It was the best of times! So wonderful to see so many relatives, friends and neightbours, and to be able to walk all round Troon in such fine weather.  I’ll never forget this weekend.

There were very positive comments about how enjoyable the Friday golf match was and folk enjoyed meeting one another. One of the teams was made up of weans who’d lived in the same close!

On Saturday Troon was very busy and there were a lot of folk making the circuit round Portland Street, Ayr Street, Academy Street and Church Street in the search for kent faces. Several shops decorated their windows and there was an air of excitement wherever you went.

Saturday evening turned out even better than our highest expectations. About 380 folk arrived (there were a few folk who’d had their hearts set on coming had to cancel at the last minute due to circumstances beyond their control – they were sorely missed). Folk brought photographs for the display boards in the hallway leading to the Walker Halls and loads of lovely raffle prizes, and there was a display of photos from Marr College. Each lady received a gift bag from Scentsations and all attendees received a gift bag of Troon Humbugs from Chris Husband of Coulter’s Candy. (By the way, there was also a special macaroon bar on sale at the shop which had a purple and gold filling and it was named Macatroon – suggestion was made by Les McCulloch, Doreen (Reid)’s husband.

The Troon BB Pipe Band rushed down the road from Rothesay ; always first rate! They played for those assembled and it was absolutely wonderful and wid’ve brought a tear tae a gless e’e. There were many former BB band boys in the crowd and many told me that they were impressed with the superb way the boys trained – a compliment to their trainers and to the boys themselves. Thanks to Davie and Christopher Bone and all the members of the band; we’re very proud of you.

The buffet got rave reviews for quality, quantity and appearance – thanks to Truly Scrumptious. The Caddy Shack provided the bar and the bartenders were dressed in white shirts and Marr College ties – a nice wee touch and their patter was brilliant too.

We had folk in from Canada, United States, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Argentina, Holland, England, other parts of Scotland, Saudi Arabia … and even fae Coney and Beverly! It was great to hear the buzz of talk all round the hall as folk got reacquainted – absolutely magic! 

Live music was provided by Scottsound and they selected the right music. There were a lot of folk up on the dance floor reliving happy hours spent at the Townie. Cathie (Crabbe) Morrison and I expected to look up and see Wallace Edmiston dancing in the corner! It was a wonderful evening all together.

Alistair Mulhearn and Gary _______ took many photographs so by the time this goes to press we hope to have plenty of them up on the site for your pleasure.

Special thanks to all of our volunteers – we couldn’t have done it without them: Bob Longmuir, Des Cottingham, Jack Gorman and Les McCulloch, none of whom are from Troon, but whose wives were on the Committee, got torn in and helped in many different ways; Eileen (Paterson) Ong, Margaret (Irving) Reilly, Derek Hodgson, Ian Gregory, Rona (McEwan) McAvenna, Molly (Henderson) MacDonald, Charlie Pilditch, Iain Goldie, Kate (Logie) Love, Betty (Connell) Mill, Helen (Henderson) Cruse, Jacqui (Henderson) Cunningham, Anne (Taylor) Lee, May (McCormack) Reilly, Dianne (Starkey) Khoury, and Catriona (Case) O’Dwyer (If I’ve missed anyone, I’m truly sorry – if you’re still in Troon you’ve time to take me tae task!) Thanks too to John Bigham, John Munro and others who contributed great photos to the Troon Reunion site in the run up to the event.

On Sunday we had a wonderful bus run hosted by Cathie (Crabbe) Morrison, who as always was very entertaining, and had the first taste of rain late in the afternoon. Those who went on the Historical Walk courtesy of Iain Goldie and Nan (Dunbar) McFarlane learned a lot about Troon … and got caught in the liquid sunshine!

Monday’s tour of Marr College was a great success too. Over 90 folk attended, five of whom were in the first intake – 1935. Mary Gilmour was the first head girl and it was also her birthday on Monday -  memorable day for her. The College had undergone a thorough cleaning, phase 1 of the new windows had been installed, and the curtains in the Assembly Hall appeared to be brand new. We were proud to see that the Dux board had been replaced and good to see familiar names on it – some of whom were on the tour. Mr Bone made us welcome and had us organised into six groups with teachers and Prefects as our guides. £213 was donated towards a memory garden for Mrs Bell, Principal Teacher  of Home Economics, who died recently.   Mrs Bell was a very committed member of the Staff at Marr and was much loved by both pupils and colleagues,

And finally on Tuesday, the coffee morning at the Nazarene! Unbelievable that the final event of the weekend arrived so quickly. About 100 folk turned up and had a good time visiting one another while enjoying the lovely home-baked items, tea and coffee provided by the ladies of the church. Susie (Meikle) Orr brought in sprigs of white heather for the travellers.

Babs, Ros, Moira, Betty, Lesley, Cathy, Doreen, Bertram, Derek, Alastair (who missed the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday events due to ‘flu) and I thank all the folk who participated from the bottom of our hearts.