“Ooh,
What a night
Late
November, back in twenty twelve”
You
betcha. That’s the way uh-huh we’d like to remember the annual Glen Dinner
Dance if, in fact, we can remember it at all which is not something to take a
bet upon. Last Friday night a busload of dedicated Glen revellers sped along
the A82 to the Clansman Hotel where they sat down to a delightful repast,
according to choice, of :
Scotch Broth/Prawn/Chicken Pate
Beef/Chicken/Haddock;
Toffee Pudding/Pavlova/Dark Choc Truffle.
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As per usual the Wing Centre could not quite recall
what it was exactly that he had ordered. Doubtless that is a common problem
which could easily be solved by either remembering the said order or indeed
writing it down and keeping the piece of paper with the info in a safe place.
Yes, you can see the problem. A more original solution is to make sure you sit
reasonably close to the serving hatch where an eye can be kept on the various
serving persons as they leave the kitchen with their plates of scoff. If you
fancy say “the beef” as opposed to “the chicken” which you may or may not have
actually ordered, it is easy enough to say yes to the passing server who will
most likely shout out what is on the plate in the hope of an honest answer. The
veracity of the answer is, however, most unlikely to be checked and that way a
pleasant evening can be had while the anxiety of worrying about what you might
or might not have ordered is therefore removed- as are all feelings of guilt
because you may be assured that someone elsewhere will be doing the exact
reverse of what you are doing, Thus karma is restored and all is well with the
world- or then again perhaps not though, as a tactic, it ranks up at No 5 in
the Wing Centre’s samizdat self-help
publication “Social Skills for Young Shinty Players.”
All this is of course by way of digression for the
real business of the evening was the dishing out of the annual awards and this
quickly got underway-once the venue had been checked for the spy from the Skye
Camanachd website who appears to be able to infiltrate any shinty gathering
throughout the kingdom however remote. It is difficult however to winkle them
out because as the Wing Centre has stated in an earlier article, wherever you
go in the Glen or indeed the whole Highlands, there is a Skye person to be
found. They have intermarried with the natives and remain as “sleepers” within
the general population. Indeed the only group in the Glen that may be regarded as
Skye-free are those Mackenzies who hail from that part of Wester Ross which
stretches from Lochalsh to Lochbroom- and there are one or two in the Club. Why
so? The answer lies in the fact that their ancestors spent the greater part of
the Middle Ages extirpating Macleods from the western seaboard so successfully
that unless they had moved to Nova Scotia the only native Macleods are now
confined to Achiltilbuie and Assynt, where it is hoped they may stay.
As soon as the venue was declared, in as much as it
could be, free of the Sgiathanaich, the Chairman rose to his feet, commanded
the children to be quiet, and paid tribute to retiring Secretary Hazel Stewart
who was giving up the privilege of negotiating the Camanachd and other Associations
forthwith.
Also honoured were Jan and Alan Bell who after coaching the primary
youngsters in the hall, tennis court and field over many years, finally decided
to step aside and pass the caman on to a younger generation of coaches.
Young player of the year, for the second year
running was Fraser Heath. He has had an excellent season despite a nasty hand
injury earlier on. A member of the under 17 London Shield side at the end of
last season, he took his place in Ronald Ross’s under-17 squad for Ireland in
the summer, moving on to be picked for the under 21s in Ennis in October.
Fraser has had an excellent year in Glen colours and has turned out in defence,
midfield or attack as required
His performance in the MacAulay Cup final before a
nationwide TV audience won him the man of the match award despite several of the
goals scored by other players being clear candidates for goal of the season.
Senior team player of the year was David Smart. Dave
has had a simply excellent season. Week in week out he has put in the hard graft
that is required to win Premier League points and he has shown the vision that
sets up chances for others. He always
had a fine touch with the club but these last two seasons he has worked hard at
his fitness and the effort has paid off with a winner’s medal in the MacAulay
and a call up to the International squad.
Second team player of the year was Drew Maclennan.
He too has had an excellent season and also showed a great deal of resilience
when he received a nasty mouth injury in the league at Kinlochshiel and as a
consequence missed out in the semi of the Sutherland against Newtonmore and the
semi of the Strathdearn against Fort William. His return to the fold was
greatly welcomed in the last few weeks of the season and he put in the effort v
Kingussie in the Sutherland final re-run though he was disappointed as the
whole club was to have missed out on the win.
Highlight of the evening was the arrival of the
MacAulay Cup winning side who came into the dining room just before the meal was
served to display the Cup to the fans, and those who were unable to do so on
the day accepted their medals. Amongst those recipients were Andrew Macdonald
and the two managers Drew MacNeil and Fraser Mackenzie (Official).
The company then rose and toasted the health of Shinty
in general and the MacAulay
Association in particular.
The relevant pictures which are included here were
taken by the Wing Centre. Suffice to say that he is no Neil G Paterson and he
may have indeed missed out on some of the hot snaps because he had a choice of
sitting where he might get a good view of the presentees or where he could be
near the hatch to be assured of his choice of food. The food won out as it
always would do. Sweetest of the pics is Mr Reid with his flowers-Nice innit.
The tug of war pic? Billy who is at the front of the
tuggers became the poster boy of Glen shinty for reasons that need little
explanation. His image has become ubiquitous and he certainly sells the brand.
He walked round the Games with the Cup and Olympic torch along with the poster
boy of a previous generation, Alan Bell – and the pic included here came from
the front of the Glen Highland Games Programme in 2012. Billy missed the dance because
he was off-shore keeping the UK economy afloat, but he has promised to do the
bungee jump. Let’s hope he wears the sponsors’ jersey this time.
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