Tea Tickets on sale at Morning Service at Stenton and Prestonkirk. Also at Anderson’s and East Linton Post Office.
Contributions to all of the below very welcome!
Tombola – Winifred Govan and Dorothy Kerr
Lucky Bottle Stall – Jill Wareham (Screw-topped wine bottles – full & empty!)
Cake and Candy – Susan Kinnaird, Kirstine McKenzie, Eleanor Miller
Teas – Libby Jeffrey, Val Fisher
Special thanks to Ailsa Maguire, winner of our poster design competition, and to runner-up, Mhairi MacDon
The Congregation have now elected the Rev David Scott to be the new minister of the Parish.
In church terms the next part of the process is for members of the congregation to sign a “call” to Mr Scott inviting him to take up this post.
This document will be available at Stenton Church on the next two Sundays and on Tuesdays 22nd and 29th June between 6.30 and 7.00pm.
If you are not a church member you are also invited to be part of this process and you can sign a paper associating yourself with the call.
Please contact Bill Stevenson if you would like any other information.
Bill Stevenson
Tel: 07836 348999
Hi everyone
It has been suggested that the community might like to club together to give Heather a leaving present for all her contribution to the school and all the children she has taught over the last 20 odd years.
Therefore, I will be collecting donations for her from the community. If you would like to donate some money towards her present, please can you hand it in to me by Wednesday 23 June.
Many thanks
Emma
Ailanthus
Stenton
Dear All,
As you will have read in Contact the search for a new Parish Minister is hopefully coming to a conclusion. .
This Sunday there will be a joint service at Prestonkirk Church at 11 am when the Rev David Scott will preach with a view to being appointed as the new minister. In church terms he is the “sole nominee” for the charge. After the service members of the congregation will be asked to vote on whether they wish to invite Mr Scott to be the minister or not.
All are very welcome, even if you are not a church member. If possible it would also be good to see some children from Stenton there.
Mr Scott is currently the minister at New Kilpatrick Church in Bearsden, which has one of the largest Church of Scotland congregations in the country. He is married with three grown up children.
If you would like any more details please contact Bill Stevenson.
Bill Stevenson
Tel: 07836 348999
Dear Parents and former pupils of Stenton Primary School
Heather Dillin who has been teaching at Stenton Primary School for 20 years is retiring this summer. (I must emphasise that she is not retiring age but is going to join her husband in retirement!!!)
A farewell picnic has been organised on the village green on June 25th from 12-30 to 4ish.
She does not want a formal send off but would love any of her former colleagues or pupils to come and say hello and goodbye in the passing! There is no official time and people can come and go as they please bringing their own picnic or a bottle or two!
I have been asked by the school to contact former pupils and staff members so that as many people as possible will know about the event. I have made contact with a number of people but since I am going away for a few days want to try to reach everyone.
We fully realise that many of her former pupils will be at work and unable to attend but parents would be welcomed with open arms!
Several members of staff are also leaving on that day so it will be quite a party.
Hope to see you there.
Best Wishes
Mary O’Mahony
New Schoolhouse
Stenton
01368850273
Email:pommom@omahony273.freeserve.co.uk
I will be away in Ireland for a few days so Emma or Janette will answer any queries.
We will be moving on with the Bughts decking project tomorrow at 11.00 am Sunday 13 June 2010
If you have a brush cutter/strimmer, cordless drill, sledgehammer or a saw you would be most welcome to join our work party to clear the area and to get the posts and first frame up for the decking area.
See you there
Kelvin
Stenton Bowling Club is justifiably proud of its achievements in recent years largely due to the voluntary work carried out by the committee and members. To enable us to continue to provide bowling facilities for the local community we must rely upon the continued support of all members.
We must strive to encourage new members to join the club.
We are always looking for ways to increase our finances possibly by encouraging members to take part in the clubs lottery “Lucky Numbers” and by attending all social evenings and activities.
Bowling for all the family!!!
