Well, the 2017/18 season certainly ended in style with the April Lunch. Not only did we have an excellent speaker in Jim Robertson but we also had a Barbershop Singing Group (Close Shave Chorus) and an unexpected awards ceremony honouring various GROGS for some rather curious achievements during the past year. Add to those an AGM which included details of record disbursements to various rugby related charities and you could see how this last Lunch of the season left the 100 odd attendees with a hearty appetite for the start of the new season in September. The Chairman, Brian Rigby, explained that the surprise presence of Close Shave Chorus was in order to help celebrate International Barbershop Quartet Day. The celebration was as catchy as it was highly colourful and a much appreciated ‘starter course’ to the meal proper. Another welcome innovation to the normal Lunch format was the introduction of the ‘GROGSCARS’ awards. Described as the first, and probably the last, of such ceremonies, this saw some GROGs being acclaimed for previously unrecognised talents! Some may have been tongue in cheek awards but certainly not in the case of founder member Roy Dingwall’s Lifetime Achievement Award, in appreciation of all the work and humour he had given in service to the GROGS over the past 16 years. However, the star of the show was undoubtedly Jim Robertson, a still active Procurator Fiscal and a speaker of exceptional talent. Jim confessed that he was not, in any way, a rugby man - football and golf (particularly golf) being his sports of choice. Jim is obviously a seasoned pro as a speaker. To use the popular Just a Minute radio show catchphrase, he entertained the gathered GROGs without hesitation, repetition or deviation for fully 30 minutes, and they loved it! He used his wealth of experience as a lawyer, Procurator Fiscal and a son of Lanarkshire to regale his audience with story after story of good, clean fun. At the end, everyone understood exactly why he had been awarded the Wittiest Wit of Wits title at the erstwhile St. Columba’s Hospice Wits Dinner. A worthy recipient of a bottle of unique GROGS whisky as a thank you for the entertainment he provided!