any minibus driver who wishes to drive for hire or re-ward. DAB Plus are already providing this training across Grampian for a variety of cli-ents in the voluntary and commercial sector, but it looks like we’ll now be travelling the length and breadth of Scotland too!

Our planned First Aid CPC module should be ready for spring 2017. The first course is due to take place in March. This will be our first course to cross boundaries and be of

use to LGV drivers too. For more information, give DAB Plus a call on 01771 619191, or drop us an email at

training@dabplus.org.uk

Dial-a-Community Bus T4U transport Service

After recent changes to our driving staff enabling us to increase our services, Dial-a-Community Bus are pleased to announce that our ‘Transport for You’ or T4U Service is now able to take on new clients. T4U is a door-to-door service that operates in the Buchan area Monday to Friday providing trans-port to and from a variety of locations for clients. The T4U service can be utilised for transport to medical and other health related appointments, hospital visiting, education, employment, day cen-tres and many other areas. Just ask us! The drivers are fully trained to a high standard and go through additional training throughout the year. This ensures that the drivers are sensitive to the needs of the client and the client can enjoy a safe and comfortable journey. As we are a charity, we do have to charge for the service on a mileage basis, which allows us to cover the basic wear and tear on the vehicles and cover fuel costs. In addition to the buses covering the T4U service, the vehicles are also supplemented by a Volun-teer Driver Service. These drivers are fully in-sured and trained in MiDAS for Cars and provide transportation for individuals using their own vehi-cles. We understand that minibuses are not suit-able to the needs of all individuals. If you are interested in obtaining leaflets or addi-tional information on the T4U service, volunteer-ing or any of the other services that DACB run, please, contact the office on 01771 619191 or email Lynda.mcfarlane@dialabus.org.uk

Mintlaw Brownies are for girls aged 7-10 years old and we meet on a Monday night from 6pm-7.30pm. The Brownies do a variety of activities including crafts, games and badges. We recently completed a chocolate challenge badge which went down a storm with the girls!

We also have pack holidays at Fyvie Guide House along with other fun days/activities where we occasionally join up with other Brownie units or Mintlaw Rainbows/Guides. Mintlaw Rainbows meet on Monday nights and are for girls aged 5-7 years old. In Rainbows we do a range of activities from singing, craft work, playing games, book work and badge work. Sometimes we have sleepovers at Fyvie Guide House, we have days out to the cinema/Satrosphere etc and we also have joint fun days with other Rainbows from other units.

We are always looking out for new leaders and girls. If you are interested please get in touch via the Girlguiding website.

Mintlaw Guides cater for girls aged 10 - 14. They also do a wide range of activi-

ties - singing, craft work, playing games, baking and badgework. In the last year

they have had a day out to Aberdeen, jewellery making, a trip to Landmark, at-

tended the County Fun Day, County Camp and spent a weekend at Fyvie Guide

House.

If you or your daughter is interested in becoming a Guide or a Leader, please get in touch via the

Girlguiding website.

A great opportunity exists for someone to experience the outdoors, interact with others, gain confidence and reach their full potential.

You don’t have to be a young person yourself to get into the action; working alongside the leadership team in the local Scout Group, anyone can make a real impact to the lives of young

people. A Beaver Leader is required to ensure we offer the Scouting values from the ages of 6-14. Inter-ested? Then please get in touch. You can make such a difference.

CUBS Cubs are having great fun and the boys and girls are working on the Communica-tors badge and the World Challenge. It’s a great way to have fun, make friends, get outdoors, express your crea-tivity and experience the wider world. If you want to join the adventure then we have a few vacancies if you are 8 and feel like a challenge, you won’t be disappointed!

Scouts 2017 is set to see 1st Ugie Scouts growing to become one of the largest troops here in the north east. We have twenty very keen boy and girl Scouts turning up each Monday with big smiles and going home with even bigger ones. Over the next few weeks we are having a charity car wash at Macbi on the 5th March which we would love to see you at. We are also going to the Aberdeen Scouts Gang Show, which is a first for us, and finally, we are camping at Aden around Easter. I’d like to say a big thank-you to all who currently help out, and you want to get involved please get in con-tact. Martin GSL 07929569793

CAN YOU INSPIRE ?

