Friday 3rd February was the date of this year’s Annual Whist Drive in the Village Hall, which marked the culmination of the annual Appeal for Cancer Research. Once again, the village folk came up trumps and the magnificent sum of £6,442 was raised.
There were 35 tables of whist and the hall was the usual buzz of concentration, the clatter of chairs as people found the right way to move between games and the merry clinking of glasses and tea cups when the playing was all over. This year we decided to reduce the number of hands to 20 instead of the usual 24 and it was generally agreed that this was a good idea. The rapid-fire drawing of the raffle, with Ricky Muir-Simpson in charge allowed us to finish the evening before everyone wilted!
It was lovely to see Cecelia Bishop, Dr Railton Scott’s daughter, back in Kippen for the occasion and she concluded the whist evening with the vote of thanks.
Ellen, our Minister, who was Chairman this year, did a wonderful job. With her running shoes on she sped round the hall delivering prizes to the lucky winners in the raffle, and ably entertained her invited guests to tea. She promises to come back next year and attempt the whist! Ellen kept us all on our toes at the Committee meetings and many a laugh was had.
As always, a very big thank you to the Collectors for all their hard work in pounding the streets selling raffle tickets. £3,694 was raised from the door to door collection, so very well done – we couldn’t do without you!
In writing this piece, I am struck by the exceptional generosity of this village. Since November last year, this small community has raised over £20,000 for charity, with the Erskine Concert in November, the Cancer Appeal in February and last weekend, the Concert for Syria. This is a wonderful achievement and shows what can be done when small communities pull together for the good of others. Well done Kippen.
Naomi Hirst
The Wee Vine 