District 1230/5360 2016 Rotary Friendship Exchange
Posted by David Wartman
Our exchange was completed almost two weeks ago, but the unanimous view of the District 5360 participants was that the exchange was an unqualified success. Obviously, a successful event of this sort takes a significant organisational effort, and it was clear from the first day that the District 1230 committee spent significant time, effort and thought in developing the four separate components of the visit. Each was unique in the combination of learning activities related to Scottish history and geography combined with a blend of free time to enable the District 5360 participants to customise the experience to meet our own needs and interests – ranging from hiking to ancestral searches.
Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of such a visit is the matching of hosts and visitors, and conversations with the members of the District 5360 team confirmed that each of us felt well-matched with our four hosts and that those matches truly magnified the positive impact of the experience. Each one of our hosts was different, but shared the common bond of Rotary; and each of us developed special relationships with those hosts – relationships that hopefully will last long past the end of the visit.
Day one of our exchange saw us have the opportunity to tour the Burns Club in Irvine with a special introduction to Robbie Burns prior to meeting our first hosts. Our first host club was The Rotary Club of Girvan Ayrshire, and when in Girvan, one of the highlights was the visit to Culzean Castle and gardens, where our garden tour was led by the Head Gardener and offered an interesting perspective on the beauty surrounding the castle. Some of us also took the time to visit Ayr and the Burns House and Museum; while others took a beach walk around the Turnberry Trump golf course.
Our time in Fort William included trips to a wide variety of communities and historic sites in addition to climbing the Devil’s Staircase, a walk along Neptune’s Staircase and a tour of the Ben Nevis distillery. What made this tour even more informative was that it came with a running commentary provided by Club member John Hutchison who demonstrated an encyclopaedic knowledge of the area.
In Helensburgh, we were welcomed by the Provost (Mayor) and had the opportunity to tour the new civic office buildings. We also visited Hill House designed by Scottish Architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and to take a boat tour of Loch Lomond. In addition, during our stay in Helensburgh, a number of us took the opportunity to take a day trip to Edinburgh to attend the Fringe Festival where we attended a variety of events, many of which (thankfully) had been selected from the 156 page program for August 9th by organizer Ian Dickson (thanks for making that task somewhat more manageable Ian!).
Our time in Kilmarnock included two spectacular historic visits to Dumfries House – a restoration project led by Prince Charles; and a special tour of Dean Castle – both quite incredible experiences. The Dean House tour was made particularly special by the welcome provided by Councillor Eoghann McColl of the East Ayrshire Council and William Stafford Deputy Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran. Councillor McColl also presented us with a numbered copy of the Kilmarnock Edition of “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” by Robert Burns.
Another critical component of the visit was related to the group social activities that were arranged by the four host clubs. These activities ranged from a Burns Dinner in Girvan complete with an introduction to haggis, neeps and tatties; to the ceilidh that completed our dinner in Fort William to the club barbeques in Helensburgh and Kilmarnock.
In summary, it is safe to say that each of the District 5360 participants had an enjoyable experience and each felt some sadness in leaving our new friends behind. I believe I can also say on behalf of our group that we would happily encourage Rotary colleagues to take the opportunity to participate in the RFE experience.
David Wartman
Calgary Chinook