Ist UGIE (MINTLAW) SCOUT GROUP NEEDS YOUR HELP !!!

Deer Parish Church The snowdrops are in flower and they remind us that spring is not far off. At Deer Parish Church we are planning to be very busy this spring with some new events. In March we are hosting in the Kemp Hall at Old Deer an exhibition of a knit-ted village. This is a complete village, crafted out of knitting, which has been made by the congregation of St Ninian’s Parish Church in Dunfermline, and already exhibited

by them at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. The exhibition will be open from Wednesday 29 March 2017 to Saturday 1 April 2017 from 10am to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm daily, and on Sunday 2 April 2017 from 2pm to 4pm. There will be refreshments and also a display of items knitted for various charities by Deer Parish Church Knitting Group. Do come and view this amazing craft work.

We are planning to set up a Mainly Music Group in Stuartfield Hall in April. Mainly Music is a fun activity for young families, for parents or carers to enjoy with their pre-school children. It was started in New Zealand in 1990 as a place of community and friendship where children can experience, in a safe environment, musical skills which develop motor skills, language, imagination, mathematical and pre-reading skills, whilst having fun and socialising. Mainly Music groups are run by volunteers from local churches – in this case Deer Parish Church – and the sessions are a place of spiritual nurture as well as education. *Deer Parish Church, in its work with young people, ob-serves and promotes the Church of Scotland Safeguarding Policy. Look out for our advance publicity in early spring.!

Our Messy Church continues for families to share the good news of Je-sus through Bible themed crafts and games, with storytelling and food. The dates for spring and early summer in 2017 are 14 March, 9 May and 13 June, all at the Kemp Hall, Old Deer from 3.30pm to 5.30pm. Please call Elizabeth on 01771 623370 to book a place for catering purposes.

Everyone is welcome at all of our events and to our worship. We worship on Sundays at 10.30am at our church in Old Deer, and we also have a Quiet Weekday service at 10am in the church at Old Deer on selected Thursday mornings. The dates for Quiet Weekday worship in spring and early summer of this year are 2 and 16 March, 6 and 20 April, 4 and 18 May and 1 and 15 June.

Easter this year falls on 16 April. We will be holding Holy Week services at Old Deer at 7pm on each evening from Monday 10 to Friday 14 April. On Easter Day we celebrate first at 7.30am in Aden Park, just below the church, and then at 10.30am in the church at Old Deer and at 6pm in the church at Fetterangus

C h u r c h N e w s

CENTRAL BUCHAN RHEUMATIC GROUP ........... meets every third Thursday of the month in Mintlaw Public Hall at 7.00 pm. The programme is really interesting and a warm invitation is extended to everyone, not only to rheumatic/arthritis sufferers, who would like to come along and join us. Programme 16 March Entertainment by singer Raymond Mack

20 April AGM followed by a talk on wine making by Wattie Gill

13 May Coffee Morning - 10.00 am - 12 noon. Usual stalls.

Adults £3, children 50p.

18 May Musical Evening featuring Liz and John Slaven, Longside

SNIPPETS The next Bus Forum meeting will be

held on Wednesday 22 March at 7.30 pm in room G1, Mintlaw Academy.

To report a faulty street light, pothole

etc go to Aberdeenshire Council’s web-site.

The next Community Council meeting

is on Thursday March 16 in Mintlaw Academy’s Conference Room.

The Community Council has a Face-

book page if you need to report any-thing or are concerned about anything in the community.

Some mindless acts of vandalism have

occurred in the community lately. Hopefully more parents are wondering where their children are of an evening - and what they’re doing.

Unfortunately there will be no gala as

such in 2017, but keep an eye out for the various fun events the committee has lined up throughout the summer.

and more SNIPPETS! Litter is one item which features regu-

larly at CC meetings - what do you think? Are there ‘litter hotspots?’

Get in touch either via the Claik or the CC website or FB page. The CC successfully applied for fund-

ing to provide seats around the village - they should be installed soon,

It was with dismay the CC learned of

the proposed closure of the local Clydesdale Bank branch. They have contacted the bank asking that the de-cision be reversed, but so far have not had as much as an acknowledgement of the letter!

