North Mainland Notes 16.10.09

Change to Post Office hours

Although the hosted post office service for Hillswick, which started in the Hillswick hall in August, will continue to operate on Monday and Thursday afternoons, there has been a slight change to the opening times. Post Office services will now be available on both days from 3-5.30pm.

Big Bannock makes £25,000

Those Big Bannock boys at North Roe have finally finished counting the money raised during the fun-filled “Under Water” weekend in August. The truly amazing total of £25,000 was raised over the two days. This year all funds raised will be donated to Cancer Research UK and local charities. The total includes sales of Strictly Boston, the stunningly produced Skea TV extravaganza, featuring a wealth of local talent. The DVD is still available in local shops, folks, and would make a great addition to any Santee sock!

Miss Plookytrams, personal assistant to brawly-high-up committee member Rev Waldo Leask, said: “Da Big Bannock wid like to thank everybody who helped in any way – dir too mony folk to mention individually but we really, really, really, really appreciate aa da help.”

Miss Plookytrams also confirmed that there would definitely be another bannock in the oven next year on 21st August, so mark da calendar noo.

Coffee to help Mind Your Head

Anyone who fancies a cup of coffee on Wednesday morning should pop along to the South Nesting Chapel between 10 am and noon. All donations received as a result of the coffee morning will be given to Mind Your Head.

Bowling begins

The Bjorgs bowlers have dusted down their bowling balls and the new season has resumed for the winter. The club meets in the North Roe and Lochend hall every Thursday at 7.30pm and would welcome any new members, young and not so young.

Closing date for grants

The North Mainland Recycling Centre at Brae would like to remind groups that the closing date for grant applications for this round of funding is 31st October 2009. For an application form, please contact Sandra Bigland on (01806) 522353.

Tangwick open day

If you were among those who didn’t seize the opportunity to call along Tangwick Haa at Eshaness this season, there’s an extra chance to visit this super peerie museum on Sunday. The Haa will be open from 1-5pm and as well as all the displays from this season, there will be selections of local crafts and an additional display of photos from Nort aboot.

Let there be light shows

MirrieDancers, a project that will create light based artworks throughout Shetland, is set to begin the series of “light shows” from next Thursday. The project fuses traditional crafts with new technologies and was conceived by artists Nayan Kulkarni and Roxane Permar, and commissioned by Shetland Arts.

Scores of people throughout Shetland have taken part in creating light based artworks not only for their locality but for a set of permanent art installations at Mareel, Shetland’s new cinema and music venue. The local illuminations will run every evening from sundown until 11pm for approximately two to three weeks, depending on the weather. Two areas in the North Mainland at Voe and Lochend have been chosen as sites.

The first illumination will be at The Floating Tin Shed in Lower Voe, with a launch party in the Voe hall on Thursday 22nd October from 7-9 pm. The Floating Shed is the only site linked to Shetland’s aquaculture industry as it used to be a mussel-grading shed and will be lighted until 9th November.

Roxane said: “We have a lot of films that people from the area have contributed to the first illumination. During the summer we held a Light Lab in Brae. One pupil really took an interest. He came to two days of Light Labs and even began to learn how to use Pharos, the software programme that translates the films into dynamic colour light scores.”

The second area to be illuminated in the North Mainland will be the site of the Giants Grave, near Lochend. A launch party will be held in the North Roe and Lochend hall on Thursday 12th November from 7-9pm. The lighting of the Giants Grave will touch on Shetland’s archaeology and local storytelling legends and will run until 30th November.

Light Lab workshops held in Northmavine over the summer were well attended by all ages, often representing three generations, as was the case at Ollaberry.

Roxane went on to explain the difficulty she and the team had in selecting sites for the illuminations. In the North Mainland alone, almost one hundred sites were looked at. “It was extremely difficulty to make a shortlist, but in each area we narrowed these figures down to just four. We considered not only the aesthetics of each site, but also the meaning it has locally and for Shetland generally, and also visibility and accessibility. Finally, permission from the owner or owners of the site and practical safety and technical considerations influenced our final decisions.”

All installations will be weather dependent and therefore may be subject to change. Roxane advises folk to check the website and local media for any changes to the planned programme. For further information, contact Roxane (01595) 859 202 roxane@mirriedancers.com or check the noticeboard on www.mirriedancers.com

Sunday Fish night at Ollaberry

Although members of the Ollaberry hall committee are delighted that they were successful in a recent funding bid to the SRDP, fund-raising still continues at Ollaberry to help complete the planned refurbishment to the hall.

This Sunday night, John Peter Blance and the kitchen crew will be frying up fish and chips from 5.30-8.30pm. The bar will be open, so an adult must accompany under 18s, and folk can eat in the hall or have a takeaway supper.

Ollaberry fun and fundraising

The 15 pupils at Ollaberry Primary School have been busy raising money for charity lately and having great fun into the bargain. On Monday 5th October the school had a “Wear It Pink” day in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. Pupils attended school wearing a variety of pink items and raised the fantastic amount of £114.40.

The following day, everyone at Ollaberry joined in the RNLI’s “Million Pennies Appeal” when the bairns made a picture of Oscar Charlie and a lifeboat out of loose change. This time they managed to raise £162.49.

These are two tremendous achievements for pupils at Ollaberry primary that everyone connected with the school should be very proud of. The bairns would also like to say a huge thank you to folk in the local community who supported them.

Flu jabs reminder

Flu drop-in clinics continue at the Brae Medical Practice for all patients aged 65 or over by 31st March 2010 or those on the chronic disease register. At risk groups for people under 65 include those with dysfunction of spleen including coeliac disease, chronic respiratory disease including asthma and COPD, chronic heart disease, chronic neurological disease including stroke, diabetes, chronic liver and kidney disease, cochlear and anyone who is a carer.

Staff ask that patients with surnames beginning A to L call along the clinic on Tuesday 20th October while patients with surnames beginning M to Z should attend on Tuesday 27th October or Friday 30th October. All drop-in sessions will be held from 2-4pm and anyone who is unsure if they qualify for the flu jab can telephone to check on (01806) 522543.

Top trophy for Anna

Last month the SWRI held the 26th National Conference in Edinburgh, which also includes a variety of competitions open to members across Scotland. Anna Johnson of Vidlin SWRI took a top prize for a knitted shrug.

Competition is fierce among the ladies of the SWRI and the annual competitions at the conference are always popular and receive a large number of entries. This year members were informed that the Whitecross Trophy was to be awarded for a shrug knitted in Paton’s 4-ply yarn. Vidlin SWRI member Mrs Johnson, who was employed at TM Adie & Sons in the past, has a lifetime of knitting talent and experience. Some of the ladies at Vidlin knew that she was an expert knitter and eventually to persuaded her to enter. The reluctant entrant beat off the rest of the competition and came home with the top prize of the Whitecross Trophy. Although Anna is modest about her win, the rest of the Vidlin members are very proud of her achievement. Warm congratulations to Anna.

Maree Hay