Page 30 - Feb2023

A Burns' Supper Includes Readings from

t he Poet 's Work

An already fest ive evening was made more
special when Norm Follis who had volunt eered
t o recit e one of Burns' most popular poems, A
Red, Red Rose, announced t hat he and Carolyn
were celebrat ing t heir 28t h wedding anniversary
at t he Burns' Supper. The beauty of the poem took
on new vibrancy when it was overlaid on a
meaningful celebration of years spent together. At
the completion of the reading, Norm asked Carolyn
to join him and surprised her with red roses in an
English pottery mug with a n inscription that fit her
"O I will love thee still,
perfectly.
my dear while the sands
Next on the program was Shannon Tibbals who of life shall run."
brought her dad with her to the supper. ( Check out Robert Burns
her car in the red car section of this issue.) She did a
Above: Say it with poetry and roses- Carolyn
great job with what some people feel is Burns' best
and Norm Follis-Happy Anniversary.
pastoral poem entitled to To A Mouse, on turning h
her up in her nest (1785). h (pronounced 'slan-je-va'

Warren Gardner ended the reading of the evening's
verse with the last poem that Burns wrote before
his death, "O Wert Thou in t he Cauld Blast ". The
English translation from the Scots is a bit creaky, but To Your Good Healt
Warren, who is well traveled, and has attended
previous Burns Suppers in Malaysia and the Sudan,
tweaked his own speaking voice just enough to give
a hint of the Scots to the more laborious English so hat
that the feeling of the lament came through.
A Burns supper achieves its goal if people who e m
know the poet's work go home and reconnect with
him, while people who have never read Burns leave
wanting to know more about the poems and his life. laint
Our three presenters helped make the evening a
success with their renditions. S
Above: Shannon Tibbals reminded us "The
best-laid schemes of Mice an' Men often
go astray", something Burns knew well
and a theme John Steinback built on in his
novel Of Mice and Men.

Left : Somehow we didn't get a photo of Warren while
speaking, but we did have this file photo of him with
his wife Debby, taken on their wedding day, Valentine's
Day, several years ago. Happy Anniversary to you both
Recently relocated from California they now live in
Arrington where Debby drives a Range Rover.
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