A few complaints have been received

regarding odours from the fish factory in Station Road. How many of you are bothered by this?

Following several complaints about

the disappearance of the panoramic view from the Observatory in Drinnie’s Wood, the CC has been in touch with Scottish Woodlands to see if the trees can perhaps be trimmed back.

MINTLAW SENIOR CITIZENS CLUB

Celebrated its 44th birthday on 12TH

February 2017!

44 years of happy memories and many good friendships formed

From turkey to haggis the festive season is well and truly behind us, and now we are waiting to leap into spring! Wishful thinking - maybe after all the eating and drinking, more like leap-ing in to the Slimming Clubs! The photos below show some of our members enjoying our Christmas Party and Burns Sup-per, both at the BIBC. Both events were thoroughly enjoyed, with superb entertainment pro-vided by Montana and Stewart Whyte (Shindig fame) ensuring lots of fun and laughter. We finish up this year on 26

th April ‘17 with an open concert featuring Brandon McPhee,

Manson Grant & The Dynamos. A limited number of tickets will be available to non mem-bers and posters will be displayed locally when they are available. If you want further information about the club please contact Irene Ingram (Secretary) - 01771 622675.

THANK YOU FRIDAY SHOPPIE TEAM

£3557 RAISED IN 2016!

ONCE AGAIN A BIG THANK YOU GOES TO THE FRI-DAY SHOPPIE VOLUNTEERS FOR ANOTHER YEAR OF UNSTINTING

HARD WORK, ALL FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOCAL ORGANISATIONS, CHARITIES AND GOOD CAUSES. Mintlaw has been served well by the ‘Shoppie’ volunteers, the majority of whom are Senior Citizens with several 80+ year olds in the team, proving they are STILL a valuable asset to the community. The Shoppie will reach its 28

th birthday in April and during that time over £100k has

been raised, a record to be proud of indeed. We wish you all good health and many more years of continued success (and so say all of us!

The Claik)

M intlaw Community Burns Club sadly did not host a Burns Supper this year. The club has struggled over the past few years to attract enough

numbers to sustain Burns Supper nights and therefore had to make the hard decision to close. Since inception, the committee has en-sured that any profits from the events have been donated to clubs groups and organisa-tions in Mintlaw and the surrounding area. Over the past few years Mintlaw community Burns Supper Club has also instigated a Burns Po-etry Competition in the local primaries - Mintlaw and Pitfour - which has proved to be very suc-cessful. Committee member Malcolm Whyte was instrumental in organising external visiting judges to vet the budding poets and both they and the Club were amazed by both the high standard achieved and the enthusiasm for the competition. In drawing the club to a close, the Committee ensured all remaining funds were donated locally, to Girlguiding Mintlaw, Mintlaw Boys Club, Mintlaw Cubs and Scouts, Mintlaw Arthritis Care and Mintlaw Christmas Lights , and would like to thank everyone who has supported their efforts over the years. There have been lots of wonderful speakers, entertainment and even most wel-come donations of neeps and tatties, all of which combined to ensure a thoroughly enjoyable evening was always had by all!

The next issue of The Claik will cover May, June and July, and the closing date for arti-

cles, photographs etc is Monday May 15th.

In future all items for inclusion should be send to jmwhyte@hotmail.com please.

If you’re a member of a group or organisation, get in touch and tell us what you’ve been up to. If you know of any other ’local heroes’ get in touch and tell us about them so they

can receive the recognition they so richly deserve!

S c h o o L N e w s

First, from Mintlaw Primary

Primary 5

In terms 1 & 2 this year Primary 5 learned about ‘Animals’

and ‘Scottish Festivals.’

We were visited by Jackie from the SSPCA who taught us what to do if we find a sick animal and how to look after different kinds of pets.

We have also been doing Scottish country dancing with our student teacher, Miss Grant, and thanks to her the P5 pupils can now do the Canadian Barn Dance, the Gay Gordons and Orcadian Strip the Willow.

