John The Caley Receives Freedom Of Skye & Raasay. | |
11 January 2009 John "The Caley" Nicolson received the freedom of Skye & Raasay at a ceremony at the Skye Camanachd Clubhouse on Friday 9 January 2009. Local Councillor Drew Millar spoke of John's years of dedication to his local community and Community Councillor Aileen MacKinnon gave a moving speach on behalf of Portree Community Council who nominated John for the award. Blair Douglas presented John with a framed copy of the music for a tune he wrote in John's honour entitled "John Nicolson's March For Freedom". Blair said that the importance of the title could not be understated as it not only recognised this award but also John's role in the Second World War as well as him being a champion of local issues. John gave a moving speech in which he spoke about his life and in particular the Community Council, the Legion, Skye & Lochalsh Sports Council and of course his main passion, shinty and Skye Camanachd. Around 100 invited guests has a wonderful evening as they celebrated John's award and the Skye Camanachd Clubhouse was complemented by many for how they hosted the event. Several Highland Councillors and officials attended John's induction to Freeman of Skye and Raasay and he joins David Noble, Sorley MacLean, Dr John Ball and Ellen MacArthur to receive this prestigious honour. The event was recorded and will be broadcast soon on Cuiilin fm and BBC Alba. |