Drumbeg Residents' Association Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be held on Thursday 6 November at 7.30pm in the Cooper Hall, Church Hall Speaker will be from Neighbourhood Watch. This is for all residents in the area, so please come along.

DRA Switch on of Christmas Tree Lights and Carols
7.00pm Tuesday 1 December at the Drumbeg Orange Hall. Music will be by First Old Boys Silver Band Santa. There will be refreshments and a ballot for a local charity. A night out for all ages

Litter Picking by Rosalind Bloomfield
Drumbeg residents can be seen out regularly picking up litter, Robert Jordan and Roger MacWilliam on the Drumbeg Road whilst, Anne McAdam and Carmel McBrien keep Drum Bridge clean.
The DRA chairman, Hugh Crookshanks, organised a cleanup event on 27th June, when residents including WI members and local Councillors filled a trailer with rubbish collected along the roads of Drumbeg.
Hugh has plans to encourage more residents to help keep Drumbeg litter free. It is disappointing that litter louts spoil the locality as we live in a very beautiful part of NI. It is heartening that the local residents are supporting efforts to keep Drumbeg clean, tidy and beautiful.

Neighbourhood Watch
Members of the Neighbourhood Watch are still active, keeping Drumbeg a safe place to live.
Unfortunately there has been some crime activity in the area, with a number of break-ins and theft being averted due to the alertness of residents.
Jim Bingham, Lisburn and Castlereagh City Police and Community Safety Partnership Officer is organising a safety promotion event for all on a date to be confirmed.
Please be alert, secure your property and report any suspicious activity, no matter how small – it could prevent a crime.

Senior Citizens Outing by Jane Steele
Leaving at 10.00 am on 9 June, 29 of our senior citizens set off for our Annual Outing in two mini buses. We were very lucky to have a lovely sunny day to enjoy the scenery of the Ards Peninsula. We stopped for a coffee break in Greyabbey and some of us visited the ruins of the old abbey. Next stop was Harrisons Restaurant for a lovely lunch. Then on to Portaferry and across on the ferry to Strangford and a short journey to Downpatrick where we visited St Patrick's Centre and saw a film about his life. Then home by a shorter route. We thanked Margaret Hegarty who looked after the finances and our drivers Peter McBrien and Leo Rossi.
It was a very enjoyable day.

Gardening Club by Diana McVicker
The gardening Club opened its new year on Tuesday 13 October with a lively talk about vegetables given by Frank McCooke of Slemish Gardens.
A variety of speakers, offering good advice, on all matters gardening is being arranged for the year. The next event will be the Annual Dinner in Malone Golf Club on December 8th.
New members are always welcome.

Drumbeg WI by Anne McAdam
An interesting programme has been arranged for the year ahead under the leadership of our President, Rosalind Bloomfield. In September Jo-Anne Crossley spoke about her experiences taking part in the Camino De Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. Abernethy Butter Company demonstrated the art of butter making at our October meeting. We are looking forward to our annual dinner in November.
We are involved in community events, many of our members had successful entries in the craft, baking, fruit, vegetables and flower sections at the Drumbeg Annual Show and we took second place in the WI Section, at the City of Belfast Autumn Flower Show with a "Baby Shower" exhibit.
In addition to the monthly meetings we have a Rambling Club, craft class and Culture Club. Walkers meet weekly at 10.30am at Drum Bridge and once a month at 10.00am when we go further afield. We enjoyed walking on Divis and had wonderful weather and scenery at Slieve Gullion. Our next outing is to the Gobbins Cliff Path.
The Culture Club continues to meet regularly, we have been to the Hector McDonnell Seascape exhibition at Castle Ward and the Lyric to see "Dancing at Lughnasa" by Brian Friel.
There is something for everyone, we are a friendly and enthusiastic group and new members are always warmly welcomed.

Drumbeg Art Club by Michael Boyd
The Art Club had another successful year and held its 14th Exhibition on 15th and 16th May last. Attendance this year was similar to previous years and a total of 29 paintings were sold. There were also record sales of cards and notelets. Eighteen of the twenty-four members who displayed sold paintings which showed a good spread of interest in the work on offer.
As a result of commission on sales, card and notelet sales, the Art Club handed over £450 to Drumbeg Parish Church for its New Hall Appeal Fund.
After the Summer break, the Club resumed its weekly activities on Thursday 17th September in the Church Hall at 2pm to 4.30pm
The Club is always keen to see new members.

