Future Social Events
Tuesday 29th October: Halloween Pop Up 11.00 in the Hall.
The FVA’s Pop-Up Coffee Shop is back, this time with a Halloween theme. As ever, there will be a great choice of delicious home baking and (Trigger Warning for arachnophobes) the usual spidery, cobwebby, witchy decorations. Why not drop in for a spell? It could be a scream.
Sunday 10th November – Remembrance Sunday Service at the War Memorial.
Please gather at the war memorial at 10.50.
Fearnan Village Association will serve tea in the hall afterwards.
Saturday 14th December: Mulled Wine and Mince Pies.
The FVA will be serving Mulled Wine and Mince Pies in the Hall 16.00 – 18.00. Come and join friends and neighbours for a pre-Christmas drink. Points (but no prizes!) will be awarded for the best Christmas jumpers.
Past Events:
MacMillan Coffee Morning
Linda writes:
The annual MacMillan Coffee Morning, hosted by the Hall Committee, was held recently in the McLean Hall. Everyone who attended was very generous with their donations and enthusiastically tried competitions, bought raffle tickets and goods from the sales table.
We also had donations from non-attenders for this great cause raising a total of £480. The hampers which were kindly donated by the Kenmore Bakery and the Courtyard were won by Louise Carney and a visitor from Morenish.
Hazel Brockie was the winner of the Colin the Caterpillar cake by guessing almost exactly how many coffee cups were on a poster.
Our guests from Fearnan and beyond were very sociable and enjoyed making new acquaintances.
As ever, the Fearnan catering was of a high standard and there was a varied sales table. Thanks, too, to those who donated to the table.
Many thanks to all of our enthusiastic and generous guests and to the great team who contributed with setting up, baking, helping on the day and clearing up. Your efforts were much appreciated by all.
Fab Friday
Lesley writes:
On Friday 4th October, a very sociable, relaxed Games Afternoon was held in the hall.
This was a free community event linked to Age UK who were promoting fun events for older people across the UK in the first week of October.
Of course, there was a delicious home baked afternoon tea with opportunities to chat and interact with old and new friends.
Table Tennis, Indoor Curling, Quoits and board games were enthusiastically played, and expertise shared. Lesley and Frances would like to thank everyone who came along to take part and those who supported and helped in any way to make this event a success.
Quiz Night
Question:What’s the collective noun for a group of doughnuts?
Answer: A holiness, of course!
Yes, Quiz Night’s back!
Linda writes:
The Hall Committee’s second Quiz Night of 2024 was held on Saturday 5th October. The teams enthusiastically tried to respond to the challenging range of questions set by Elaine (see above).
One quizzer was heard to comment:” Where does she find these questions?”
The previous winning team of Judith, John, Pat and Alistair held on to the McLean Hall Quiz Night shield for another few months.
Our next quiz will be held in Spring 2025, so you have time to sharpen up your quizzing skills and perhaps your knowledge of collective nouns!
The money raised on the night, along with donations and the raffle, will be shared between the hall and the SCAA. Thanks to Elaine for her quiz setting and to everyone who helped, took part and generously donated.
Fearnan Book Club Review
Linda writes:
In September we reviewed Rose Nicholson by Andrew Greig, a contemporary Scottish writer. The author cleverly wove a fictional narrative through an interesting and dramatic period of Scottish history.
Many of the characters were real people who were prominent in the 1570’s, while the power struggle between Reformists and Roman Catholics was ongoing.
We liked the historical context but some of us found the politics and the references to various factions quite complex to follow through the intertwined plot.
One of the group who never reads historical fiction, was full of praise for the ‘carefully written book with a complicated plot’ and rated it as a first class piece of writing which was historically accurate.
The book follows the young student Will Fowler, of low birth but full of ambition, as he begins his studies at St. Andrew’s university. The character was well developed and grew on us as we read on. The other characters were considered believable.
A vivid picture was painted of life at the university at that time and also gave an insight into life in general in Scotland at various levels of society. The studies of philosophy, religion and literature were mainly conducted in Latin which we thought must have been very challenging. One of the group was interested to read the author’s ‘take’ on the university a hundred years after the centre of learning was moved from Dull. (Historical Note: Dull was an early centre for pagan learning and around the 7th century St Adomnan, the Abbot of Iona, founded a monastery at Dull, which became a centre for scholarship, a form of early university. Teaching began in St Andrews in 1413, and the university was formally constituted in 1413.)
The other main characters, the siblings Rose and Tom Nicholson (a fellow student) are from a poor fishing family. Rose, a beautiful, young fisherwoman, was intelligent, opinionated and educated beyond her social level mainly by her brother. She was restricted by her gender and class and spoke out about the injustices imposed on women by the church. She and Will are linked romantically and his passion for her is well written. We willed her to stop talking herself into trouble with her outspoken opinions.
As always in the group opinions differed. Some struggled with the complex politics and history but loved the characters. One felt it painted a sanitised picture of the time, too clean, too romanticised and needed to be rougher. For some, historical fiction was not their thing and didn’t read on. It meant a lot to one of the group who knew the area well and was familiar with the old houses which still cluster round the harbour. She commented that the 16th century college of the book was now St. Leonard’s School. The family of Auchterlonie, the golfer in the book, still feature in St. Andrews life.
Lots of old Scots words are used throughout the book but a helpful glossary is included. Most of us found that we didn’t need to refer to it and recalled the language of our grandparents.
We did learn that a bejant was a first-year student and how the academic red gown is worn, indicates which year the student is in. This tradition was introduced with the gown post Reformation. The gown is gradually lowered as the student progresses.
We agreed that the ending was pulled together well and was left open for Will to choose what to do next.
Our next book is something completely different, an autobiography by Malcolm Alexander – Close to Where the Heart Gives Out: A Year in the Life of an Orkney Doctor.
It is the unflinchingly honest and moving memoir of rural life in Orkney, from the only doctor on the island.
Fearnan Village Association 