LETTER FROM THE CHIEF

Dear Members,

I must apologise for the lateness of this Newsletter: My fault, as I have been travelling, not least my visit to the USA, therefore the Newsletter was held up for me to vet, and to write this letter. I must apologise particularly to all members outwith the USA and Canada who did not benefit from the presence of Sonia and myself, but worry not, your turn will come.

ADMINISTRATION

Since I took over the administration of the Clan Association we have had a few hiccups but these have been and are being ironed out, and members on the American continent confirmed during our visit that any problems can be easily overcome. I also got the impression that there is a vast enthusiam from you all, which gives me great courage.

To make it quite clear to you, the people who are helping me to run the Association at Hunterston are:

Anthony L. Elvy

Heis in overall charge of the whole Estate, which includes not only the Clan Association and Mail Order but the day-to-day management of the Estate farms, the mansion, all the buildings and parkland etc. He is also in charge of the general administration and accountancy. He reports directly to me and in order to keep me fully informed about what is happening at Hunterston we are in frequent contact by telephone and fax.

Dr. E.M. Patterson

He is the editor of the Newsletter and is the clan archivist and curator of the library and museum. He was a professor of geology and has provided a number of Clan members with itineraries for fascinating tours around Bums Country.

Ian Menzies

He is the 'man on the spot' as he lives in the Upper Cottage, which is an apartment in the Castle complex. He looks after the Castle, the House and gardens, and the parkland immediately surrounding them. He is the man you will meet when you visit Hunterston, and you will be glad to hear tha t he now has a vehicle and could meet you at West Kilbride Station by prior arrangement Ian's profile was in the February 1989 Newsletter, and this will tell you all about him. His telephone number is 0294 823847

Lady Hunterston (Sonia)

My wife, last but not least, who is my right hand During our visit to America she kept all the notes of the information we gathered from all of you, and also the diary. She of course helps a lot.

Hunterston -"_ Myself

Apart from being a bossy boss, keeping in contact with the administrators in Scotland; I propose to computerise the Clan genealogy. There is greater detail about this below.

I would like to record Sonia's and my sincerest thanks to everyone in the USA and Canada who looked after us so wonderfully when we visited you. Specifically our thanks go to:

Charles and Trish for organising Stone Mountain, and for having us to stay.

Ron and Vi for all the hard work they did for the Clan tent And to all those who helped at the Stone Mountain Games.

The Clan Chief and Charles M. Hunter (Clan Officer, USA) at the Stone Mountain Games.

Lynette for lending her home and also my thanks to Bev Sheirer for entertaining Sonia and me so delightfully - I shan’t forget the visit to Amish Country - for organising the Hunter Gathering to tie in with our visit. And last but not least the pleasure it gave us meeting your family, especially your mother and Millie at last - after 19 years.

John and Marion for organising us so well, as always. For the excellent and, for my part, most useful meeting of the Canadian Hunters. We are both so glad that Marion is better after her very major operation - please take it easy Marion, and get completelY recovered. We both send you our very best wishes. I would, rather tardily, also like to thank you John for the highly efficient organisation of the Hunter presence at the Fergus Games last year: It was a masterpiece.

APPOINTMENTS

I would like to appoint two Deputy Clan Officers: Beverley A. Sheirer, who already has a large family group of Hunters round her home in Valencia, PA and around Pittsburgh, She attends the Ligonier Games each year and has been trying the Ohio Scottish Games.

Lewis R. Hunter, who will help on the West Coast of the USA as we have' several members there, but they are not yet co-ordinated in their area.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Since taking over the management, and even before that, I have been encouraged to charge an annual subscription for membership of the Clan Association. Therefore, after a great deal of discussion, I have decided that the charges should be:

Entrance/joining fee: US$ 50.00 (or equivalent in other currencies) Annual subscription: US$ 20.00 (or nearest equivalent)

Family membership has been cancelled.

Life membership may be considered in the future if there is a great demand.

US$ 20 of the entrance fee will be regarded as the first year's annual subscription. In addition, new members will receive a booklet on the Clan and its history, ,a Mail Order brochure, and a certificate of membership.

Annual subscription: this will entitle members to continue to be an active part of the Association and to receive two Newsletters per year.

The annual subscription will be due by 1st April each year and demands will be issued by Clan Officers. This will reduce the cost of postage, and of handling foreign currency in British banks. Clan Officers will update members' addresses and pass this information to headquarters in order that our flies can be kept accurate. All members who joined prior to 31st December 1989 shall be 'FOUNDER MEMBERS'. Their names will be listed and placed on display in the Castle.

I am delighted to see that we have 37 new members of the Association since November 1988.

Please remember that I expect you all to enrol at least one new member every year.

GENEALOGY

I have ordered an IBM Clone computer: a Deskline AT. (12MHz 80206) 40 megabytes hard disc, and propose to do what is called

'Family Reconstitution', which means:

1. That you all do the research and make up you own family trees as far as you can, and then send me a copy.

2. I try to connect your tree to the Hunter family tree and, if  you are connected,

3. I shall record your tree and add it to the main tree, and hope that in due course copies will be available on floppy disc. Please note that it would be helpful if members using the computer programs for recording their family trees could check that our computers are compatible.

I would like to record my thanks and indebtedness to Mark Hunter Madsen who generously donated the Mormon Church's 'Personal Ancestral File' to the Association. I would also like to thank Catherine and Dave Elder for their help and encouragement.

Sonia and I hope to be at Hunterston during the last week of May and first week of June 1990, and would be pleased to see any members who may be visiting at that time.

The next formal Clan Gathering will be over the weekend of 4th and 5th July 1992, and we hope to see as many of you as possible.

Yours Aye,