P5 have also started learning computer coding as part of our technologies les-sons. We are learning “Scratch” computer language and we will be using it to cre-ate our very own Pokémon games to play at school and at home!

We are also having regular visits from the Mintlaw Academy Science club super-vised by Mrs Gore whose pupils are doing workshops every week to teach the pupils about some basic principles such as dissolving, magnetism and static electricity. It has been hands on fun!

Primary 5 - Term 3

With a theme of ‘Harry Potter’ this term the pupils have been enjoying reading

‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ and doing lots of associated activi-

ties. Potion making, invisible ink secret message writing, the sorting hat, as well

as writing letters to Hogwarts, drawing Diagon Alley and designing our own magi-

cal characters have all been thoroughly enjoyed by the children. P5 have also

been joining in with the BBCs ‘Terrific Scientific’ investigations to find out if we

are non-tasters, tasters or supertasters as well as taking part in live lessons via

the internet with thousands of other children across the country. Our class As-

sembly and parents open afternoon will be on March 10th and the children will

have Hogwarts themed lessons all day that day.

Eco Group

After electing our new pupil group for 2016-17 we started by updating our school Eco Code and working on action plans for our three chosen topics this year: Litter, Water and En-ergy. This year is a green flag year so we have to work extra hard to get our third green flag. We have been receiving sup-port from lots of parents to help manage our willow structure, conduct a litter survey, maintain the barrel water garden and to help us with all our indoor activities including recycling and composting.

In term 3 the Eco group will continue to work on the Litter, Water and Energy top-

ics. We have conducted a litter survey to identify litter hot spots and locate our

bins accordingly, and taken part in the RSPB big schools bird watch, sending

our results to the RSPB so they can monitor different species populations. Plans

are afoot to join in the national litter picking event for Keep Scotland Beautiful in

March as well as the ‘Big Pedal’ in April when children will be encouraged to

walk, ride or skate or scoot to school instead of driving. Special thanks to Mrs

Barron, Mrs Summers and all the other parents who have volunteered their time

to work with the children in all three terms.

Coding Club

The eight members from P4-7 of Friday lunchtime Coding Club have been doing some pretty com-plex coding using scratch lan-guage to create a Ghost Buster game, an interactive Chat Bot character and are currently work-ing on a 2D Minecraft type adven-ture game.

We received a set of free Micro Bit processors from the BBC earlier in the term and we are planning to use them to start building our own mini computers in the New Year. We are all looking forward to using technology to create some inter-esting projects in 2017.

Watch this space for updates!

Micro Rugby Club

Primary 1-3 - Monday after school rugby training has moved indoors this term due to the poor weather and we are pleased to have 18 pupils taking part regularly. We are building on running, passing and tackling (non-contact) skills and having lots of fun. I am particularly happy to see a good number of P1 pupils taking up rugby for the first time. Many thanks to our parent helpers, too.

We are currently also planning a trip to Murrayfield to watch a 6 nations match in Spring 2017, see our national heroes in action and enjoy the terrific atmosphere.

At Mintlaw Primary Nursery we have been learning about Scotland. We learned about Doric poetry, Rabbie Burns, Scottish castles, the Loch Ness monster and we even had our very own marquee tent to practise our highland danc-ing skills!

We learned how to make broth and tasted

‘haggis, neeps and tatties’ on Burns Day.

PITFOUR PRIMARY SCHOOL

Primary 3 at Mintlaw Primary recently celebrated Burns’

Night. Pupils in the class entered the school Art competition

and participated in Poetry recitals with great success. We

baked shortbread for our class visitors and we even had a

rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne!

Pitfour School raised its Green Flag in December.

The school was awarded the Green Flag for its efforts to become more Eco friendly.

As a school, they went litter picking, raised money for Water Aid, planted a vegeta-

ble garden and maintained the flower beds, amongst many other activities.

Well done to the Eco group led by Mrs Fraser and Mrs McCredie - and to the whole

school.

