News

The Annual Burgess of Guild quiz was held on Monday 27th November at the Aberdeenshire Cricket Club. It was an entertaining evening, 11 teams of 4, quality of answers overall was very high, even lowest scoring team scored 42% of possible total.

Thanks go to Past Dean Fred Dalgarno for being quizmaster, and the staff at the Cricket Club for putting on the event and the buffet supper.

Winning Team comprised all of Burgesses and retaining the trophy from last year were, Andrew Lawtie, Stuart Robison, Alistair Blues, and Gordon Edwards.

Aberdeen’s favourite footballing son Denis Law was granted Freedom of the City on 25th November, thus he became a Free Burgess and we are delighted to welcome him to our ranks.   Aberdeen City Council hosted a splendid event for the conferral with dinner to follow at the Beach Ballroom, on the following day the Lord Dean presented Denis with his Burgess tie and a lapel badge which we hope he will wear with pride.

We’ve been delighted with the response so far to our ‘This is our City’ dinner at the Beach Ballroom on Tuesday 27th February 2018.

If, in the busyness of the run up to Christmas, you haven’t yet made your booking, please do so now as we don’t want any Burgesses to miss out on this significant occasion.

The event is a platform to celebrate what is good in Aberdeen. Its focus will be on the people of Aberdeen, what it means to belong to the city and why individuals are proud to live & work here.

Burgesses and their guests are invited to support this event with the aim of representing the entire community of Aberdeen.

Dress code is lounge suits. Tables of 10 cost £550 or individual seats can be bought for £55.00.

To book your place at this significant event for our city, contact Garry Stevens by emailing clerk@aberdeenburgesses.com

Payment can be made via cheque to Burgesses of Guild of the City of Aberdeen, and sent to Garry Stevens, Clerk to the Burgesses, 6 Craigarbel Crescent, Inverbervie, Montrose, DD10 0SJ or via online banking to: Sort Code 826011, Account Number 50325609, Ref Surname/This is our City.

Your support for this event is appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Colin G. Taylor

Lord Dean of Guild

Welcome to new Burgesses admitted on Wednesday 11th October 2017. From top:

Professor Ferdinand Von Prondzynski, University Principal and Vice Chancellor, RGU University. Proposed by John Harper and Seconded by Lord Dean of Guild.

Angela Taylor, Active Workforce Development Coordinator, Proposed by Lord Dean of Guild, and Seconded by Lord Provost Barney Crockett.

Wilma Taylor, Social Care professional and Board Member, Proposed by Dr Vijay Jandial, and Seconded by Dr Ronald Strachan

Complementing the Burgesses 800^th year anniversary dinner in 2014, ‘This is our City’ is an inclusive dinner taking place at the Beach Ballroom on Tuesday 27^th February 2018.

The event is a platform to celebrate what is good in Aberdeen. Its focus will be on the people of Aberdeen, what it means to belong to the city and why individuals are proud to live & work here.

To lead this renewed drive to celebrate what is good in Aberdeen, the event will feature a series of talks from individuals and organisation across the city on what the city means to them.

Burgesses and their guests are invited to support this event with the aim of representing the entire community of Aberdeen.

Dress code is lounge suits.  Tables of 10 cost £550 or individual seats can be bought for £55.00.  To book your place at this significant event for our city, contact Garry Stevens by emailing clerk@aberdeenburgesses.com

Payment can be made via cheque to Burgesses of Guild of the City of Aberdeen, and sent to Garry Stevens, Clerk to the Burgesses, 6 Craigarbel Crescent, Inverbervie, Montrose, DD10 0SJ or via online banking to: Sort Code 826011, Account Number 50325609, Ref Surname/This is our City.

On Thursday 28th September, 82 Burgesses and guests attended a special showing of a new play written by fellow Burgess Mike Gibb “Giacomo & Glover”. It is a fictional story about a meeting between composer Puccini, and Thomas Blake Glover at Puccini’s villa in Tuscany, two days after the disastrous opening (and closing) of the first production of Madame Butterfly at La Scalla, Milan 1904. All who attended commented on how much they enjoyed the performance.

Thanks to all Burgesses and guests who attended, playwright Mike Gibb, Special Guests Lord and Lady Provost, Lord Lyon King of Arms Dr Joe Morrow and Honorary Italian Consul, Robert Foietta. We would also like to thank Aberdeen City Council for allowing us to use the Town and County Hall for the performance, and the excellent catering provided. We plan a performance of Act 2 (a story in itself) in early 2018. Details will be posted to the website as soon as a date is agreed.

