Full-on festivity
Confession time: I’m usually to be found in the Bah! Humbug camp when it comes to the build-up to Christmas, especially because it seems to start earlier each year.
So I found myself surprisingly enthused by last week’s bumper edition of The Oban Times and the comprehensive reporting of everything that’s coming up in the area.
Probably the story that made me smile the most was the preview of Spotlight Theatre Company’s panto Mother Hubbard and the Magic Purse, which opens at the Corran Halls next Thursday. I’m a huge admirer of the group because of personal connections to some of its stalwarts and hope for packed houses next week, though sadly I can’t be there.
Another highlight for me every year is the Oban Winter Festival and its many events, top of which is the Reindeer Parade, which sets off at 5pm this Saturday and culminates in the big switch-on of the Christmas lights in Station Square at 5.30pm.
Bah! Humbug? Not this year! Go out and enjoy everything that’s happening.
Floats my boat
Another exciting – for me at least – event in the near future is the arrival of the new Oban lifeboat, the Campbell-Watson, a Shannon class vessel.
The new boat is scheduled to depart from its current berth in Poole, Dorset, on Tuesday December 12, en route to Oban. Key personnel from Oban have been training on the new boat and there will be much anticipation of its arrival here. I am in awe of the work done by our RNLI crews and look forward to seeing the Campbell-Watson.
Correct decision
In April, I wrote a condemnation of the Scottish Government plans for the ill-conceived Highly Protected Marine Areas. I said then they would “devastate fishing communities, especially on our west coast and islands”.
Thankfully, and at last, Holyrood has seen the error of its ways and scrapped the idea. We can all heave a sigh of relief.
What do you think? Send your comments to editor@obantimes.co.uk