COWDENBEATH Rotary Club’s year of celebration of their centenary got underway with a swing when the first meeting of the club in the summer of 1923 was remembered.

And a special visitor was there to bring his club’s congratulations, Lochgelly man Ian McArthur, who is president of one of Dubai’s six rotary clubs.

Ian is currently in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area on holiday, and he was a welcome guest at the special meeting.

Said Ian: “It is fantastic to be able to bring my club’s congratulations to the Cowdenbeath club, in this, the start of their centenary year and I am sure it will be a fantastic 12 months.

“Like the Cowdenbeath club members, we are very much involved in community issues in Dubai, with one project top of our agenda.

“There is no NHS in Dubai, and we have been involved in helping one of the children’s hospitals, which has many challenges to deal with.

“We have 28 members and every one of them takes part in the fundraising and other activities, which helps the young patients of it.”

Another health matter which involves Ian’s rotary club is encouraging people in Dubai to donate blood for use in local hospitals.

“Like in Scotland people need to be encouraged to make donations, and we have carried out a lot of blood drives to ensure health facilities have suitable supplies for operations, etc”, added Ian.

Ian received a special plaque from Cowdenbeath president, John Gilfillan, and handed over a pennant from his club to mark the centenary.

A company of over 30 people, including some former members and potential new members, attended the meeting and they heard from secretary, Tom Russell, of some of the important international activities the club is involved in, such as the Shelter Box Appeal, which they intend to promote at Lochgelly Gala Day and Bowhill Highland Games.

There were also contributions from vice-president, Hank John, who talked about the success of the club’s project top create an education centre in the Kenyan community of Eldorit; and from Malcolm Slora, who talked about his time as president of the club.