Mike Gibb, Lord Provost with the Actors

Mike Gibb, Lord and Lady Provost and Lord Dean of Guild

Lord Dean of Guild welcomes Burgesses and guests to the performance

Played in very difficult conditions at Deeside Golf Club on Tuesday 26th September, a team of 6 Burgesses and Clerk retained the Friendship Trophy with a narrow victory over the Incorporated Trades. Mike Wilson was top scorer on the day with an impressive 37 points.

We look forward to the event next year.

A hardy bunch of 7 Burgesses and the Clerk took part in the Annual Burgess Golf Competition at Hazelhead Pines course on Wednesday 20th September. Conditions were very wet underfoot, and it rained for a vast majority of the round so much so that play was abandoned on the 16th green.

The winner of the Quaich for a third time was Paul O’Connor, who tied with Clerk Garry Stevens with 32 stableford points, but on virtue of scoring one point more than Garry on the inward 7 holes was declared winner (not that Garry….the writer of this article, is bitter or anything!! -well done Paul)

Congratulation to Paul on his win, and there followed an excellent meal at the Park Café.

Next week sees the Burgesses take on the Incorporated Trades at Deeside Golf Club on Tuesday 26th September for the Friendship Trophy for which we are holders and hope to retain!

Lord Dean presents the Quaich to winner Paul O’Connor

Last Wednesday, in the Town & County Hall in the Aberdeen Town House a company of 53 Burgesses and their Guests enjoyed an excellent presentation by Lord Provost Barney Crocket, he left us in no doubt of his ability to represent our city worldwide as he demonstrated his love of his native Aberdeen and his confidence and vision for the future. He shared many interesting facts about our true status in the UK and beyond, he threw in comparisons with other cities and countries, it was very encouraging hearing.

Preceding the Lord Provost I informed the company that the Burgesses are to lead an initiative titled ‘This is our city’. The platform event which will kick-start the activity is to be a dinner held on 27th February 2018.

This is an idea I have had for some time, many Burgesses will have heard me use the term “This is our city” on a number of occasions, the thrust of the matter is that following the adoption of our motto, ‘For Aberdeen’, this is natural progression and whilst our city has gone through a tough few years and has had many ‘knocks’ (mostly from elsewhere) we love our city, we know it, we enjoy it, we live here, work here, invite friends and associates to join us here, ‘this is our city’ and it always will be, and, quoting something which the Lord Provost said in his speech, “let’s have less north-east reticence”. You will hear more about this in the next couple of months, however I make it clear now that we are not moving into the area of politics, the intention is that this will be an initiative involving everyone and everything in our community, ‘this is our city’ and we want to celebrate this and to “come together to be together” for a prosperous future. Both the Lord Provost and Mrs Angela Scott the Chief Executive of Aberdeen City Council are fully supportive and I hope and expect that Burgesses will embrace this also.

The initiative will be lead by one of our Assessors, Sylvia Halkerston, and Burgesses are openly invited to make contact either to volunteer to work with Sylvia or to pass on their thoughts and suggestions. Please make your contact through Garry Stevens at clerk@abereenburgesses.com

The following photograph of the assembled company is the Copyright of Aberdeen City Council and we credit Norman Adams-Aberdeen City Council for the reproduction.

At the recent Guildry of Scotland Golf Competition held at Forfar Golf Club, Aberdeen Burgess Gordon Grey was runner up by one point to the winning Burgess from Brechin Guildry, who will host the event again next year. The competition was played in lovely warm sunny conditions, and Forfar Golf Club were excellent hosts.

We still have places for the undernoted golf competitions, and support from golf playing Burgesses would be appreciated as numbers at present for both events are pretty low:

Aberdeen Burgess of Guild Competition – Wednesday 20th September, Hazelhead – cost £38 non A2L (Access to Leisure) card £28 A2L card

Friendship Trophy match v Incorporated Trades – Tuesday 26th September – Deeside GC. Cost TBC

If any Burgesses wish to play please email Clerk Garry Stevens at:

Clerk@aberdeenburgesses.com

Payment can be made by sending a cheque made payable to Burgesses of Guild of the City of Aberdeen and sent to Garry Stevens, Clerk to the Burgesses, 6 Craigarbel Crescent, Inverbervie, Montrose DD10 0SJ

OR

Online to:

Sort Code 826011

Account No 50325609

Ref: Surname/Golf