10^th Community Arts Exhibition

The 10^th Annual Community Arts Exhibition held over 27 and 28 October proved once again how popular this event is for local artists to showcase their work and for the local community to enjoy this breadth of talent whilst socialising with friends.

There were over 150 entries covering skills as diverse as painting, embroidery, pottery and photography as well as some more unusual entries in glass, giclée, hand-painted silk and melt art. Commission on the sales of entries and tearoom tickets resulted in over £2000 being raised for the ongoing restoration work of the church buildings.

The guest judge for the exhibition was Theresa Talbot from the BBC Beechgrove Garden and Potting Shed programmes who complimented all the exhibitors on the quality of their entries before announcing her choice for The Bill MacKinnon Award for the best exhibit as a hand-painted silk by first-time entrant Lilias Conroy. The Edward Marle Award, for the most promising Arts Centre student, chosen by Ted Marle, was awarded to Karin Hecht for her oil painting Midnight Iris. The exhibition was then formally opened in a witty and entertaining way by the Depute Provost Pam Clearie.

The final award, for the Most Popular Exhibit, was chosen by visitors’ votes at the end of the 2-day exhibition and was also awarded to a new entrant, Maire Colston, for her painting of Winter Dawn (East Kilbride).

EKO MAGAZINE DEADLINE ARRANGEMENTS: This is to clarify the arrangements for editing and producing the EKO Magazine. The system works well and most of the contributions are received during the week prior to the deadline and are sent by e-mail; this is very helpful and the editor would be grateful to anyone who can follow this procedure, the rule is ‘the earlier the better.’

The final editing and layout of the magazine cannot be completed until the last item is received so in practice the Sunday deadline means after the service. This allows time for the magazine to be finalized and a master produced in time for printing to start early on Monday (printing can take up to 7 hours).

The reason for the tight schedule is to avoid printing on the Tuesday when the office is open and Wednesday does not allow time for repair should a breakdown of the printing machine occur (Folding and collation takes place at Thursday Coffee). Thanks to everyone for cooperation in the past. .

ELECTRONIC COPIES OF THE EKO MAGAZINE: Every now and again there are requests to continue delivery of the EKO magazine to members who have moved away but who still want to keep in touch with our church, its work and the congregation. These members, their friends, or in some cases, the church, have borne the cost of postage, which as we all know, has recently increased. Given that more and more people have email addresses these days, we thought we would offer to send the EKO out by e-mail where appropriate. If you would like to receive an emailed copy of the EKO magazine, or would like a friend to receive one, please contact Christine Bayfield at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  .

Note: this service is also available to members who are current members of the congregation and live locally but who would prefer to receive the EKO by electronic mail.

A GREETING FROM THE PUBLICATIONS GROUP

The EKO Magazine Publications Committee would like to wish all our readers a ‘Happy New Year’ and all the best throughout 2013.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the team of dedicated volunteers who make it possible to get the EKO out to you each month, the editing and printing team; the Thursday Coffee team of assemblers and the monthly distributors who deliver your magazine. Once again many thanks and very best wishes to all

Christine Bayfield, Publications convenor.

Burns Supper 2013

This ever popular annual Burns Supper was once again a resounding success when a large company of congregation and friends celebrated the 254^th anniversary of the birth of our National Bard in the Glebe Street Hall on Saturday 19 January.

From the piping in of the haggis by Alistair Robertson, right through to the conclusion of the evening by the company joining in Auld Lang Syne, everyone enjoyed a most sociable evening of traditional fare, Scottish songs, recitations, witty toasts and humorous stories.

The occasion was in the capable hands of chairman Ronnie Niven, who in addition to delivering a superb Address to the Haggis, linked the evening together nicely with his amusing introductions of the different speakers. The Selkirk Grace was given by Alice Beaton, while the evening’s musical entertainment came from wonderful renditions of Burns songs by Elspeth Shearer, Christine Tweedie, and Colin and Richard Thomas. Once again a light-hearted contribution from Roger Lewis with his quirky rhymes and pawky stories proved very popular. Catering was provided as usual by McCallum’s who excelled in the preparation and service of the customary Burns Supper meal.

The principal toast, the Immortal Memory, was given by the evening’s guest speaker, Ian H Miller, a retired minister and good friend of our own minister. This toast skilfully combined a deep appreciation of Burns’ life, songs and poetry with a great selection of most amusing reflections and anecdotes from the speakers own ministry and experiences with people. 

The toast to The Lassies and the Reply came from the husband and wife team of Tom Moan and Anne Paton. This proved to be extremely entertaining with Tom describing men’s bafflement at many of women’s sayings and expressions while Anne took the opportunity to reflect on some of men’s curious responses to domestic responsibilities. Both used Burns’ quotations and light-hearted examples in support of their position all of which provided great amusement to the company.       

This first-class celebration of the life of Robert Burns was brought to its conclusion with a comprehensive vote of thanks from the indomitable Angus McConnell.

Many thanks are also due to the members of the Kirk Life team for all their hard work in organising this most successful event.

CHURCH CALENDAR, MAY 2013

Sunday 5th May Morning Service (Sheena Bell) 11.00 a.m.

Sunday 12th May Morning Service (Rev. Stewart Smith) 11.00 a.m.

Wednesday 15th May Kirk Session 7.30 p.m.

Sunday 19th May Morning Service (Ian Douglas) 11.00 a.m.

Sunday 26th May Morning Service 11.00 a.m.

Sunday 2nd June Morning Service 11.00 a.m.

Sunday 9th June Morning Service 11.00

CHURCH MATTERS ANNUAL STATED MEETING

The Annual Stated Meeting was held after the service on Sunday 28th April. During her short introduction, the Minister assured the congregation that, while times are hard for so many churches across Scotland, our Church is thankfully not in decline, but stable in terms of membership and finances. The Financial Accounts for 2012 were then presented by the Treasurer. The Session Clerk invited questions and responded to two that had been submitted prior to the meeting. As the meeting drew to a close, Angus McConnell led a vote of thanks to the Minister for her hard work over the last year.

Allan Cowan, Session Clerk

Coalburn Silver Band go ‘Top of the Pops’ 

Coalburn Silver Band plan to take their spring audiences on a musical journey through the ages as they present their ‘Top of The Pops’ concert.

The concert will feature popular music from the long running BBC show, and promises to give the audience a real treat this May.

The concert will feature the award winning Silver Band and 2012 youth championship band, Coalburn Bronze Band as well as the wonderful voices on Kirsty Coulter and Ross Mclean, a real musical extravaganza.

The concert will be on Friday 24^th May, 7.30p.m. at East Kilbride Old Parish Church, Montgommery Street, The Village, East Kilbride. Doors open at 7p.m. admission is on the door and is £6 for adults and £3 for children.

For more information on the Coalburn bands please visit our website at www.coalburnsilverband.co.uk

FAIRTRADE. Readers of the EK News will have learnt that South Lanarkshire has gained Fairtrade Zone status, which is a great step forward on Scotland's progress towards becoming a Fairtrade country. (Wales has already reached that status).  Our own commitment in the Church to Fairtrade is part of that bigger picture. So, well done, all the helpers each month who staff the stall in the hall (sounds poetic!), and well done all who are regular customers.

There is also a town Steering Group who are helping to keep the Fairtrade cause in the public eye. The Group is quite small and could do with some new helpers. Is there anyone from the congregation who would be willing to join that quite small Steering Group and help this vital work to continue?  For more information, contact Stewart Smith on 226718.