A Sad Farewell to Iain
Murray
 IT
IS with sadness that I report the passing, suddenly, at home in the
United Kingdom, of Iain Murray, OBE, on May 2, 2009, at the age of
64. Iain and his wife, Norma, came to Houston in January
2001, (with their two boxer dogs Tipsy and Whisky) where Iain served
as Her Majesty’s Consul-General, until his retirement from
the Diplomatic Service in 2004. (The Consulate-General in Houston
was responsible for the states of Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Arkansas and Colorado.) The Funeral Service took place on
Friday May 15 at St George’s Church, Wash Common, Newbury. Norma
Murray was the Patron of the State of Texas Daughters of the
British Empire, during her time in Houston. Iain’s
self-professed interests included travelling and history, finding a
quiet corner to smoke his pipe without offending anybody, Scotch
whisky, and losing golf balls (!). A celebration of Iain’s life was
held at the official residence of the present HM Consul-General,
Paul Lynch, and his wife Yoko, on May 21. Our condolences
go out to Norma and the family. Iain will be missed.
Offshore Technology
Conference
It was ‘business as usual’
at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston in early
May. Despite the economic downturn and the H1N1 flu outbreak,
exhibitors and delegates flocked to Houston to attend the
Conference, which celebrated its 40th
anniversary this year. Attendance appeared to have been only
slightly down over previous years. There was quite a large
contingent from the United Kingdom, but no Cabinet Minister’s were
on hand this year (probably taking care of their expenses!!!). One
UK company in particular was singled out for honours was MAPS
Technology Ltd, who specialise in stress measurement technology.
MAPS received the prestigious Arthur Lubinski Award from the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Petroleum Division
at the 2009 Offshore Technology Conference. In addition, the company
was also selected as one of six finalists for the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers 26th Annual Woelfel Best Mechanical
Engineering Achievement Award (BMEA). This is the first time that
any company has been nominated in both categories. Congratulations
MAPS.
Fire at Big John’s,
Houston
Big John’s Ice House,
a regular gathering place for Houston’s football (soccer) and rugby
fans for televised games, and the home of the Texas True Blues
Supporters Club (Glasgow Rangers FC), suffered a fire at the end
of April, which resulted in a short closure and renovations. All of
the memorabilia, including signed shirts, pictures, and posters, was
removed from the walls for the renovations, and there is concern
that some of these irreplaceable items will be too damaged to be
replaced. Houston had endured a torrential downpour earlier in the
week of the fire, which resulted in serious flooding around the
city. Ronnie Meldrum, a past-President of the True Blues, was
prompted to say “It’s been a helluva week in Houston!”
DBE National
Following on the success of
the State meeting in San Antonio in March, the State of Texas
Daughters of the British Empire hosted the DBE National
Convention at the Omni Hotel, Houston over the weekend of May 15
-17. Conference delegates from around the country were on hand to
discuss important bye-law amendments and membership recruitment, in
addition to letting their hair down at the Saturday night banquet.
The DBE National President is Houston’s own Joan Gol, MBE. If
you have an interest in joining the DBE’s in Texas, please drop me
an email and I will pass on the information to Joan.
Houston Highland Games
and Celtic Festival
The Houston Highland
Games and Celtic Festival in mid-May turned out to be a rousing
success, even though the weather threatened on Saturday threatened
to cut it short. Thankfully all of the competitions were completed
for the day, when the skies opened up, and we were subjected to
another of Houston’s ‘gully-washers!’ However, in typical fashion
for Houston, the rains went away in the early evening and Sunday
turned out to be cloudy but dry. The Games and Festival featured the
usual Highland competitions, including tossing the caber, plus
Highland Dancing and piping competitions. The pipeband competition
was won by the St Thomas Episcopal School ‘A’ Band. The St
Thomas Pipeband has won numerous World Championships in Scotland.
The Festival featured many excellent bands and musicians, including
Ed Miller, Clandestine, Jiggernaut, and Teribus. The HHG &
Celtic Festival still seems to be one of the best-kept secrets in
Houston, and really deserves greater attendance and greater success.
Keep your eyes on the calendar for next year.
Sleeping Beauty
Panto for Houston
After the phenomenal success
of Cinderella last year, Stages Theatre in
Houston is putting on another Panto for the 2009 Christmas season.
This year’s panto will be Sleeping Beauty, and is
already in the casting stages! I’ll have more details in the
near-future, but tickets have been on sale since early May, and the
latest reports have it that over 2000 tickets have been snapped up!
This year’s panto will have a seven-week run, and will include a
special one-night only, adults only, ‘Naughty Panto.’ I hesitate to
offer a comment about that – pure as I am!!! |
