Author: Ross Duthie

ONE WEEK TO GO! – DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARDONE WEEK TO GO! – DUKE OF EDINBURGH AWARD

The DofE classes for those who are signed up for Bronze and Silver DofE Awards will begin on Monday 25th March at Strichen Parish Church.

The DofE Advisor asks that parents attend this first evening to allow him to explain what will be required for the course and expedition.

After this initial week, there will be a break for the holidays before the 9 week course resumes after Easter.

SCOTLAND COMMITTEE NOMINATIONSCOTLAND COMMITTEE NOMINATION

This morning the President of the Buchan Battalion submitted the relevant paperwork to nominate Michael Strachan to be the North Scottish Rep on the Scotland Committee.

The nomination was supported by the Captains of 1st Fraserburgh, 4th & 5th Fraserburgh Boys’ Brigade, 1st New Pitsligo, 4th Peterhead and 1st Strichen as well as endorsed by the Battalion Secretary.

With some reluctance the nomination has been accepted by the candidate. If another candidate is nominated an election will be held.

Michael Strachan has served as the Captain of the 1st Rosehearty Company for the past 5 years and is King’s Badge Advisor, Junior Section Chairman and a past President of the Buchan Battalion. He also currently sits as Vice-President of the North Scottish Area, having served the NSA Committee for much of the past decade.

We send our best wishes with this nomination!

HENRY DUTHIE MBE – MEMORIAL SHIELDHENRY DUTHIE MBE – MEMORIAL SHIELD

This morning the Battalion’s Anchors Chair received the Henry Duthie MBE Memorial Shield ready to be presented to its inaugural winners!

The Shield, donated by 4th Fraserburgh in honour of their late former Captain, will be the Championship Shield for the Anchors Competitions.

It has been wonderful to see the number of Anchors competitions increase in the last couple of years and it is great to see a Battalion award in honour of Henry!

We look forward to seeing its first presentation!

140 SLEEPOVER140 SLEEPOVER

Last night the 1st Fraserburgh, 4th Fraserburgh and 1st Rosehearty Juniors came together to celebrate #BB140 with their 140 Sleepover!

As you can see it was a busy night with three teams of Boys taking part in three stations! First it was team games in the hall; then pancake making with Mrs Duthie and Mrs Bruce in the Kitchen; and the assault course run by the 1st Fraserburgh Seniors.

Thanks to Mrs Leel who donated medals for the assault course competition with every members getting either a gold, silver or bronze depending on their teams performance.

It was a late supper of Pizza before bed, the idea being the Boys would fall asleep watching a movie! Nearly worked, but all quiet by 1.45am!

After breakfast this morning all Boys were presented with their 140 Sleepover Badge! Well done all for taking part!

Thanks to the 1st Fraserburgh for hosting at the OPC Centre Halls and thanks to the Leaders and young men for giving their time to ensure it could happen!

SYD NEWLANDS TROPHY – 4th FRASERBURGHSYD NEWLANDS TROPHY – 4th FRASERBURGH

Well done to the the 4th Fraserburgh Juniors who have retained the Syd Newlands Trophy – the Battalion Championship award for Juniors!

This means they scored the most points combined from across the Battalion competitions which this year included football, chess & draughts, unihoc, and the Quiz.

Final Scores were:

1st Place: 4th Fraserburgh – 12 Points

2nd Place: 1st Rosehearty – 9 Points

3rd Place: 1st New Pitsligo – 2 Points

3rd = : 1st Fraserburgh – 2 Points

3rd = : 1st Strichen – 2 points

6th Place: 1st Sandhaven – 1 Point

7th Place: All other Companies – 0 Points.

Well done to all for taking part and well done to 4th Fraserburgh for retaining the championship trophy!

CONGRATULATIONS! – QUEEN’S MENCONGRATULATIONS! – QUEEN’S MEN

Congratulations to Bailey Lynch (4th Peterhead), Jon Anderson (1st Fraserburgh) and Brody Tocher (1st Fraserburgh) who have successfully completed their Queen’s Badge work!

The three attended the North Scottish Area’s Completion course at Kincraig this week. Well done to all three for the high standard of work they put in to achieve the award.

We will look forward to seeing them received their badges at presentation nights in the very near future!

DIAMOND WEDDINGDIAMOND WEDDING

All in the Buchan Battalion send our best wishes to Mr and Mrs Muirhead on the occasion of their Diamond Wedding anniversary!

Jimmy and Patty received a card and flowers from the Battalion to mark this very special anniversary.

This afternoon the Diamond Couple were also paid a visit by The Honorable Kate Nicolson, Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, and Cllr Ann Bell of Aberdeenshire Council as well as Battalion President Marc Thomson. Among cards sent from many well-wishers was a very special one from Their Majesties The King and Queen.

As is known Jimmy is the Honorary President of Buchan Battalion who received his MBE for services to the BB in 2017. Meanwhile Patty was a founding Officer of the 2nd Fraserburgh Girls’ Brigade who served for over 30 years. The youth of Fraserburgh owes them a great debt for their time and talent.

All in the Battalion sent their hearty congratulations to Jimmy and Patty.

TOMMY WHYTE 1934-2023TOMMY WHYTE 1934-2023

The President, Executive and all in the Buchan Battalion were saddened to learn of the passing of Tommy Whyte, one of our long-standing Honorary Vice-Presidents, at the age of 89 years.

Tommy was a popular and hard-working officer of the Battalion who always strived for the Battalion’s betterment and for what was best for the Boy. Tommy enrolled as an Officer of the 5th Fraserburgh Boys’ Brigade (Congregational Church) in 1977, immediately taking on the role of Officer-in-Charge of the Junior Section. Joining under Captain Alex Bruce, Tommy looked after the Junior Section whilst the new Company Section was in its infancy and his success ensured the steady flow of boys to the older section. He remained as Officer-in-Charge until he stepped down in 1991, ever keen for the younger generation to take the BB forward.

At Battalion level Tommy quickly made his mark in the Junior Section Committee at first working alongside Sid Newlands until the latter’s sudden death. Tommy then became the Chair of the Junior Section Committee in 1984, his dedication seeing the Committee and its competitions and trips flourish. Tommy is still fondly remembered by some of our more senior officers for the work he undertook in organising the Officer’s Dinner Dances, which were always a highlight of the BB year in Buchan. They were also extremely profitable, his work helping to keep the Battalion in the black for many years.

The high esteem in which Tommy was held was proven in 1988 when he was elected to the post of Vice-President of the Buchan Battalion, a role he undertook whilst still attending to his roles in the Junior Section Committee. He served a full five-year term as Vice-President but made clear he had no interest in taking on the Presidency.

The Battalion were not, however, prepared to let an asset like Tommy Whyte disappear. Soon after the end of his term as Vice-President, Tommy was elevated to the role of an Honorary Vice-President. For thirty years Tommy held this distinction, being reappointed by each consecutive Battalion Council to this honorary post. Many Presidents were lucky to receive his wise counsel as he rarely missed a meeting. This was until about 10 years ago when frail health began to take its toll; at this point the Battalion Council continued to reappoint Tommy to the Executive as reward for his great and loyal service to our Battalion.

The President sends the Battalion’s condolences to Tommy’s family at this sad and difficult time and we pray that they will find some comfort that Tommy’s life was a life well lived.