News
Caledonian Society of Oman
Annual General Meeting 31st March 2009
Hotel Intercontinental
Chieftain's Report 2008 - 2009
After completing my last year as Chieftain of the Caledonian Society of Oman I am delighted to report a very healthy position for the Society with 166 families on our membership role (314 actual members) and excellent attendances at each of our functions. In fact, we've seen sell out ticket sales within one hour of going on sale. I think these statistics speak for themselves!!
When I started the job I had two main objectives: Firstly, to raise the profile of the Caledonian Society within the general community; and secondly to introduce a few more fun events for the adults but particularly to involve the children to a much greater extent.
In my opinion, we, the committee, have successfully fulfilled both of these objectives to a degree where the kids are now turning up to the Kid's Ceilidhs (one of our additions to the programme) wearing their own kilts or tartan/Scottish regalia. This has not only raised our profile in the community but given our expatriated children something to be proud of, a culture and heritage which would even be absent if living in Scotland! These events are not only held for member's children but open to all, where they seem to be very popular with the French children in our community!
Entertainment
Summer Ceilidh
The Spring Ceilidh was held on 24th April 2008 last year. This was another great event with the Scottish Celtic rock band Laverock here again to help to make it a night to remember. Our Chieftain's Piper, John Chalmers, piped at the door while our 270 guests arrived. The introduction of shorter speeches and a silent raffle made all the difference in that we managed to squeeze in more dancing than usual, some of which was rather physical! I certainly had the bruises to prove it!
Mr David Webber, a distinguished artist who has since left the Omani shores to return to England after 27 years, donated a beautiful painting of the Sultan's Palace in Old Muscat, a wonderful gesture, thank you David. This was auctioned on the night raising 500 Ra.
Kid's Ceilidh
The Kids Ceilidh is now a notable feature on the Caledonian calendar being held on the subsequent day after our larger events. Laverock played for 2 hours while the kids danced and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. There is a certain pride on the kid's faces and a glint in their eye. If mum and dad can get dressed up in this silly clobber and go out dancing then so can we!!
Scottish Country Dancing
Dancing classes began again in October 2008 after a break of a year or so. These took place on a Sunday evening from 7.30 - 9.30 pm at the British School's Main Hall. The first class was held on Sunday 12'h October and was well met with 16 enthusiastic dancers in attendance, the cost of which was a mere 2 RO per week. These classes had been requested by many members but after a period of only 2 months attendance was low with only a few enthusiastic dancers each week while others attended sporadically, unfortunately not enough on a weekly basis to make it worthwhile. It is a bit disappointing but I think when the bands have such great callers no-one feels the need for lessons.
"The Dance Troupe" managed to raise 98 RO from the profit of the money collected from the dance classes which was spent purchasing Eid outfits for the children of the Leprosy Centre at Rustaq which were very well received. Thank you to those of you who took part in this.
Car Treasure Hunt
The Car 2008 Treasure Hunt took place on Friday 14th November and is another popular social event for the whole family. Organised and run annually by Mrs Maureen Coyle and Mrs Jane Coogan, ably assisted by Mr Keith Hollis and Mr Tony Coyle.
Once again it was a great success with a larger crowd turning up to pit their wits against the organisers. Everyone finished up, at the Dolphin Village poolside for a swim and BBQ buffet. The event followed the same format as last year and special thanks go to Maureen and Jane for spending their weekends navigating the streets of greater Muscat to gather clues.
St Andrews Night
This increasingly popular event on our annual calendar was again held in the lovely surroundings of the Palm Gardens of the InterContinental Hotel. The weather threatened all day to jeopardize the whole event, the hotel felt it prudent to keep the plastic table covers on until the last possible moment giving all of the committee members a heart attack when we arrived to find we had to help set up tables while guests were arriving!
So with the St Andrew's flags fluttering overhead 488 guests were piped into the reception area by John Chalmers, some brandishing umbrellas!! Fortunately, the big man upstairs could see we had all gone to a lot of effort getting ready (some more than others) and gave us all a reprieve!
The music was supplied by "Whisky Kiss" a Scottish Ceilidh Band new to the outpost of Muscat. They had a fantastic combination of fiddle, accordion, a strong Celtic drum as well as the bagpipes which added a brilliant twist to the whole thing. They were superb and managed to rouse even the die-hard non-dancers out of their chairs and onto the dance floor. It was certainly one of the best nights we've had in a very long time.
As a result of the record number of guests, our dance floor had to be even larger than previous years to cope, the material and labour to build this were kindly sponsored and constructed by Carillion Alawi. The fantastic back drop was painted by the Intercon artist and dramatically added to the theme of the evening which was "Scottish Whisky".
We also raised the most ever for an event with 9000 rials to charity which as a great achievement.
Kids Ceilidh
The band "Whisky Kiss" played reels and jigs for 2 hours to an audience of 140 kids with their accompanying adults again breaking attendance records. For safety and enjoyment reasons, it was decided that numbers in the future should be limited to 120 kids.
