Minutes - August 2013

Note of the North Tolsta Historical Society at the Schoolhouse North Tolsta on Wednesday 7th August  2013 at 7.30 p.m.

PRESENT: D.Murray, S. Maciver, C.M. Smith, J. Macleod, M. Maciver, C. Macleod, M. Murray, T. Edgar, D. Maciver. Apologies: M. Macdonald, E. Mackenzie, A. Mackenzie, D. Macdonald. CHAIR: D. Murray.

Note of the meeting of 3rd. July 2013 was approved.

Matters arising
Tobar an Dualchais When we purchase the new computer the new tapes which are now in digitised format will be loaded on to the new computer.

Cladach Track and Sign Update; Aird Walk Entrance Sign Update
Repairs to Cladach Road - £250 received from North Tolsta Grazings Committee towards maintenance of the Cladach Road. Secretary to write a thank you note to thank them for this donation.
Grazings Committee have not permitted the C.E. to erect the sign at the Cladach Road. The condition of this road continues to deteriorate as it is not suitable for the larger vehicles, especially mobile homes, which continue to use it. The cross drains on the road are now seriously damaged and erosion has started again. There had been no problems with the track for the past couple of years.

Aird Walk entrance sign 
Chair asked two of the committee members to return the sign to its original position. It had been hoped to move the sign to a better location to ensure that the correct entrance route would be clearly sign posted.

Seanchas - Costs of printing and type-setting
As Catriona has gone to India for a few months A. Maciver has kindly agreed to typeset this edition of Seanchas for us.
It was agreed to have 4 pages in colour in the next edition of Seanchas. Phil will continue to print Seanchas for us and the estimated cost will be £560. This edition will have Prize giving photos from the local school, photos of graduates with Tolsta connections, a special feature about Community Turbine etc.

Heritage Sites in Tolsta
Report from equipment subcommittee - Subcommittee met on 31st. July. D. Murray, M. Macdonald, D. Maciver and D. Macaskill.
Morag and D. Macaskill were able to advise the group as to the most suitable equipment for the project. We are now ready to order and D. Macaskill has kindly offered to install the new computer equipment when it arrives.

Oral History Training on Thursday 29th August 
This training session will take place in Museum nan Eilean. D. Maciver, D. Murray and C.M. Smith hope to attend. This session will give advice about interviewing skills, which should be of benefit for our current project.

Social Media Training on Saturday 31st. August 10a.m. - 4p.m. in the Caberfeidh Hotel
This is a training session run by Voluntary Arts Scotland. This training is to help voluntary groups to make best use of Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter. T. Edgar hopes to attend this session.

HLF’S First War Programme. Update from Cathie Mary 
Cathie Mary has completed the very long application form and has had correspondence from the organisation. Committee will not give their decision until the autumn so we will have to wait to see if our application for funding has been successful.

Visitors and Enquiries
Facebook page is receiving very positive comments.
E-mail from Alison Eade. She has had Murdo Donaldson Macleod’s book republished. The book is called “How to Achieve Good Fortune.”

Finance and Correspondence
Finances stand at £11,271.43.
Cheque for £186.43 has been received from CNES. This was a grant towards cost of equipment.
Donna Dorris, Training and Quality Standards Manager for Hebridean Connections wishes to meet with the committee to show the Demonstration version of the new Hebridean Connections System.