Primary 1 entered the Burns Art Competition and Poetry Recital, using neeps, tatties, carrots and parsnips to print and then drew a ‘wee sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie’ us-ing charcoal. Well done to Caiden, Brooke, and Samuel who were the winners. Primary 1 also had to recite a Doric poem. Their poem was

‘The Aul Wifie fa Bade in a Beet’ by Charles Birnie. The

children were all fantastic as they had to recite the poem on

their own. It was very hard for our judge, Mrs Harrower, to

pick winners, but well done to Tianna, Emma and Caleb.

Primary 2/3 Burns Winners - poetry

Below 2/3drawing winners

P4/5 Winners - poetry

P4/5 drawing winners

Full list of winners: P1 poem Tianna, Emma and Caleb P1 Art Caiden, Samuel and Brooke P2/3 poem Pippa, Nathan and Leah P2/3 art Morgan, Melissa and Nathan P3/4 poem Miyah-Lee, Max a and Sophie P3/4 art Amy, Rebecca and Lotte P4/5 poem Jack, Aimee and Lexie P4/5 art Hanna, Katie and Aimee P5/6 poem Keeley, Cameron and Jessica P5/6 art Sean, McKenzie and Lucy P6/7 poem Aaron, Deecan and Erin P6/7 art Cara, Zoe-Ann and Hannah Scots Writing P6/7 Jessica, Harli, Kaitlyn and Paige

Friday January 27th was the date chosen by P5/6 to do their school Assembly, but since it was so close to Burns celebrations they opted to combine the two and hold a Burns Ceilidh.

The whole school from Nursery up-wards took part,

with the parents and friends from P5/6 coming along to join, justifying the huge amount of preparation.

The haggis, expertly carried by Andrew, was piped in by eight year old Josh Bruce from Peterhead, and was duly ‘addressed’ by several pupils. The Immortal memory was given by Nathan and ‘The Toast to the Lasses’ by Seth, whose sage words were acknowledged by nods from several Dads in the audience! ‘As a father, a man spends the first two years trying to get the girl to talk to him, then spends the rest of his life, trying to get her to be quiet!’

Retaliation came in the ‘Reply from the Lasses’ (Jessica and Laura.) ‘Now there are of course a lot of differences between you boys and us girls…the ability to multi task…a sense of style and glamour…personal hygiene !...and of course the most important one …you’re always wrong and we’re always right ! ‘

Arin gave a toast to Pitfour School outlining how everyone contributes to making a happy school, but her best thoughts were for the PSAs … ‘We are also very lucky at this school to have such brilliant PSAs. It is great to know that you will be there for us when we need you. Whether that’s if we’ve had a fall in the playground, need a bit of extra help in class or one of the countless roles you play in school. Just a word of warning though …if Manchester City lose at the weekend, be very careful around Mrs Stevenson! ‘

Lexi wrapped it up with a toast to the parents. ‘Our parents are the most important people in our lives they guide us through childhood with a few certain phrases We learn about anticipation…Just wait ‘til your father gets home! Logic…because I said so! Life in a war zone…That room of yours is an absolute bomb site! and of course we are taught about financial management …Do you think I’m made of money?’

In between the ‘Clatter,’ we had the ‘Sangs’….the Nursery got things going with ‘When I pit on my Jam-mies’ and ‘Three Craws;’ P1 sang ‘Katie Bairdie’ while P2/3 took us on an emotional trip to the ‘Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond.’ P3/4 asked Donald about his ‘Missing troosers’ accompanied by Mrs Buwert on the ukulele! P4/5 sang the old favourite ‘Coulter’s Candy’ and P6/7 finished up with a hilarious version of ‘The Rattlin Bog’ earning them a standing ovation!

We were fortunate to have Frances Lamb accompanying the groups on the piano and also Mrs Mcintosh on the violin. As a finale Mr McKeand (resplendent in full Highland dress) invited everyone to join in the traditional Auld Lang Syne followed by three cheers binging a very happy afternoon to a close. The parents who were there had a wonderful time …so much energy in the school …what a talented bunch of kids …best Burns’ Day I’ve ever been to. I heartily agree ….here’s to the next one!

