Club News
As part of the annual Stonehaven Folk Festival, the Stonehaven (Fatherland) Burns Club will again host a Burns & Scottish Poetry / Music Recital Event for children and young adults. The event will be held in the British Legion Hall, Stonehaven on Saturday 11th July from 10:00 to 11:30. Participants can give a poem, a song, or play a tune on their guitar, fiddle, etc.! See the poster here for details.
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2026 AGM
Our 2026 AGM was held in the Cowie Bar at Stonehaven Recreation Ground on Wednesday June 3rd 2026.
At the well-attended AGM and follow-on meeting, a number of organisational changes were agreed. Donald Clarke was elected as the new club President and Susan Henderson as the new Secretary, replacing David MacDonald and Gwynne McKay respectively.
2025 AGM
The Annual General Meeting of our very own historic Fatherland Burns Club took place at 7.30pm on Tuesday 20th May at the Cowie Café within the Stonehaven Recreation Ground.
We welcomed two new committee members who were elected at the AGM (Susan Henderson and Scott Martin). Also, three long-serving committee members stood down (Cathie Dawson, Jane Sanders, and Garry Brindley).
Cathie (who was our current treasurer) was presented with a plaque and honorary lifetime membership of the club as a 'thank you' for all the wonderful contributions she made to the Club over several decades.
The meeting covered many of the club’s activities during the year, including what was certainly regarded as a cracking Burns Supper at the Station Hotel back in January 2025, topped off by a spellbinding Immortal Memory from Professor Sir Geoffrey Palmer KT, OBE, Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, Scotland’s first black professor and a simply lovely human being!
Dave MacDonald
Club President
In Memoriam: Our historic Club is saddened to report the passing in April 2025 - after a short illness bravely borne - of former President Douglas Samways, who led the SFBC for three years interrupted by the two-year Covid epidemic. A retired senior educationalist, Douglas had a deep enthusiasm for his hometown of Stonehaven and for his native country including an interest in its Independence, and of course an abiding passion for the Scots and Doric tongue including the works of our National Bard. His role in leading the Club’s Robert Burns input at primary schools throughout the Mearns area for over a decade, will form part of his lasting legacy within our community. Our condolences go to his wife Elaine and family.