When I started up The Advertizer 20 years ago, one of the first local businesses to advertise with me was “Travel a la Carte”, or “Villafind” as it was originally known. Maureen Horton has been the force behind this successful travel business for 30 years, but has decided the time has come to hang up her sombrero and retire. Maureen used to joke with me that she was The Advertizer’s page 3 girl as her ad has been on p3 for so many years; we’ll be sorry to see her go. However, on a positive note, the Kilmacolm travel shop will continue to operate, in its spectacular spot over-looking the Cargill Centre Square, with Arlene Donald taking the helm. Arlene operates as part of Barrhead Travel and the Kilmacolm shop will run under the franchise name “Travel Actually”. We wish Maureen a fruitful and happy retirement, whilst also wishing Arlene every success in her new venture.
Roads... argggh! It’s the time of year when there seems to be a flurry of activity as Council budgets are used up before the year end, and this invariably means road works, everywhere, at the same time. This has seen, on one particular day, almost every road into Bridge of Weir being worked on, in one way or another. Drivers have been very patient and hopefully by the time we are in print most of these works will be complete and we will be enjoying some pot-hole free driving.... for a while! We can only hope the root-causes for the carriageway failures are addressed during the repair process to prevent a recurrence.
Moving on to pavements, it’s much appreciated to see many dog owners now lifting their dog’s poo and bagging it. However there seems to be a minority who miss the next stage of binning it. It was reported that 15 such stinky bags were lifted from the lane between High St and Port Glasgow Rd, at the Kidston Hall, Kilmacolm - many of these a distinctive burgundy bag! Bag it and BIN IT!
On a lighter note, some comic relief. Kilmacolm Dramatic Society are treating us to their production of ‘Allo ‘Allo (which I will say only once). Based on a BBC 1 series, running from 1982 until 1992, written by well-known script-writers Jeremy Lloyd & David Croft. Performances take place on 22, 23, 24 & 25 April at the Kidston Hall. Tickets are available, as usual, from the Cross Cafe in Kilmacolm (tel:872502) and from Rosie Thirde on 01505 873088.
Continuing the comic theme, brilliant news that since the first appeal 30 years ago, Comic Relief has now raised over £1 billion! I’m not even sure how many 000’s that is! However, although this is a wonderful charity and helps many desperate people, I did notice a post on facebook from someone locally who was suggesting that we can all do a little bit to help closer to home, and at no great cost. If we were all to donate a little time, whether to help out at a charity event, venue or shop, or to take the time to visit someone in need of a bit of shopping or just some company, we could all do our bit. It really doesn’t take much to make someone’s day a little better. There are also lots of animal rescue centres run by caring volunteers who could all do with an extra pair of hands to feed, exercise, clean out yards, etc. Alternatively, if you can’t find time to help, some of these charities have collecting stands at local supermarkets, so, if nothing else, try to at least drop in an extra tin of pet food to assist their collections, much appreciated.
And as Spring makes a welcome appearance, another sight in each of the villages is the various groups in their lovely bright jackets, planting and pruning, sweeping and snipping, getting the planters ready to bloom! We now have Brighter Bridge of Weir, Colourful Kilmacolm and Grow Kilbarchan all making great effort to brighten up the villages. Go on, get involved, even if it’s just tidying up the area around your own home, and Gibb Stuart’s even sell litter-pickers, so come on and get picking!