Tel: 01368 850301
CONTACT NUMBERS
President: David Currie 01368 863068
Vice President: Iain MacDonald 01368 850665
Club Secretary: Sheena Currie 01620 822077
Treasurer: Andrew Mallen 01368 850205
Match Secretary: Mikey Duncan 07889524465
Well done to all involved (you know who you are) in putting on another very enjoyable Stenton Gala.
K C SCA
A wee reminder about Phil's very interesting talk and slide show tomorrow night in the Village Hall. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.
‘BETHLEHEM UNDER SIEGE’ - a talk illustrated with photographs and maps
Phil Lucas returned at the beginning of April from 3 months working as a volunteer in the Bethlehem area on a project sponsored by the World Council of Churches. The word ‘siege’ reflects the encirclement of Bethlehem by the Israeli 'separation barrier' and Israeli settlements built on land which is, according to International Law, Palestinian. Phil was a member of a small international team and worked closely with both Palestinian and Israeli organisations which seek to bring a peaceful end to the occupation and to create a situation in which Israelis and Palestinians (Jews, Moslems and Christians) can live together in harmony. He was involved in regular early-morning (from 4.30 am) monitoring of the Gilo checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, witnessed the break-up of peaceful demonstration by teargas and rubber-coated bullets and visited people shot by the army with live ammunition.
Wow - what a description. Phil, who lives at Woodray in Stenton, has offered to do a talk about his recent trip to Bethlehem. He is delighted to be doing a talk in his home village as the other talks so far have both been in the south of England, so he is really looking forward to doing one to his fellow villagers and neighbours.
The date is Friday 21 May at 7.30pm in the village hall. Although there is no charge for this, donations will be taken at the door for the charity he was working with in Bethlehem - EAPPI (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme Palestine and Israel)
Please let me know if you require any further information.
Kind regards
Emma
Thursday 20th May, 7.30pm, The Village Hall
An information leaflet will be distributed, door-to-door, in advance of this meeting
Hear the latest from the team and help shape the direction of the project
Members will be asked to vote on:
Observers welcome, but you must be a member to vote. Membership is open now and you will be able to join at the meeting. (Joining fee £1)
For more information contact the directors or project manager, Ettie Spencer. Call 850712. Email ettie@crossingtheline.org.uk
Photos from the very pleasant lunch held in the village hall on Saturday 8 May 2010 to bid Geoff & Laurie Underwood a fond farewell
Photos courtesy of Mrs D (aka Doreen Thomson)
Thanks to all who helped put together a memorable event and especially to Emma M who masterminded the whole thing.
K C SCA
We need your help!!
The Parish of Traprain Summer Party is on Saturday 14 August 2010 in Stenton Hall and on the Village Green. There will be cream teas, games, competitions and musical entertainment.
Could you draw a picture for us or design one on your computer? The winning entry will be used as the background to our posters and tickets.
Please hand in your picture to Bill Stevenson Tel 850395 or email your entry to him at wcfs@btinternet.com before 21st May.
Thanks to all who have replied to this and also for all the offers of help - much appreciated. Just a wee reminder to anyone who has not yet replied but who would like to attend, please can you let me know by Monday as we need to finalise catering arrangements.
Many thanks
Emma
A Village Lunch for Geoff & Laurie
As I'm sure you all know, long term Stenton residents Geoff & Laurie Underwood have decided to move to Fife to be closer to their family.
To say a fond farewell, the Community Association Committee thought it would would be nice to invite Geoff & Laurie back to the village for lunch with the community on Saturday 8 May 2010 at 12.30 in the Village Hall. All are welcome
In order to allow us to make appropriate catering arrangements, could you please let Emma Maguire know if you are able to come to the lunch by Wednesday 28 April 2010. Either hit reply to this message or give Emma a call on 850643.
We look forward to hearing from you and hope you can make it to say a proper goodbye to Geoff & Laurie.
Thanks
Please take a look at some correspondence between my neighbour Allen Whitehead and the Council regarding a solution to some of the worst effects of the continuing and arguably worsening flooding in the village. I expect we may see some more.
The louder we, as a community shout, the more likely the authorities will hear.
K C SCA
As I'm sure you all know, long term Stenton residents Geoff & Laurie Underwood have decided to move to Fife to be closer to their family.