Unfortunately, the bagpiper could not attend the Friday Ceilidh as he had to return to Scotland early to accompany Runrig at the Barrolands in Glasgow! So since he had a good excuse and their needs outweighed ours, we let him off, but only this once!
Burns Supper
Tickets for the Burns' Supper were sold out in one hour!! It was a very special event to celebrate 250 years since the bard's birth and I think we did this justice! There were speeches and recitals as you would imagine but there was also lots of laughter and merrymaking which is always a winning combination.
The night was definitely owned by Mr Bill Henry who is a dedicated disciple of Burns and his work. He not only addressed the Haggis with a flourish, he also gave us "Tam O'Shanter" from memory - all 12 minutes of it - no mean feat!! Mr Colin McKinley was excellent in his "Toast to the Bonnie Lassies" and Ms Hannah Loudoun as usual was bitterly scathing in her reply, well done Hannah! My wife, Muriel, then took to the floor reciting "To a Louse", aptly dedicating her performance to the parents of the British School, Muscat who are constantly being reminded to check heads as there is yet another outbreak!
The band, Alladh Modhan were excellent if rather unusual favouring a "Cajon" instead of a normal drum kit! They were first timers to Oman and have begged us to allow them to return.
The ceremonial haggis was once again supplied by the National Hospitality Institute lead by Mr Rob MacLean
The haggis and glasses for the event were flown to Oman by DHL and this added to the success of the night.
Kid's Ceilidh
Friday 30th January saw another Kid's Ceilidh at the Crowne Plaza where the kids were in fine form as usual and the band throwing in some party games as well as the dancing. Numbers were restricted this time to 120 and saw a marked improvement, giving people more room to dance and enjoy themselves.
Event Numbers
A summary of this year's attendance at our main events for comparison with the previous 4 years is as follows:
| Ceilidh | Treasure Hunt | St Andrew's Ball | Burns Night | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-05 | 254 | 133 | 372 | 187 |
| 2005-06 | 257 | 112 | 364 | 214 |
| 2006-07 | 264 | 94 | 441 | 245 |
| 2007-08 | 260 | 80 | 400 | 260 |
| 2008-09 | 270 | 120+ | 488 | 262 |
Financial
I would like to introduce Kenneth Macfarlane the treasurer of the society to inform you of the financial status of the society and its charitable donations.
Sponsors
We are as always indebted to our sponsors and the success of our events would not be possible without the support and generosity of these companies. With their support, these companies help to keep our ticket prices low and encourage people to spend money on our raffles. Major sponsors at our events this year have included:
Carillion Alawi; African & Eastern; Wood Group; Mohsin Haider Darwish - MHD; AXA Insurance; Cameron Services Middle East; Cameron Singapore Shell Representative Office Oman; Muna Noar; CGG Veritas; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Grace Construction Products; Dalma Energy & Company; National Hospitality Institute; Silvertech Dubai, Omasco, NDSC Oman, Inchcape shipping, Cansco Dubai, Crowne Plaza Oman and Dubai, DHL, desert discovery, Reflections AI Madina gallery, The highland House of Frazer, Muscat Pharmacy, Sabco Art. DHL Global shipping, Essance spa, glob131 scuba, Shangri la, BTS Oman, Douglas OHI, Kaya Clinic, Allied Irish Offshore, BP, WD engineering, cowi consultants, ISS shipping, Ceva logistics, UES
We are also grateful to a number of other organisations who donated some great raffle prizes at our events.
Web site
In 2007 we put together with the help from Rosie a new web site for the society. This has grown as each event take place and it giving our members a more up to date look into what is coming up with event and past event.
Final Words
I would like to thank all of the committee for their continual support. They all kindly gave their time and energy to make the last 2 years a success.
Two of the highlights for myself was the 2009 St Andrews nights and proud to have been able to be able to celebrate 250th anniversary of Rabbie Burns' birthday.
I would also like to thank the staff at the InterContinental Hotel for working with us on our main events this past year and also the Crowne Plaza for helping us host the kids Ceilidh. We have a very close relationship with the hotels and they have continually delivered a top class service to give us special nights' for the attendees.
I also wish to thank all of our members and non members for their support at our event. Without this continual support the events would not take place and we would be able to help the charities we support.
I Wish the next chieftain all the best in his new venture and also the committee and wish them all the success.
Regards
Gary S Manners, Chieftain (2007 - 2009)
Special Offers
Xtreme Sports
Extreme Sports, the first professional paintball field
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more information please visit their website:
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Global Scuba
Global Scuba is offering members of the Caledonian Society discounts. Just mention us and
you can SAVE!
marketing@global-scuba.com or Sophiya 99826725
Nomad Tours
Nomad Tours are offering our members 10% discount on game fishing, luxury yacht charter as
well as Muscat sea adventures through 2008.
Visit their website www.nomadtours.com for more information. Don't forget to mention us when booking!
Chieftains AGM Report - March 2008
Annual General Meeting Minutes - March 2008
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Updated 16 May 2009
