The final Executive Committee meeting of the season took place on 5^th       April and was a relief. The treasurer presented the season’s Balance Sheet which notwithstanding the 2009 Projects showed a healthy surplus. It was agreed to make a recommendation to the AGM for a nominee for junior vice next year. Astonishingly, the Whisky Tasting night on 22^nd April was cancelled due to lack of support.  Friday, 9^th April, out with librarian Gordon Johnston to Solway Offset to collect our copies of the “Big Issue”, the special edition of the Burns Chronicle which is the official record of the Year of Homecoming and the 250^th anniversary. What a superb book. The pictures are excellent and the club is well featured, as are a number of individual members.  This should become a collector’s item in years to come.  Saturday 10^th, the visit from 54 members of Glasgow Haggis Club who arrived at the Globe Inn on schedule in spite of an earlier stop at Ellisland. The reception team worked like a well-oiled spring and groups were ushered to Burns House with minutes to spare before it closed at 5.00pm, before visiting the Mausoleum. Afterwards, the party toured the Globe Inn where knowledgeable Howff members enthralled the visitors before they sat down to tea. A most enjoyable afternoon.  Met up with the president on Tuesday 13^th at the Globe to hand over his “Big Issue” and a chat about his term of office, which I will long remember for several reasons. Variety is what the Howff Club is all about and on Friday 16^th, met up with Bill Welsh, John Lauder and Ian McIntyre to meet 26 secondary school head teachers from Norway, touring the region on an educational visit. Due to the limited time available, there was no chance of a ten-cent tour as the visitors were more interested in  having a drink in the close before being bussed off to a brewery in East Lothian but they appreciated Bill’s short talk in the close on the history of the Globe and the club. Later that night, stuffed 150 envelopes with the papers for the AGM.  Saturday 17^th, duty visit to Dumfries Ladies Burns Club No. 1’s coffee morning. This proved to be quite lively with home-made scones and shortbread before repairing afterwards to the Globe with Ted Murray for a soft drink. Meantime, the first draft of the secretary’s annual report to the AGM was finished but on reviewing this, decided to make major cuts in order to avoid defamation although the president advised me to deliver it as written. We’ll see.

The highlight of the month was the Male Voice Choir’s 60^th annual concert on 23^rd April when a select group of members and spouses joined a large attendance at DG One, thrilled to the magical blend of choir and guest artistes “Caledon”, the three tenors whom some heard at the National Gallery last year during the conference. After a slightly shaky start with “Gods Choir” they warmed up and excelled with some Burns numbers and popular favourites including an impressive “African Trilogy”. In their solo spots, Caledon brought down the house with the Proclaimers “Five Hundred Miles” and a  Harry Lauder medley before finishing with an emotional “A Man’s a Man”, arranged for choir, tenors and audience. Yes, a great night and the president and secretary were fired up to return to the Globe for another soft drink.  This will be the final “blog” of the season and I’d like to record my admiration to John Caskie for the manner in which he discharged his duties. The year was a pleasure and privilege and I look forward to next season with anticipation.

DS