Well, it seems like 2021 had only just started, fencing wise, and that’s it over already. It’s been a challenging year for everyone and the club is no exception there. We spent most of the year in shut down and when we reopened in September we were missing a lot of familiar faces, including several members of the committee, among them our coach – Tom, and our secretary – Cindy. We were very sorry to say goodbye to them and hugely appreciative of all they have done for the club.
The loss of so many experienced fencers has been a bit of an issue for us. We’ve struggled once or twice to find enough folk to run sessions and have had to cancel once or twice, particularly when we’ve had people self isolating due to COVID contacts. We also found that COVID made it difficult to get back into any of our normal venues, which has meant a move out of DIngwall for the time being.
But there has also been some real encouragement. We’ve had a lot of new fencers coming along and joining the club. We’ve found a new venue at the Fairburn Memorial Hall in Marybank. In the last month or so we’ve even had some new experienced seniors coming along and we are particularly thankful for Will getting stuck in to help out with the coaching.
We are planning to hold our much delayed AGM in the new year (more on that later) and that is a great opportunity for folks to get involved with the club. New blood is always important.
We also had contact from some old blood, a Mr Thorburn, who turned out to be the first ever member of what would become Dingwall Fencing Cub, back in the 1950s. It’s encouraging to have that continuity over the decades and we are hopeful that we can get him along some time when things settle down a bit.
As always though, as we come to the end of the year I want to say thank you. Thank you to all our fencers, parents and other supporters. The club has been through a tough time, but we are still here, and that is down to all of you. Without you, there is no club. We don’t yet know what 2022 is going to look like, but we look forward to seeing you all then! Until then, have a great Christmas, Stag Knights!
David Ferguson
Chair
P.S. you can find our latest newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/48ca67c4ec42/christmas_2021 why not give it a read and subscribe?
Dingwall Fencing Club 