Sangs and Clatter

at Pitfour

Mintlaw Academy Therapeutic Garden The staff and pupils at Mintlaw Academy are currently busy planning a therapeutic garden for the school grounds. Inspired by the roof garden at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and sensory garden at Aden Park, the garden will be a welcome additional resource for the school and community, func-tioning as a reflective space promoting positive mental health awareness, outdoor learning zone and conservation project for pupils and community groups. We also hope primary school children in the local area may find this space beneficial as an extra resource in learning about wildlife, eco

principles and mental health awareness. Both pupils and staff are keen for the garden to include an eco-shelter, an abundance of plants and flowers, a water feature, barbeque area and paths to walk around the garden, enjoying the calming environment and benefitting from our North-East fresh air. The Academy pupils will be involved in the construction and development of the garden – earning some invaluable skills and qualifications along the way and are excited to get started! Currently focussing on raising money and equipment for the project to help us get going, we are keen to hear from our local community and businesses for ideas and support. If you would like to be involved or hear more about the project please contact Mr D Coull or Mrs A McKeown at Mintlaw Academy, 01771 622994.

Getting it Right for Every Child in Mintlaw

On the afternoon of Wednesday 14th December from 12noon until 2pm, Mintlaw CSN Local GIRFEC group hosted a very successful community café at MACBI. This event was held to raise awareness of the work the Local GIRFEC group is doing in the community to ensure all partner agencies such as; Education, NHS, Social Work, Police Scotland, Community Learning and Development, Educational Psychology and many more, are working together to provide the young people of Mintlaw all the support the need, when they need it. Through funding support from Central Buchan Rotary Club and Mintlaw Academy Parent Teacher Association, Mintlaw Academy’s Happy Café Enterprise group (pictured right) were able to prepare and serve food for forty guests. Attendees included parents, local health professionals, primary and secondary teachers, local coun-cillors, social workers, psychologists and community learning and development staff from throughout the Mintlaw Cluster. The event involved group discussions, during which stakeholders

could articulate the issues they believe the group should be focus-

sing on for the coming year. Mintlaw Academy’s Happy Café

Enterprise group alongside

Shirley Hutchison, President of

Central Buchan Rotary Club.

Mintlaw Academy’s 35th Birthday Mintlaw Academy celebrated its 35th Birthday on Friday 9th De-cember. On the 9th December 1981 the front doors of Mintlaw Academy opened and the first set of pupils arrived at the school. The event was celebrated with a birthday cake for the staff at

break time and the candles where blown out by Mr Melrose, a

long serving member of staff, who retired at the end of term.

Science Club The Mintlaw Academy Science Club is a group of senior pupils who teach younger kids about science. The club has formed two groups – the S2 Master Classes and the Primary School classes. The Master Classes group have split into three groups; Biol-ogy, Chemistry and Physics. They have presented lessons to S2 classes hoping to inspire them to take a science when they choose their S3 subjects. The seniors in the Master Classes group have learned how to keep a class interested, plan a lesson and have gained confidence in their own knowledge of their chosen science. Their next goal is to teach different topics to the S2 classes. The Primary Classes group has divided into four groups,

each teaching a different experiment to the P5 class at Mint-

law Primary. The Primary Classes group had the goal of get-

ting more children interested in science. The seniors in this

group have learned how to work safely with children when

working on experiments, plan lessons and experiments, and

how to present to a class. The next step for the Primary

Classes group is to teach their experiments to the P5 pupils

at Longside Primary.

S6 Driving Ambition S6 pupils enjoyed a day organised by DAB

Advanced Driver training designed to help

them become better and safer drivers. They

attended workshops looking at driving haz-

ards, car maintenance, first aid and driving

skills.

The event was well received with the young-

sters involved stating that they had learned a

lot. A particular highlight was the chance for

them to experience driving with local driving

instructors who had volunteered their time.

