North Mainland Notes 30.01.09

Good as New for 50p

Due to the success of the 50p sale the Good as New shop in Brae held previously, the volunteers have decided to slash the price of their clothing once again. The shop, in the Brae Youth Centre, will be open tomorrow from 2-4pm and all items will be sold at 50p.

The Good as New shop is open every Tuesday from 2-4 pm and the last Saturday of each month at the same time.

Marathon experience

Last November Lesley Ann Ramsay, originally from Ollaberry but now living in Glasgow, was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Paula Radcliffe for a very good cause.

Lesley Ann took part in the New York Marathon and finished the race in under four hours, with a time of 3.59.05. This was an excellent achievement in her first marathon and in the process she also raised the tremendous sum of £5,250 for the Breast Cancer campaign. Lesley Ann really enjoyed her marathon experience and would like to say a big thank you for all the support given to her.

Lunnasting 8 o’clocks

The Lunnasting Young Ones are holding a fundraiser in the Vidlin Hall on Tuesday night and invite everyone to come for your 8 o’clocks. As well as tea, coffee and home bakes, there will also be a jumble table, a lucky dip, a raffle and a game called pull the string where you just might win a sweetie or a peerie toy. The event will be held from 6.30-8.30pm and the Lunnasting Young Ones hope as many folk as possible will come along to help support the club.

House for CLAN

It is eyes down tomorrow night at the Vidlin Hall with a bingo night to help raise funds for the CLAN 1,2,3 appeal. The event begins at 7pm and there will also be a raffle and 8 o’clocks during the evening. Organisers hope lots of folk will come along to support this very worthy cause.

Nesting mass meeting

With just a week until the Nesting & Girlsta Up-Helly-A’, the mass meeting of guizers will be held tonight in South Nesting Hall at 8pm.

North Roe environmental award

Belated congratulations to all the staff and pupils of the North Roe Primary School on winning a well-deserved prize in the recent Shetland Amenity Trust environmental awards. As part of their work as an Eco School, pupils examined the vast diversity of plants, birds and animals found locally. This research was then used by the pupils to design and create a number of biodiversity boards depicting the birds and animals which inhabit the area. With the help of the Moving On project, the boards were installed in the playground and the school is happy for folk to view the boards, except during playtimes.

Hazel Cranie, head teacher at North Roe, said that the pupils were delighted to receive the award. Many of the school pupils attended the ceremony at the Shetland Museum and Archives and really enjoyed the visit as well as the buffet! Congratulations, once again, to all staff and pupils involved in the project.

Strictly Boston

In the age we now live in, reality television and talent competitions seem to be the most popular programmes on the box. Northmavine is well known for innovation and keeping up with the times, so in a bid to break into the reality TV market, Skea Sport TV productions will launch Strictly Boston later this year.

Strictly Boston is hotly predicted to become the most popular talent show of the noughties, a prospect that has left Simon Cowell of X Factor fame cowering behind his high-waisted breeks. Bruce Forsyth, presenter of the popular Strictly Come Dancing, has been witnessed trying to book a room in the Unst Care Centre as he realises Strictly Boston is about to wipe the dance-floor with his viewer ratings, and retirement really is his only option.

Skea Sport TV producers will be holding open auditions for couples who feel they have what it takes to compete in Strictly Boston. The auditions will take place in the Grand Ballroom of the St Magnus Bay Hotel on Thursday 12th March and all-comers are welcome. The queues of would-be competitors are expected to reach as far as Chrissie and Tammie Manson’s house at Upper Urafirth, so people are advised to get along early and take a flask o’ tea and a travelling rug to help keep out the cold while they wait their turn in the queue.

Would-be contestants are also advised to check that they are carrying plenty of spare change. 50p pieces are particularly recommended for the hotel juke box to aid payment for your musical accompaniment. Skea Sport TV had hoped to hire the Northmavine Fiddle & Accordion Club as the house band for the evening, but the company is currently experiencing a few temporary cash-flow difficulties due to unforeseen expenses incurred by Murray Mayfield during his recent visit to the Beijing Olympics as commentator of the beach volleyball event. Pending legal action prevents further disclosure of the actual difficulties – less said da better.

A panel of hand-picked local celebrity judges has been engaged by Skea Sport TV to put the hopeful couples through the auditions. Anyone who would like to audition for Strictly Boston, but has not yet found a dancing partner, should still go along to the auditions in Hillswick on 12th March; you never know, your Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers might just be there waiting to be asked for a dance. Failing that, it’ll be handy to have someone to help work the juke box.

Maree Hay