LONDON DOLLAR ACADEMY FP CLUB ANNUAL DINNER 2008

Royal Institution of Great Britain - November 2008 

The Royal Institution of Great Britain, home of the Christmas Lectures and Sir James Dewar’s revolutionary flasks, played host to the London Dollar Academy Club’s 2008 annual dinner. Over 60 guests attended the glittering evening.

A first glance at the invitation left no doubt that this would be a night to remember: a museum tour, champagne reception and three-course meal, all rounded off with a speech from the Rector. And for those of us already too accustomed to stuffy London prices, the 45-pound ‘entrance fee’ was a breath of fresh Clackmannanshire air.

Thanks to an incredibly generous donation, the 2008 London Dollar Academy Club annual dinner began with a glass of champagne in the lobby of the fantastic Royal Institution of Great Britain on Albemarle Street. Our thirst quenched, we embarked on a guided tour of the newly opened museum, where many of the inventions of Sir James Dewar (FP) are on display. What better prelude to a night of fine dining, wining and reminiscence?

The food was first class. The wine, expertly presented before each course, was wonderful. But above all, it was the company which made the evening. The chance to mix with old and new friends, to brush shoulders with FPs of various vintages, and – through the Rector’s speech – to catch up on the current goings on in Dollar, brought forth feelings of nostalgia, pride, and joy in almost equal measure.

Special thanks go to Elizabeth Heath, for her masterful organisation and coordination of another marvellous event. For us most recent exiles, the dinner was not only an opportunity to relive those long-past schooldays; it was also the perfect occasion to introduce our friends and partners to the reality that we’ve been preaching for the past weeks, months and years, that: “no one does it like Dollar does it!” Roll on the next event.

Euan Mackay (FP 2002)