Elgin Rotary's Diamond Jubilee

SCHOOLS, youth organisations, community groups and individuals have been urged to rally behind Elgin’s celebrations to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June.

Elgin Rotary Club has a packed programme of events lined up for the first weekend in June.

And it needs as many people as possible to get involved to make the celebration a huge success.

The club has added on special jubilee events around its traditional Rotary Motorfun in the town’s Cooper Park on Sunday, June 3.

Working in collaboration with the Lord Lieutenant of Moray, Grenville Johnston, the club is pulling out all the stops over the weekend.

Brodie Ross, chief organiser for Rotary, said: "It is a chance for the community to get involved in a big celebration. This is something new for us and we are looking forward to it."

The weekend will get under way with a concert by Moray Youth Choir on Friday, June 1.

The main jubilee celebration will take place on the Saturday, starting with a teddy bears’ picnic organised by Elgin Library from 11am.

Rotary is hoping as many people as possible will take part in a spectacular Jubilee pageant which will wind its way along South Street, High Street and on to Cooper Park.

Comprising floats, horses and bands, the parade will see local school children celebrate each decade of the Queen’s reign in colourful costumes from each era. It is also hoped local businesses, organisations and the military will also be involved.

A Pageant Queen and two attendants will be led in horse-drawn carriages to the park, along with the Lord Lieutenant.

At the park, there will be a ‘Big Jubilee Lunch’ from 1pm, and organisers hope up to 3,000 people will take part in a variety of ways.

From 2.30pm there will be entertainment in the park, including a re-enactment of the Queen’s Coronation in conjunction with Elgin Amateur Dramatic Society.

Children’s games, 1950s style, will take place from 3.30pm, with 60 red, white and blue balloons released in the park. In the evening, there will music in the park from Cantare and Friends, and the Elgin Rotary Male Voice Choir.

The Rotary Motorfun will take its usual pride of place on the Sunday in Cooper Park with a range of stalls, entertainment, motor displays, It’s a Knockout and Pirates on the Pond from 12noon to 5pm.

On the Monday evening, a beacon will be lit on top of Ladyhill, organised by the Rotaract Club of Moray.

And from Tuesday, June 5, there will be a display of Jubilee weekend photographs in the gallery at Elgin Library.

Elgin Museum also has plans to stage an exhibition and possibly show some old films of Moray.

The Lord Lieutenant urged people needing advice on how to stage their own celebration to contact him through Moray Council.

"I do hope that as the Diamond Jubilee year commences, more people will come up with ideas of ways to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s great service to the nation," he said.

The Moray Gig sail training group will also take part by rowing in the Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames in London. The 7.5 mile trip will include a mix of historic and modern boats. The Moray Gig will be included in the Lord Lieutenants’ boats which will sail ahead of the main flotilla.

Mr Ross said if other organisations wish to join in the celebration by staging their own events but under the wider Jubilee umbrella they can contact him by e-mail at brodie.ross@btinternet.com