Follow us on Twitter! A number of Faculties and Departments now have Twitter accounts, with news, photos and up-dates of the wide variety of activities and achievements of our pupils and staff. Mintlaw Academy @MintlawAcademy Developing Young Workforce @MintlawDYW Home Economics Department @MintlawHomeEc Music Department @MintlawMusic Science Faculty @MintlawSci Social Subjects Faculty @mintlawsocsub Support and Challenge @Mintlaw_SandC Technology Faculty @Mintlawtech

Charities Term 2 has been a busy term for the Charities group. In October, we worked with the charity ‘Show Racism the Red Card. For this we prepared assemblies to present to all the year groups in order to raise awareness of racism and how it can affect people in everyday life. To raise money, we had a day where pupils could wear red with their uniform and raised £142.67.

In November, we fundraised for the Poppy Appeal and Children in Need. We sold poppies around the school, and raised £143.34 and for Children in Need we held a dress down day, sold some wristbands and held a house quiz where we raised £580.17.

Leading up to Christmas, we were approached by a teacher and asked if we would fundraise for Guide Dogs for Blind. We held a raffle and a dress down day at the end of term where pupils were challenged to dress up which raised approximately £800, with half of the money going to the school fund and half going to Guide Dogs for the Blind. We are currently in the process of researching and planning our Red Nose Day event which

will be happening in March.

GALA UPDATE 2017 It’s been well reported that unfortunately there will be no Mintlaw Gala in June this year, and the reason why. However the Gala Committee is organising some community events which we hope you will support and enjoy. The first of these is a repeat of the successful Intoxicating Tea Party held last year in the Garret Lounge, This year’s will be on the afternoon of Sunday 30th April. Tickets will be on sale soon from the usual suspects! Later, on Sunday 11th June, tradition-ally the Gala weekend, we are planning to hold a Family Fun Day and Summer Fayre in the Hall; then for all you quiz aficionados, Wishart will host a quiz on Friday 1st September in the Garret. There may be more events in the pipeline - keep an eye on our Facebook group for more information.

The Gala Committee is delighted to announce we

will shortly be purchasing a Public Access Defibrillator for the vil-

lage thanks to fundraising efforts from last year’s Gala. We are hop-

ing to work alongside The Sandpiper Trust in ensuring we source

the most suitable equipment and have access to the relevant training

required. The Charity is shortly to launch a new campaign to save

more lives in Scotland known as Sandpiper

Wildcat and Mintlaw is one of the fifty loca-

tions chosen in the NE to have trained Car-

diac Responders. Look out for information in

the local Press soon on how to become a

Wildcat Cardiac Volunteer. We are sure you

will agree this is a very worthwhile piece of

lifesaving equipment for our village and we

thank you all for supporting Mintlaw Gala.

M intlaw Boys Club held its annual Player of the Year Disco at the Country Park Inn, Mintlaw, on 27

th of December 2016. A great

night was had by everyone and all players received a trophy and a treat for their efforts over the year. The club raised £1152.00

through the raffle and would like to congratulate all the winners. Most impor-tantly, though, is to thank all who donated and bought raffles. As a volunteer run club these gestures are greatly appreciated and much needed for the fu-ture of the club. The following players won awards in their age groups. P2 - 2010 Age Group Coaches Player of the year: Coen Gilmour Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Maisy Adam Player’s Player of the Year: Zak Rose P3 - 2009 Age Group Coaches player of the year: Max Konopski Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Cole Irvine Player’s Player of the Year: Angus Robbie P4 - 2008 Age Group Coaches player of the year: Kai Benson Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Blake Milton Player’s Player of the Year: Blair Findlay P5 - 2007 Age Group Coaches player of the year: Jack Findlay Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Callum Webster Player’s Player of the Year: Glen Russell P6 - 2006 Age Group Coaches player of the year: McKenzie Rose Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Ryan Leys Player’s Player of the Year: Logan Anderson

P7 - 2005 Age Group Coaches player of the year: Jack Cowie Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Kyle Chalmers Player’s Player of the Year: Keane Meldrum S1 - 2004 Age Group Coaches player of the year: Leon Park Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Ben Meredith Player’s Player of the Year: Josh Cruickshank S2 - 2003 Age Group Coaches player of the year: Marley Warrander Coaches Most Improved Player of the Year: Ross Chalmers Player’s Player of the Year: Rory Temple The club also awards three trophies annually - The Wallace, The Scroggie and The McGruther - to the player who shows the correct attitude towards the game, club, coaches and fellow players; a player who is a regular at the games and training; a player who abides by the golden rules used to raise the discipline bar at Mintlaw Boys Club. The respective trophies were awarded to: Wallace (P2-P3): Finlay Cumming Scroggie (P4-P5): Robbie Cumming McGruther (P6-P7): Diesel McQueen

