The annual Fishermans Supper was held last night in the Abbotsford Hotel in Ayr and a good night was had by all.
The evening commenced with former Trustee Alex Anderson being presented with a pair of Burn’s Crystal whisky glasses as a gesture of thanks for his many years of dedicated service to the Trust. Alex was looking well and has made a good recovery from a very serious illness and it was great to see him there and in good form.

Trust Chairman Bill Stafford presenting Alex Anderson with a pair of whisky glasses at the start of the evening

Trust Chairman Bill Stafford presenting Alex Anderson (left) with a pair of engraved whisky glasses at the start of the evening

The Hotel staff looked after us well and after an excellent dinner, there was the usual summary of the Trusts recent work by the Trust manager after which we were treated to Jim Morrisons stream of gags and stories. Jim is a well know after dinner speaker from Auchinleck and he managed to poke some gentle fun at the Cumnock boys in the audience. Tom Lothian was once again MC for the evening, and he kept the audience in order and performed the task of auctioneer very well, extracting every penny he could from the audience for the lots.

Almost 80 people attended the evening at the Abbotsford Hotel which was an excellent and spacious venue

Almost 80 people attended the evening at the Abbotsford Hotel which was an excellent and spacious venue

The raffle was everyone’s opportunity to grab a prize and tickets sold out fast. As ever, Gordon Hyslop’s table managed to win more than their fair share of goodies but the top prize of the Wychwood Truefly salmon fly rod went to someone at Gilbert Brown’s table. The evening concluded with the auction of sporting lots with many good days fishing up for grabs. A huge thanks to all those who donated prises and of course to those who bought them. This event is always well supported and is incredibly important to help the Trust balance the books at the end of the year. Last night, we raised almost £2000 which is an incredible achievement in the current financial times.
Thanks to everyone who attended and donated to the evening and to the Hotel and staff for looking after us so well. Finally, it was nice to see Helen Downie who worked at the Trust until recently and she came along and helped sell and distribute raffle tickets and prizes.

Tom Lothian, helen Downie and Gordon MacDermid sorting out the raffle.

Tom Lothian, Helen Downie and Gordon MacDermid sorting out the raffle.