At the Christmas lunch this year we wanted to pay tribute to Nigel Gore, one of FIBA’s founding fathers, who passed away in July. We invited Gillian, Nigel’s wife as our special guest and Peter Watson, FIBA’s first president spoke, as did his successor, Tim Hughes. James, one of Nigel’s sons and FIBA stalwart and committee member also spoke movingly and with no little humour about his Dad.
We will miss Nigel’s presence, his good nature, great sense of humour and words of encouragement he offered which were always greatly appreciated.
We welcomed a number of guests and new faces to this lunch, always a most positive sign! Members enjoyed smoked salmon, supplied by Mark Rennie (and co-prepared with his Mum, Eilidh), as well as a world first, the opportunity to taste Two Hats Brewery beers (a range of four variants, from IPA to Scotch, from Blanche to Lager).
After an excellent lunch, we started the serious business of the Christmas quiz, which, as ever, was lots of fun and brings out the competitive spirit among our members! A three-way tie meant that the chocolate prizes were shared; members also had the opportunity to take away a Two Hats beer as an early Christmas present!
Our sincere thanks to Andy and Julia Macleod, owners of Two Hats, to Ed Hazlewood, committee member and quiz master extraordinaire and to all other committee members for all their hard work in 2017.
Finally, just to say that FIBA is stronger than ever! This year’s lunch with 56 members and guests, is a record attendance for a Christmas lunch!
We wish you all a very healthy, happy and prosperous 2018 and look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