This year the club introduced an additional award - The MK Shield. The criteria for this award requires the same standards as for the previous ones, but is for the S1-S2 teams. The shield is dedicated to Malcolm Whyte & Keith Elphinstone, both of whom have taken a step back recently although are still heavily involved with the club. The award is in appreciation of all the hard work, effort and their own precious time they have given up over the years to get the club where it is today, some-thing everyone at the club thanks them for greatly. The inaugural winners of the MK Shield are:

(S1-S2): Lee McDonald / Jamie Smith (Joint Winners)

Teams 2003 - 2004 - 2005 Teams 2006 - 2007 - 2008

Teams 2009 - 2010 - 2011

The intrepid Ramblers latest wee jaunts .............!

The winter has been kind to all of us, something we’ve enjoyed and appreciated but perhaps none

more so than the Ramblers. Here’s a brief summary of their enjoyable days out.

November 16th Cairnbulg – St Combs. Set off from Cairnbulg in view of the wreck of the ‘Sovereign’, famed as the subject on the poster for the film ‘The Life of Pi,’ to our next stop at the aptly named memorial ‘Lost at Sea,’ dedicated to the fishermen from In-verallochy and Cairnbulg who have been lost at sea. Onwards and upwards, as they say, along the old railway line to St Combs, following a brief, much appreciated, pit stop at Invercairn Golf Club!

Lunch at St Combs Community Cafe heralded the end of the short walk, with the long walkers continu-ing around Botany View, Boatlea, to the stone-built viewpoint erected by the owners of the Tufted Duck Hotel. From there we followed the coastal path back to St Combs where the long walkers also enjoyed a welcome lunch at the café.

November 30th – Fraserburgh – Christmas Dinner. A shorter but still enjoyable walk today, leaving from Fraserburgh Lighthouse Museum and walking along the harbour front to the beach. All aboard again for the short journey to the Ban-Car Hotel, Lonmay for a sumptuous Christmas lunch after this Doric grace:

We thank ye Lord for aa wir freens, for some they hinna mony We thank ye for the reef abeens, for some they hinna ony We thank ye for wir health, wir kin yir blessin and yir word

And for this halesome fare the day we thank ye Lord. - Amen December 14th – Cairngall Quarry—Longside. We started at Cairngall Quarry where some of Scot-land’s finest granite was mined in the 18th and 19th century; the sarcophagus containing the remains of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria was carved with granite from here! We continued along the Monyruy – Glendaveny road, crossing the Faichfield Burn, continuing along the Mains of Buthlaw road to the old railway line and a leisurely walk back to Longside village where we enjoyed a welcome plate of soup at

Longside Golf Club before returning to Mintlaw. January 25th – Bridge of Don to Footdee (Fittie) Our walk

today was around 3.5 miles to the village of Footdee at the en-

trance to Aberdeen Harbour, with the ‘short’ walkers being

dropped off near Pittodrie for their walk of around 1.5 miles. A

strong head wind along the esplanade made it quite hard go-

ing, necessitating a break in one of the beach shelters for a

welcome fly-cup! Onwards to Fittie where we rejoined the short

walkers near the Amusement Park. A walk around the old

‘Fishertown’ and ‘Fittie Kirk’,’ lunch in The Range café - an-

other memorable day out!

We are looking for new members, so if you are over 50 and interested in walking for whatever reason -

health, fitness, company, environment - then why not join the Mintlaw 50+ Walkers? We meet every

second Wednesday at 9.00 am at Mintlaw Academy, and offer two walks each time, averaging about 4

miles for the short walk and 7 for the long walk. The cost is £6 when travelling by bus or £4 when using

cars and there is an annual subscription of £20. If you want to give it a go just come along and join

us. Contact David on 01771 622124 or Sheila on 01771613677, or visit our FaceBook page for more

information.