Despite having the same theme, each Kirking we have is always different and the one at which some sixteen members recently attended at Ascension Lutheran was no exception. A tremendous team effort had been made by the church to make the service very special. This was mainly achieved by the choice of music for the hymns and this was particularly true of the hymn ‘We cannot measure how You heal’ which was sung to the tune of Burns’ Ye Banks and Braes.

The music theme was continued in our April meeting when we had the pleasure of an extremely interesting and informative talk on the piobaireachd which was given by well known piper Karen Brumley. Perhaps the most surprising thing that we learned was that the tunes were handed down from piper to piper on a one to one basis either by the bagpipes or by singing and this practice dates back to the 1500s or earlier. Karen’s playing was, as always, a joy and readily brought home to us the difference between the types of tunes.

To help celebrate April as Poetry month our member Mark Johnson, best known for his rendition of the Ode to the Haggis at our Burns Suppers, recited poems from Shakespeare, Yeats, and Burns.

Having Karen as our guest speaker proved fortuitous as she kindly piped in the current and new Board Members for their swearing-in and the ceremony, which was conducted by our immediate past president John Dickson, again reminded us just how much we are indebted to those who serve the Society in these positions.

I hope to see you at our booth at Carrollton.

Enjoy the sun!

Jim