Reflecting on the 2024 Minibus Outings, by Margaret McGrath
Following a successful minibus outing to New Abbey in May, it was decided to hold a trip each month to a place of special interest, thus allowing parishioners to mix socially while visiting places they might not otherwise be able to access.
The demand for these trips was such that we managed to fill two minibuses each time and everyone has enjoyed them. We try to alternate the trips between a Friday and a Monday and also a Public Holiday so that those who are working also have a chance to take part in some of them.
The places we visited this year were; Dumfries House in May, Rosslyn Chapel in June, Falkland Palace in July, Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow in August, Dundee in September and Mount Stuart House on Rothesay, which was our last outing for the year, in October.
Each trip followed much the same pattern in that where possible we had Mass , lunch and a tour of the place we were visiting. Everyone had their own favourite place and one of the good things was that parishioners got to know each other better as they chatted to one another on the bus and toured the buildings and grounds together.
In July we went on a special trip. This was to the Annual Scalan Mass. Scalan was a seminary built in the Braes of Glenlivet at a time when Catholicism was banned. It opened in 1717 and trained 100 Scottish priest before closing in1799. One of our members has strong family ties to the area, which managed to hang on to the faith during Penal times, and was able to give a great deal of information from her family’s history. This included a visit to the local graveyard where her ancestors are buried. The journey home though was quite a long one as we stopped for Fish and Chips in Aviemore and had another stop in Pitlochry thus not arriving back until 11.30 pm !
We have already been inundated with requests for destinations for next year and a planning meeting will be arranged soon to work out the logistics and decide on the programme.
St Joseph’s would like to acknowledge the support from Frs Stephen and Kevin in organising these trips and from our volunteer drivers and assistant without whom none of this would be possible.
We look forward to an exciting programme of events in 2024.