To say a fond farewell, the Community Association Committee thought it would would be nice to invite Geoff & Laurie back to the village for lunch with the community on Saturday 8 May 2010 at 12.30 in the Village Hall. All are welcome.
In order to allow us to make appropriate catering arrangements, could you please let Emma Maguire know if you are able to come to the lunch by Wednesday 28 April 2010. Either hit reply to this message or give Emma a call on 850643.
We look forward to hearing from you and hope you can make it to say a proper goodbye to Geoff & Laurie.
Thanks
Kelvin C SCA
Stenton Singers, conducted by Lynda Jeffrey, are holding their Spring Concert in St Mary's Church in Haddington on Saturday 24th April at 7.30pm.
They will be joined by the East Lothian Players and the St Mary's Choristers. The organist will be John Anderson.
There will be a selection of choral and orchestral music and the main work is Schubert's Mass in G which is light and not too long!
Tickets priced £7 (concessions £6) are available at the door or by telephone on 01368 850273.Our charity this year is L'Arche
About L’Arche
In L’Arche people with and without learning disabilities share home life in ordinary houses, much like any family.
L’Arche, which was founded in France in 1964 by Canadian Jean Vanier recognises that people with learning disabilities have a valid place at the heart of society. There are now L’Arche homes in 36 countries. In Scotland there are L’Arche houses and flats in Inverness and Edinburgh. Plans are now afoot to set up another house in Edinburgh and to found a house in Kenya.
To help raise the required funds retired Edinburgh GP Gerry McPartlin is currently engaged in a challenge to climb all the Munros in less than four months; his aim is to contribute £50,000 to the cause. Stenton Singers are supporting his efforts. We would be very grateful for your support.
Hi everyone
Just a wee post to let you know that down the outside kitchen side of the village hall there is an exposed drain hole in the grass just about outside the kitchen window. It is covered with a wheelbarrow however please can you advise your children not to touch it or go near it as it is an exposed blocked drain and there are some unpleasant things down there which should be sorted out tomorrow!
The exposed drain is sizeable and is about 3 feet deep and would cause injury if anyone fell down it.
Thanks for your co-operation during this blocked drain saga. Also the gents toilets in the hall are out of use at the present time. Thanks
Emma
Hi All,
just a quick reminder that there will be family service for Palm Sunday at Stenton Church at 9.30 am. As this will be Howard’s last Sunday service at Stenton it would be great if there was a good attendance – young people particularly welcome.
There are a number a special services for Holy Week the evening services all start at 7.30pm (some times are wrong in the Contact magazine)
Monday Stenton
Tuesday Prestonkirk
Wednesday Stenton
Thursday Whittingehame
Good Friday Prestonkirk
On Easter Sunday we will be having a joint service at Prestonkirk at 11.00 am (no service at Stenton)
I do hope you will be able to come along to some of the services.
Regards
Bill Stevenson (wcfs@btinternet.com)
CARBON NEUTRAL STENTON now registered as a social enterprise limited company that is working towards Stenton becoming carbon neutral.
In order to ensure that everyone is kept as well informed as possible we have put together a short summary of what was presented at the recent public meeting, of where we are to date. This will be followed soon by a more in depth document.
We carried out a door to door survey asking if the community would support a drive towards lower carbon living.
Of the households visited (76.7%), 92% supported the project.
Already, over half the households in the village have had free energy audits and are receiving advice on grants and ways to reduce energy for heating and lighting. This is ongoing and people are still invited to request an audit.
From a sample of audits we have estimated that Stenton as a community has twice the UK average carbon footprint!
People felt that it is right to do something proactive towards improving the environment we are leaving for our children and grandchildren.
People are worried about household energy bills. We have no gas in the village and some of us have houses that are hard to heat.
To begin with we aim to set up our own village wind turbine so that we can put green electricity into the grid to offset what we use. This could generate a substantial income which the company will use to fund individual renewables, green heating sources for all etc. More ambitious ideas include a possible district heating scheme, fitting photovoltaic panels to roofs, help with insulation, maybe setting up an electric car pool.
