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In
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In The News - October 2008 |
First of all, here is some news from the honours lists that was not reported at the end of the summer holidays. David Munro (58-68), president of the Kinross-shire Civic Trust, was awarded an MBE for services to the environment and to the community of Perth and Kinross. Robin Blair (45-48), formerly Lord Lyon King of Arms, was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order with a CVO; such appointments are personal gifts from the sovereign. Lastly, it was announced in The London Gazette that John Jeffcoat (95-00) of the Royal Gurkha Rifles was mentioned in despatches in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Afghanistan.
While on military awards, it was reported in The Times that Lieutenant General Robert Baxter (65-71) has been made Master of Signals with effect from October 1st. He was 'dined in' the following day in the presence of Signals' Colonel-in-Chief, HRH The Princess Royal. The Master of Signals is the most senior appointment in the Royal Corps of Signals and Robert is the senior serving military Academical.
On the legal front, Robert's contemporary, Colin Sutherland (67-71), Lord Carloway, took part in a open evening at Parliament House in September, part of a recruitment exercise for trainee depute clerks. "A clerk needs patience, confidence and a capacity to solve problems," he is quoted as saying in The Scotsman, "… and a sense of humour — preferably close to the judge's own."
With the credit crunch hitting hard, we might expect many Academicals in commerce to be in the news. One such is Keith Miller (54-58), but the news, in The Scotsman, is only that the group has decided to end its practice of publishing interim profit figures. This fuelled concerns that this move was in order to conceal poor performance but that was denied by the company and doubted by analysts. Keith was later (October 4th) the subject of a Scotsman business profile, saying that he 'is considered by his peers to have been both shrewd and lucky in his career'. At the same time, the Alliance Trust magazine, Investor, announces the appointment of George Renouf (68-81) as an investment strategist. George previously worked for Cornelian Asset Management.
To health, and Ben Brown (88-92) of the Excel Sports Academy featured in a report in The Scotsman on a plan to tackle childhood obesity by running an American-style 'fat camp'. The course ran in the October half-term week and aimed to 'change habits in the long term, with parents invited to take part in the last session of each day so lessons could be taken home.'
On the other side of the coin, the Scotsman Magazine at the end of September saw David Ramsden (59-70) as a nominee for restaurateur in the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland awards. As reported here two months ago, David, who ran Rogue and Fitz(henry), is now managing The Dogs in Hanover Street. And it was reported in this News Sheet three weeks ago that Peter Gregson (91-04) has been nominated for a Spirit of Scotland award for music. This is the final week for you to cast a vote if you wish to support either of these Accies — voting instructions are given in the New Sheet of 14th October.
Overseas, and Balfour Ross (44-50) has featured in the magazine Expat, published by MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home). In a question-and-answer interview, Balfour, who has lived most of his life in Australia, was asked what he missed most about your home country, to which he answered, "Nothing much in Australia but we do miss our relatives on Thursday Island, which was our home and favourite place." He and his wife, June, now live in Kuala Terengganu.
Lastly to sport and before the rugby we have news, reported in the Inverness Courier, that Academical David Paterson (60-64) has won his first golf cap for Scotland. David is a member of the Scottish Blind Golf Society and was a member of the team that played and beat England for the Auld Enemies Cup. A former member of the Edinburgh Accies, who also played tennis, cricket and squash, David said, "the Scottish Blind Golf Society has given me a whole new opportunity."
Under the headline 'Blair's back at No. 10', The Scotsman reported that David Blair (90-03) was playing stand-off for Edinburgh alongside his brother Mike (86-99) at scrum half. "He is four years older than me," said David, "and I have learned a lot from him." On the amateur scene, Donald Snodgrass (91-98) was reported in The Evening News as having captained Haddington in their match against Gala in September. The article continued, 'However, his return was not enough to prevent the Scarlets suffering their first defeat of the season.'
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