Fund-raising dinner report

The Edinburgh International Gala fund-raising dinner went ahead on Saturday, September 18, in the Edinburgh Curling Club rooms at Murrayfield ice rink. Event organiser Ian Seath reported back on a successful evening with over £1000 raised towards running the event. In the absence of a headline sponsor for this year’s event, every penny helps, so a warm 'thank you' to all the curlers who attended the evening.

Chairman Trevor Dodds chaired the evening and started the fun off with a repeat of last year’s successful 'heads and tails' game. Money was cajoled from guests and put in an envelope; Trevor had another envelope with £100 in it and the game commenced! You either put your hands on your head (Heads) or on your ... you’re beginning to get the picture! A coin was tossed and if your luck was in you stayed standing for the next round. Believe it or not, but it only took four tosses of the coin before Fiona Hardie, a guest all the way from Dumfries, was the last person standing and thus won the money.

Dinner was preceded by the Curlers’ Grace, delivered by event treasurer Ian Seath. After a sumptuous dinner provided by Bill Fleetham and his team - how they fed over seventy people at once from the Murrayfield kitchen remains a source of wonder and bewilderment - Alan Bain entertained the guests with some ribald stories from his days as captain of Lasswade Rugby Club. Alan’s wife, Jenny is, of course, the Junior Vice President of the Ladies' Branch of the Royal Club. She shared the top table with Alan, Trevor and his wife Catherine.

The dinner gave Edinburgh curlers the chance to get a quick glimpse of the ice pad. The ice technician team, under the leadership of ice rink manager Iain Baxter, has been hard at work over the past fortnight laying the ice in a series of shallow floods. The surface looked good and the circles and other markings looked pristine.

Top pic - Alan Bain and Trevor Dodds, courtesy of Robin Copland