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     The article above appeared in The Press and Journal EveningExpress on September 1, 2004, the day of our Silver Jubilee ceremony. It hailed the gathering of delegations from Houston-Grampian and Grampian-Houston to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the twinning of the two organizations and to mark our Silver Jubilee. To commemorate the event, Grampian-Houston arranged for a permanent marker to be installed in the Arid House of the David Welch Winter Gardens section of Duthie Park, a beautiful and historic 44 acre area displaying 120,000 roses and many other varieties of floral displays, with open spaces, ponds and fountains, and it is open year round.

     Duthie Park was opened in 1883 and has been a great favorite with the people of Aberdeen and has been used by individuals and societies and has been a place to host events and festivities, one of the most recent large events being the Queen's Golden Jubilee in May, 2002.

     The Silver Jubilee marker, shown at the top of the page, is done in the shape of the State of Texas and was covered by a Texas flag prior to it's unveiling by the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, John Reynolds. At the ceremony, shown at right, he made remarks about twinning Aberdeen and Houston and the success of combined efforts of our sister organizations. Also speaking were Jimmy Hay, Chairman of Grampian-Houston Assiociation and our own President, John Fowler. Members of the news media were present from Aberdeen and the BBC and there was extensive television and newspaper coverage of the event, including an interview with John Fowler and with charter HGA member Micky Carmichael. To the left you can see members of our group in the dazzling Arid House display and shown below are the founding members of our organizations who were present for the ceremony.They are, from left to right, Ian Gordon, Micky Carmichael, Heather Anderson, Bob Gilbert, Eric Duncan and Bill Gordon.

     Needless to say, our group from Houston felt that we had participated in a very special moment in time and it was obvious that the Aberdonians felt exactly the same way. This was the first event of the week's activities and really started the exchange visit off with a flair. To hear about the other events that followed during this memorable week, click HERE.