279 December 2017 - Gryffe Advertizer

the advertizer
4
This Month
Early days.....
You may be thinking that this issue is awfy early through your doors. It is a wee
bit earlier than our usual delivery, but we need to bring the schedule forward to
accommodate the Christmas shutdown at our commercial printer. Our January
2018 issue has to be printed before Christmas which means an early deadline
of Friday 8th December, so please send in your news etc in plenty of time. The
January issue will be delivered between Boxing Day and Hogmanay.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....
I love my drive home these days. I pass the wonderful window displays at Gibb
Stuart’s which are once again a joy to see. Sandy, Christine and the Gibb Stuart
elves go to great efforts every year to create a visual extravaganza to brighten
up the dark winter evenings. I love it when I see the children who stop to look at
the windows, and it helps get me in the Christmas mood!
Santa’s Sleigh will be doing the rounds again, weather permitting! We’ve got
the dates for you, and there will be updates on Facebook if the weather proves
diffi cult. Local groups get involved in helping out on each night, and their
benefi t is that they get to keep the funds raised on the evening they go out.
Thanks again to all the volunteers who make this happen, and thank you for
the generous donations from you all. The Christmas lights are going on in all the
villages, many with a very special visitor doing the honours!
Road rage.....
When oh when is the Council going to fi x the bollards on the island as you leave
Bridge of Weir towards Kilmacolm? The bollards have been hit so many times
that there is absolutely no refl ective warning. Dark nights combined with rain
make it almost invisible and I’ve spoken to a number of people who have nearly
come a cropper! I’ve reported it, so here’s hoping it gets fi xed before someone
gets hurt.
Missing you.....
Life throws up some strange co-incidences - a lovely wee dog was found in
Kilmacolm last month. Two good Samaritans, Lewis Mcdonnell and Moira
Crichton managed the actual ‘capture’ and brought her to me to try to fi nd the
owner. Through my facebook post, Irene Whiteside of Harvey’s Army Scotland
got in touch. As Irene arrived at our house to check the dog, we saw a man
walking very quickly with a dog lead but no dog. Aha! Are you looking for a
dog I say, yes I am he says. Unfortunately, not the same dog, but while he’s
there, Irene says give me your details and we’ll see what we can do. As they are
talking, I see a post from Sheila Gillespie saying her daughter has just found a
dog. Turns out this is the dog the man is looking for. So at least one wee dog got
home safe and sound that night.
This was during the period around 5th November when lots of fi reworks were
being set off. Going by facebook it was the busiest weekend for runaway dogs
and cats - the local rescue saints were run off their feet trying to re-unite these
wee souls. One thing that makes life so much easier is an up to date chip -
please make sure your pet has been chipped and that the details are correct.
The wee dog we found was chipped but as her owner’s phone number had not
been updated, it took more than 24 hours to reunite them. Funnily enough we
achieved this through facebook with someone seeing my post and also the
owner’s post, and put us in touch with each other.
A great result! A wee dog absolutely delighted to see her dad and away home
safely. I would like to say thanks to everyone for their help in reposting and
passing on information.
Happy Christmas to you all, from all of us at The Advertizer!
Rona
t: 01505 613340 e: info@advertizer.co.uk