I write this as the October holiday is finishing. As long as you were out of Britain you got warm settled weather. Sadly this was the last of the summer breaks; the next one will be in the depth of winter so I hope everyone will feel ready for that. It is a surprise that Christmas is so close. The children will be looking forward to that even if mum and dad are not so sure.
As I said on my previous “Notes” this ward, Strathtay, has many communities and different organisations so after a giving it a lot of serious thought I will not be holding official surgeries preferring to give a very personal and quicker reaction to your enquiries and problems. Monthly surgeries cause delays and I would rather make personal contact so phone or email and I will come to you.

The new council has settled down and the serious work has really started. Several queries I have been chasing are getting resolved. At long last the A923 is being resurfaced and as this was timed to coincide with some badly needed pavement repair this was doubly welcomed.
I and my colleagues will be attending some of the meetings of the Birnam to Ballinluig A9 Community Group workshops in October and November so come and say “Hello”. Scotrans has promised to answer any questions you have as they try to find a solution acceptable by the community.
At this time of the year we are thinking of the Council budget for next year all we know at this stage is the news will not be good. We cannot really start till we know what our financial settlement will be from Holyrood but I am sure we will be looking for yet more savings for 2018/19.
I was not able to attend the launch of the Dunkeld and Birnam Heritage Walks but a friend brought me copies of the two booklets. These were very informative and will help the many tourists that come to Birnam and Dunkeld and to see the Beatrix Potter Story. The report in the Bridge shows a very exciting event and I am sorry I missed it.
I will take this opportunity to wish everyone in Dunkeld and Birnam and the surrounding communities a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I am more than happy to hear from anyone who has ideas or has issues they wish to raise or even want a moan at something that irritates.

Anne Jarvis
 

Conservative Councillor

Local SNP Councillor, Strathtay Ward 5

AnneJarvis@pkc.gov.uk or Tel: 01738 475030.

So have you preserved the abundance of autumn?
Been down the community orchard, busy picking in the veg patch or just walked absorbing the last of the warm colours of the year?
Visited relations, spent time with friends during the October break or snatched time for a quick coffee to catch up with work colleagues?
Both these sets of activities show the abundance available to us but it is so much easier to squirrel away the physical resources than to put time into the less visible means of support needed as we head into winter. We need to notice the lack of sparkle in a friend, the slight withdrawal of a child’s spontaneous chat, the longer silence of a partner after a difficult day’s work. Then use our stores of warmth and empathy gained in easier days to sustain and support.
So as we head into the shortening days which can isolate, separate and close in, let us remember to risk revealing more of ourselves, our own stores of love and care (and apples) to bring light, joy and human connection to all those around us in our community in the darker days ahead.

Jane Anderson & Barbara Dunlop

Many Congratulations to the Dunkeld & Birnam In Bloom team on winning two silver gilt awards from Beautiful Scotland and Take a Pride in Perth and Kinross. It is well deserved recognition for all the work done both by the In Bloom volunteers and others in the community who keep the villages looking so lovely through hours of bending, digging, planting and watering. A great big ‘Thank you’ to everyone concerned – we really appreciate your efforts.
This month’s Bridge sees the launch of a new column ‘Connect’ celebrating the new relationship formally begun between our community and Asheville in North Carolina. Every edition we hope to hear from someone in Asheville about what’s going on there – and we will share our news with them. This month I have invited Fiona Ritchie, Chair of the Friends of Ashville group to launch the column by writing an article about the visit of the Dunkeld and Birnam delegation to Asheville to complete the formalities of the twinning process. As she points out there are many comparisons between the two communities albeit Asheville is on a bigger scale than us. How about their ‘creative spirit …with plenty of opportunities to enjoy music and theatre’? Certainly, there is plenty of creative spirit here – however I’m not quite sure what we would mean by ‘down town’! She also talks about Asheville’s progressive ideals. Again, we don’t have to look much further than initiatives such as Dunkeld and Birnam Unplugged, the Orchard and our Community growing project to see links here. Interestingly she also says that Asheville has more breweries per capita than any other American city.
Indeed! I’m not quite sure we can match that – however we can boast about the wonderful Strathbraan brewery. Maybe we need to encourage another couple of people to get brewing so we can keep up with our new twin town. Gin distilling certainly seems to be very popular – maybe we could make our own and export it to Asheville with botanicals foraged from the hedgerows. Let’s ask In Bloom if they could place a few juniper bushes at strategic points around the village. We could have a communal sampling of various recipes – a job I am happy to volunteer for.
We could share other good ideas with our friends in Asheville. For example our contribution to World Porridge Day which this year takes place on Thursday 12th October 9:30 – 11:30 at Birnam Arts. Every year this event is a great success. It is an opportunity for the community to gather and enjoy time together while raising funds for Mary’s Meals which provides bowls of porridge to children in some of the poorest parts of the world. It is a somewhat sobering thought to note that Mary’s Meal manage to keep the cost of giving a child a bowl of vitamin-enriched maize porridge to just £13.90 for a whole year.
I’m somewhat alarmed by Councillor Grant Laing wishing us all a Happy Christmas on page 9. His greeting has sent me off to the interweb to ask it how many days there are to Christmas - and it says 91. Now, I realise that while we may not be able to produce Dunkeld & Birnam Gin in this time I could get on with making some Meikle Logie sloe gin for the festive period. Now that thought has cheered me up immensely. Cheers!
(PS. Don’t forget your flu jab if you need it – 9th & 18th October see dates for your diary for more info.)

Sally Robertson