Progress so far:
Having extensively researched options to finance a turbine, and we are pursuing several options.
The wind turbine would be about 50 metres high and we are looking at a number of different potential sites, At this stage the best site we have been offered in terms of wind and access to the grid, is on Ruchlaw West Mains land (see X on the map below).
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We will shortly be preparing a planning application and we are investigating grid access.
Planning officers are being predictably difficult at this stage. However, East Lothian councillors, MSPs and the government in general, are very keen for this type of community initiative to go ahead. The Scottish Government has set very ambitious targets for carbon reduction and this will only be achieved if the market is stimulated both locally and nationally. Stenton will have to be the test case that drives forward the need for a council policy on this very important issue, and already our project is expected to be a model that can be rolled out elsewhere.
We will therefore soon begin a programme of lobbying relevant politicians and will eventually include the media in the campaign. Stenton will in this way take a lead in this very important issue of communities taking initiatives.
Timing
After feasibility studies are done, the planning process completed, which includes a 12 week consultation process, we estimate we can have a turbine in place in one year. As soon as it is up we will have the money coming in to begin making the more ambitious changes and in a few years time we will all be able to reduce our overall power costs substantially, while addressing our exceptionally heavy usage and reduce our collective massive carbon footprint.
What happens next?
We will prepare an initial ‘pack’ to present to planners and will apply for permission to put up a ‘Met Mast’ on the proposed site, so that we can begin monitoring the wind. As soon as possible, and after visual information and other data is collated, we will present our planning application to the council. At this stage we will know what sort of task we have to tackle.
We need you to sign up as members of the company, which will require no obligations, but will give you voting rights at general meetings and include you in all the benefits of the project. We would also like volunteers to deliver leaflets and help keep everyone up to date with what’s going on. We need as many people as possible to have a free energy audit done and to help us prove that Stenton really means business in reducing our carbon output.
We need groups to be involved - already the school eco group is keen to get active.
The Website is soon to be activated and your input will be encouraged. We will be making all efforts to keep everyone up to date with developments and your ideas are needed!
For more information contact:
Ettie Spencer, Project Manager on 850 712 – The Old Post Office
Or any of the Directors: Nicky Hawkins 850 639, Derek McLean 850 367, Rodger Maguire 850 643 and Verity Sinclair 850 316
Coming soon. www.carbonneutralstenton.co.uk
The Saturday evening performance is 99% sold out although we may be able to squeeze in one or two more.
Tickets for the other nights (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) are still available, but going fast.
Please contact Janette on 01368 850665 to reserve tickets
Hi All
Thank you very much for all your support on Sunday. We hope you all enjoyed it. We had a great turn out, and we raised a massive £260 (all the money is going to sports relief).
That also includes the hula hoop money which was won by the Allan's and the Gillespie's. Well Done!!!
Also a big thank you to all the donations we had.
Thanks again.
Mhairi MacDonald and Katrina Maguire
During the service this Sunday we will be making a presentation to John Kinnaird to mark his long service as Session Clerk at Stenton and Depute Session Clerk at Traprain.
Next Sunday 28th March there will be a family service for Palm Sunday. This will also be Howard’s last Sunday morning service at Stenton Church before he retires so I hope as many people as possible will be able to come along, young people are particularly welcome!
Details of the Easter Services were circulated in the church newsletter Contact, please note that on Easter Sunday we will be having a joint service at Prestonkirk at 11.00.
If you need any more information please let me know
Bill Stevenson
Tel: 07836 348999
Hi All!
Just a reminder that tickets for the 2010 Stars In Their Eyes tickets are available now from Val Thomson 850735 and also from School, 850258 . Tickets are priced at £10ea which includes a glass of fizz and nibbles, all profits to go to Stenton Primary School Parents Group and will be used to buy much needed equipment for school. Its set to be a great night so get your now!!
Thanks so much for your continued support
Val Thomson, Chairman, Stenton Parent Support Group
Dear Friends of Stenton Primary School
Tickets are now available for Stenton's Stars In their Eyes which is to be held on Saturday 20th March, in the village hall at 7.30pm.
