The Stonehaven Fireballs Association

The allocation of the Swingers places in the procession for Fireball '09 has taken place and the list is full so, unless someone pulls out, there are no empty slots.

The Fireball making nights at Stonehaven Engineering will be Wednesday & Thursday 26th & 27th November and Monday & Tuesday 8th & 9th December. The nights are spaced further apart this year to give more time for those on shift/offshore work.

The Open Meeting will be held in the Bowling Club at 7.00pm on Sunday 23rd November.      Come along and tell us if you like how things are going or not. The Committee need feed back from as many as possible to help in running the event.

 

PLEASE HELP US IF YOU CAN.

We have created an Excel document which gives the names of 154 people who we know have swung a Fireball since 1908. There must be hundreds more people out there who have swung who we don't know of. There is the usual reluctance of the local folk to claim their place in a public area but the history of the Fireballs is very thin and every little piece is important. So please check our history document and if you know anything different or can add to it in any way please get in touch.

The 2009 Hogmanay Festival Calendar is now on sale, all profits will go to fund the Hogmany Festival 2008/9. The 13 pictures were all taken by local folk and show the local Stonehaven area but with a slightly different twist.  i.e. Dunnottar Castle from the sea; An Aurora Borealis display as seen from the War Memorial and the harbour covered in snow but from a new angle. It is available from E. Giulianotti & Ma Simpsons' in Evan Street; The Waterfront Cafe & Molly's on the beach promenade; Culliniare, Hair Care & Jon Hairdresser in Barclay Street; The Mearns Leader office in Ann Street, Bridgefield Books & The Shell Hoosie at the harbour. Or by contacting us from this website.

We've temporarily removed the web cam from the clock tower for testing and maintenance, but don't worry - it will be back in time for hogmanay!

Pictures and videos of the 2008 Stonehaven Fireballs have started to appear on the web. There are several videos on YouTube, with more being added all the time, and a really nice set of pictures courtesy of Gavin Shaw. If you have any pictures, videos, etc that you'd like to share, please do get in touch.

 

An ideal break in the weather allowed us to have an amazing Fireballs Ceremony for 2008. The rain stoped for the barrier setting out and then again it cleared from 9.30 untill after 1am. The total lack of wind also helped keep the evening feeling fairly mild. The huge turnout of spectators amazed all of us I think. I did not expect to see so many. The cars were parked up as far as the path into Forest Park off Mill 'o Forest Road. The Open Air In The Square organisers had noticed that their numbers were well up early on in the evening.

The lack of wind did have an adverse effect - the Fireballs took longer to burn out. There were more Swingers finishing in the 20-25 past midnight period this year. Last year most were done by 20 past. Quite a number of Swingers I spoke to were complaining of the effects of their exertions!

Thanks to Chairman Alan Venters and his team for another great event.

There were 46 swingers in total. The full list is attached. The press reports of 43 are my fault - poor accounting! On the accounting side, so far we know that the donations from the brochure distribution have raised £1638.00. This total may rise a little but even so it's great amount - nearly twice what we have raised in the past. Our costs have gone up this year though. Thanks to all who helped with the brochures - a fantastic effort.

We have had a good run on our DVDs, Tee & sweat shirts. Order yours NOW before stocks run out!

Picture courtesy of deepriver.images.

Where : Stonehaven High Street [more details and map here]

When : Midnight on 31st December. Try to be in place by 11.00pm to get a good view. [more details here]

• Parking may be difficult, so if you are coming by car make sure you leave plenty of time.

• Please cooperate with the volunteer marshalls, who will be working hard to make sure everyone has a great time.

The Fireball Association had the good fortune to have Gail Anderson and Mark Biglow make a short documentry (18 minutes) of the Fireball Ceremony - 'The Swinging of the Fireballs' DVD. It starts with the barriers going up and finishes with the last firework. The swingers and marshals tell of why they do what they do and of memories from the past. The atmosphere that is created is very close to being there so if you can get your timing right you can celebrate a true Steenhive Hogmanay in the comfort of your own home!

The other DVD 'Additional Material' has video, film and TV clips as well as press clippings from most of the coverage in the local paper. There is also a written history of the event and poems, short stories, etc.etc. This disc is best played in a computer DVD reader as there are quite a number of 'Word' files.

 

The cost is £15.00 + post and packing - £1.50 for UK, £2.50 for the rest of the world.  For ordering and payment - Send us an e-mail via the 'Contact Us' tab.

The AGM has been set for the 9th of March at 7.30 (6.30 for the Committee) in St. Leonards Hotel. All members welcome - tea, coffee and biscuits available. It is hoped that Majory Stephen will be showing some of her collection of pictures that she has taken of the Swingers over the years.