by pobthespazz 202 Replies latest jw experiences
Ray Midgeley (didnt know he was a goner)
John Flack (superb public speaker)
Gordon Webb (twat)
Peter Morgan (lovely guy)
Chris Thompson (vaguely remeber)
There was a guy I think called Rodney? Ketter from the early 70's who i remember as a very small boy. Scared the crap out of me.
All Lanarkshire no. 1 circuit 1974-1990 when i was around and growing up.
David Algar, DO
Mike Reid DO
Mike Hodgson CO
Mike Egan CO
Jim Tait CO
Thanks for that all, Psinger no real reason, just a bit of personnel research I want to do
Tom Maltby. I wonder if he's dead.
Nope. Still going I'm afraid.
Some of those names ring a bell.
Jim Flemming. Was he a scottish guy with a limp? If he's the one I'm thinking of he was a really nice bloke.
Richard Cullen - wicked sense of humour! My kids looked forward to meetings when he was visiting ( about the only time they did!! )
Tony Taverner - did he leave circuit work because of kidney problems? I'm sure he settled down south and popped up to give talks now and again. Anyone know if he's still alive?
Bagpuss:
Aye, you've placed Jim Flemming. As you say, he was a lovely guy, but unfortunately had moments of being spineless. He avoided dealing with some issues of overbearing Elders, in one Circuit.
'Alan and Diane Fisher (liked a tipple or 10, now removed from circuit work)'
That's interesting, I have some good memories of Alan, but I was about 10 when he was our CO.
Also:
Michael (?) Ganderton
Colin Bird
Mark Cossey
Gordon Watson
Jim Flemming. As you say, he was a lovely guy, but unfortunately had moments of being spineless
you're not wrong there..
i was the service overseer in coatbridge when we visited us..he stayed with us and on the friday on the way to the elders meeting in my car he informs me that my position was up for discussion..he did it in a "oh by the way you know we will be discussing the service overseer position tonight dont you" kind of way to which i replied no i wasnt aware of that.
seems that the new young elder in the hall who was the kind of guy that changed his car and work every 6 months cos he couldnt stick at one thing for very long..well he decided that he had had enough of doing the school so he wanted to be the service overseer and had gone to the other elders behind my back and put doubts in their mind as to my running of the position..they didnt care who did it so long as they didnt have to so come the elders meeting that night i was ousted and he was appointed..
i nearly left the elders meeting at that point and should have told jim fleming to find another lift home but like an idiot i thought this would be immature and lacking in humility...so i stayed even tho i was close to tears for much of the remaining time.
it seems the biggest concern the new young elder had with me was that i hadnt completely reduced the level of irregularity in the hall something he set about doing with as much noise and fanfare as possible..6 months down the line he left and joined another hall..
i was asked to be service overseer again (which i loved doing btw) cos none of the others wanted to do it...this time i politely declined.
a couple of years later i got a phone call from jim fleming (haha no not an apology)...it was just after a district convention at perth and during it another bro had come and cracked a joke about jims leg to a crowd i was a part of..it wasnt particularly funny but you tend to laugh with the crowd and then someone else cracked a joke about another bro who was dying of cancer which was in poor taste and i said so..the original joke teller had told jim that i had been making fun of him and this was jim phoning me all agrieved..
my reply was straight to the point...jim i dont particularly like you but i am at worst guilty of not defending you because of that..but i wasnt the one cracking jokes at you...but since you are on the phone may i just say that earlier in the convention in an empty corridor you were walking toward me and put your head down and walked right past..you who have stayed at my house eaten my food and been treated to the theatre etc...his reply was that he hadnt seen me and that if it should happen again i should just kick him as he passes!!!
i resisted the urge to say well i would do but you've got a club foot....
now dont get me started on ray midgley
I had a number of COs stay at my home, including Ray Midgeley, Chris Thompson, David Craig, Bobby Bell, Mike Reed, Jim Flemming, etc. (yeah, yeah, I was uber-Elder too). I got on with most of them, probably because living on a small island gives you less opportunity to cross swords with them.
People were always surprised that I got on with Ray, and I certainly heard some horror stories, over the years. He loved his perceived reputation for deposing Elders.
I've asked this before, on the Board, but did anyone ever hear whaqt happened to David after the depression set in? I heard he headed to East Anglia, but that was the last. For me, personally, that man was singularly the best teacher I ever heard (and I say that above even the likes of David "theatrical" Algar and John "bullethead, I love the HLC" Flack).
As for Clive Upton, less said, best said...
i believe david craig went to college and became a teacher..not sure what of....i do know that he is now part of a chinese cong/group cos he met my folks at an assembly recently and was asking after me..
i sold him his first car...the engine fell out at a junction in glasgow about 7/8 months later...(not my fault)
do you know what contributed to his depression...
his family live in kilmarnock which was a cong in his circuit and which is where the circuit flat was...but because the flat was provided by richard jolley but paid for by the circuit some on the commitee objected to a bro benefitting..(in actual fact the flat cost richard esp when ray midgeley was living in it but he saw it as a contribution)...anyway another flat became available in paisley.. i know because both my parents and my sister stayed in it but cant remember who was vacating it at this time..this flat was cheaper...so david was told he had to stay in paisley...he said he would much prefer to stay in kilmarnock and since he was renting out his own flat in england somewhere he would be happy to pay the difference...this was not told to the elders at subsequent assembly funds voting sessions and any attempt to inform them was blocked..eg billy lee by terry senior...but instead the idea was put across that david was being awkward and selfish and demanding.
he stayed in paisley for a while but as in most cases its not what happens to you per se that has the biggest effect but the way that you are treated...and the lies and innuendo attached..
david craig was david algars protege..and i remember saying to david algar once that when he was better david craig could go back on cirruit work and david algars reply was that no that wouldnt happen almost as if he was embarrassed by david craigs failure to cope with the depression resulting from the way he had been treated...how sad
its not the words of your enemies you remember...its the silence of your friends
now clive upton...well i got on ok with him although many didn't
and one of the dennis green's was funny
