Sandy Gunn Memorial

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Rotary Auchterarder wrote some beautiful words about the opening of the Sandy Gunn Memorial - for those who may have missed seeing this on Facebook, here is the text plus some images:

Flight Lieutenant Alastair Donald Mackintosh “Sandy” Gunn Memorial Garden was dedicated by his nephew
Mr. Alastair Gunn on Friday 6th September.
Rotary in Auchterarder & District were joined by funders, supporters, Guests and our community to celebrate the completion and Dedication of the Memorial Garden to Sandy Gunn.
Prior to the Dedication, a small Reception was held in the garden of Coll Earn House, when Rotarian Dr James Grant MBE took the opportunity to thank all our funders for their generosity in supporting this project and our vision for a Sandy Gunn Memorial Garden.
In addition, he expressed our appreciation and gratitude to Boyles Stonemasons, for their expertise and patience throughout the project, David F Wilson, sculpture & designer of the memorial seat and panel, our architect Christopher Palmer Associates, and Anne Emsens, Coll Earn House, for donating all the plants, shrubs, trees and flowers to create a beautiful memorial.
The successful delivery of this project was the result of enthusiasm and the partnership of many individuals and organisation from across our community. Before the Dedication, Alastair Gunn, {nephew} spoke about Sandy, his life and of the great loss he was to his father Dr Gunn and family, after which the ceremony closed with the playing of ‘The Last Post’ by Joe Rogers, a pupil at the Community School of Auchterarder.
Sadly, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight were unable to provide a flyover on this occasion, but the evening was completed with a showing of the 1963 film The Great Escape in the Aytoun Hall.
Thank you to Rotarian Peter Liasen and the Auchterarder Picture House Crew, for helping make this happen and to Lesley Buchan-Donald who brought the evening to a close with ‘We’ll Meet Again’.

In our Community Action Plan, we have six  themes, including Heritage and Green Spaces. This is a fabulous examples of what happens when action in different themes comes together.

The Green Spaces group identified this area as a potential site for being part of the pollinator corridor and are thrilled to see it beautifully planted. Look out for more green space projects (come along to the monthly meetings if you'd like to hear more) and hopefully more heritage too! The town has some fascinating history. If you'd like to be involved in taking forward plans for a Heritage Trail, we'd love to hear from you.

Some extra information about Rotary Auchterarder:

The group meet twice a month in the golf club (1st and 3rd Thursdays 7pm), they plan what’s next, hear from interesting speakers and have a great social time, new members are warmly welcomed.

Amongst many other wonderful things, they have an annual Am Am Fundraiser (this year raising £2500 for CHAS) They sponsored the medals for the junior fun run and provide lots of opportunities for young people at the local school - Competitions for young film maker, musician, photographer, artists, writers as well as the annual RYLA young leader opportunity and school quizzes!
They’re a small but mighty group who make a big difference right across our community.

People can also support the group by joining in with the Rotary events - if you’ve got a young person who’d like to have a focus for their art / photography / writing, why not set them the challenge of entering this years challenge? We’ll shortly post the details here. It’s a brilliant way for young people to showcase their skills and several of their young musicians of the year are now studying at Conservatoire level

An amazing local group

Check out their Facebook page or website page for contact details