The DOGS – Drumbeg Occassional Golfing Society by Michael Boyd
The Society is open to all golfers in the local community, both male and female, of any ability and is just for fun and fellowship. There are usually four outings each year. The golfing format is of mixed gender teams playing for team prizes except on Captain's Day and President's Day when individuals can also win a prize.
DOGS Captain's Day was hosted by Elizabeth-Anne Baillie on l lth May at Malone Golf Club. Some 27 golfers took part and the main prize winners were:
Winning Team - Michael Boyd, Janet Pritchard, Jack Boyle and Brian Dean Runner-up Team - Martie Boyd, Ken Wilson and Trevor Sturgess
Winners of the Captain's Prize - Ladies-Cecilia Gilbert and Gents-Brian Dean DOGS President's Day was hosted by Moira McKelvey on 14th September at Dunmurry Golf Club. Some 24 golfers took part and the main prize winners were:
Winning Team- Frank Young, Michael Gill and Trevor Sturgess
Best Lady- Wendy MacLaughlin
Best Male- Frank Young who also won the President's Claret Jug Trophy for 2015. The AGM was held on 14th October in the Church Hall heralding the start of the 10th year of the DOGS.
The next outing is on 2nd November at Knock Golf Club.
Golfers are always welcome, contact any DOGS member or Secretary Michael Boyd


Drumbeg Residents' Association Annual Show by Brian Bloomfield
The 32nd Annual Show was held on Saturday 5 September in the Parochial Hall, Drumbeg. It was opened by Professor Sam Martin who spoke movingly about his recovery from a major stroke which left him unable to read. He told us how the NI Chest, Heart and Stroke Association helped him to read again, a long and tedious task. A total of £462 was collected at the Drumbeg Community Service on the next day in St Patrick's Parish Church and donated to NI CHS.
The Methodist College Junior String Quartet provided the musical entertainment for the afternoon. The competition categories included flowers, vegetables, floral art, home baking and preserves, photography, craft and categories for children. All classes were well supported but there were particularly large entries in the tomatoes, three stems of flowers and the pot plants.
The judges were Barbara Farris and Paul McGaghey
The trophies awarded were:
Drumbeg Resident's Association Cup 1990 - Best in Show: Margrethe Thompson
Drumbeg Resident's Cup 1992 - Fruit or vegetable: Dr Michael Scott
Rose of Drumbeg -Special Class: Frances Crossley
Drumbeg Cup -Young Persons' section: Sam Nixon
DRA Jubilee Cup -Judges' choice from the non-cup winners: Roy O'Neill
Mark Crowe Cup -Floral Art: Emma McDowell
The Farris Cup-Home Baking and Pre¬serves: MargretheThomspon
DRA Diamond Jubilee Cup-Photography and Craft: Clara Crookshanks
Drumbeg Parish Cup-Jam: Sharon Rielly

Grass Cutting in Drumbeg by Hugh Crookshanks, DRA Chairman
In the present bad economic climate, the Department of Rural Development will only cut grass and maintain areas once per year. This is insufficient to keep areas tidy and ensure that from a safety perspective at road junctions, sight lines are clear. Accordingly, the DRA held a series of meetings and Hugh Crookshanks advertised locally, by way of fliers, the need for "self help" and requested households in the area to contribute. The scheme has been generally well received with £1,075.00 having been raised to date with our local publican, Jackie Gilmore, making a generous donation.
The chosen contractor, who has public liability insurance, will do three grass cuts this year, the frequency of the cuts being determined by weather conditions and the rate of growth. A further cut will be carried out in October to leave the verges neat over the winter months. ,
To commence the grass cutting Malcolm Rosbotham kindly cut the long grass at Hambleden Park and took it away in his tractor and trailer, as his contribution to the scheme. Ian Gilmore, Gardening Contractor, continues to cut this grass.
Already, the benefit of Community "self help" can be seen in the neat appearance of the local grass areas. Publicity is a great way to advertise our local Community and articles and images on "self help" have appeared in the Lisburn Star. Hugh has also aired his views, in a very focussed way, on Radio Ulster Talk Back. -
Councillors Bloomfleld, Baird, Butler and Redpath from Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council supported and assisted with the project. Lastly a big thank you to all who contributed and made it all possible.

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