Tickets are £10 each and are available from Val Thomson (850735) or from Suzanne at the school (please note that this event is for over 18's only). Ticket price includes a glass of bubbly and nibbles.
This is the our main fundraiser this year so please come along and support your school. It's going to be a fantastic evening of top class entertainment so get your tickets quick!!!
Please give me a ring if you have any questions.
Thank you for your continued support.
Val Thomson
Chairman, Stenton School Parents Support Group
I wondered if anyone in the community could please help us. In the play we have two soldiers who require a toy gun each - rifle, machine gun, etc. We haven't been able to locate any so far.
If you can help. please contact, Barbara
01368 850 243, barbara.wyllie@ruchlawproduce.co.uk
We are having an Easter fun morning on Thursday 1st April.
If you have any old ribbons, craft materials or artificial flowers which we could use to decorate Easter bonnets please hand into school.
Many thanks
Sharon Humble
A PUBLIC INVITATION
For a variety of reasons and in common with many organisations membership of and support for the Bowling Club has declined in recent years.
For this reason we anticipate difficulties in the near future in remaining a viable bowling club and maintaining the facilities currently available for the community.
Therefore we are extending an invitation to all interested persons to join us at our 2010 Opening Day on Saturday 10th April at 2pm. to indicate your support and interest. Thank you.
STENTON SPORT RELIEF MILE
21 MARCH 2010 AT 11.30AM
STENTON VILLAGE GREEN
Old, young, small, tall any age welcome at all
Walk, run, hop or jog
(no bikes/skateboards/scooters allowed)
Bring your dog too
This is not a race, it is a village get together to complete a mile to
raise money for a good cause.
Donations welcome
Instead of sponsorship, we are asking for entry of £1 per child, £2 per adult, 50p per dog
WITH ALL PROCEEDS GOING TO SPORT RELIEF
If you require any further information, please contact either
Katrina Maguire (850643) or Mhairi MacDonald (850665)
Come on Stenton lend a hand, come and join our merry band
Looking forward to seeing you all on 21 March
Hi Everyone
Just a quick reminder that our soup lunch is on Friday 5th February 2010 at 12.45pm in the Village Hall. Entry £1.50 for adults and £1.00 for children.
There will also be Katrina and Isabel's home baking stall.
If you can't stay, we do takeaways.
Hope to see you all there
From
Katrina Maguire and Isabel Wilson-Beales
Hello
For our school fundraising scheme we have decided to put on a movie on a big screen in the village hall this Sunday afternoon. All the proceeds will be going to the school.
Sunday 7th February at 2pm
Stenton Village Hall
Aliens in the Attic (rated PG)
Very new film, just released on DVD today
£2.50 per adult and £2 per child (£8 for a family ticket of 2 adults and 2 children)
Pop corn and sweets for sale from our tuck shop in the hall. We will be having an interval where you can buy choc ices.
You can just come along and pay at the door. Everyone is welcome of all ages.
Hope to see you there.
Alistair Gillespie and Alex Cummings
(any questions you can phone Alistair’s Mum 850 657)
Hello,
We were wondering if you would like to come our lunch. You will get soup and a roll and there will be a cake stall. It will be at 12:45pm at Stenton village hall, on the 5th of February. Entry will be £1.50 per adult and £1.00 per child.
All the money we raise will go to Stenton Primary School to buy games and books
Hope to see you there,
From Katrina Maguire and Isabel Wilson-Beales.
We still have some tickets left for the Burns Supper if anyone is still considering it.
Please either contact Verity on 850316 or myself either by email or on 850643.
Emma
Stenton's picturesque Tron following a makeover by East Lothian's Groundforce Team!
Happy New Year to everyone.
Just to let you know that there is to be a slight change to the Handsel Games on Sunday.
Due to the weather conditions, we have decided to run some fun snow games for both children and adults instead of the round the village race and tug of war!
Mulled wine and bacon rolls will be available to buy. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible to help finish off the village festive activities.
Looking forward to seeing you at 11.30am on Sunday on the Village Green.
Emma
