KUSI Club will welcome all on Remembrance Sunday
The KUSI Club in Kirkcaldy is opening its doors to all this Sunday as it holds an Armistice Day celebration.
One of Kirkcaldy’s last remaining member’s social clubs, it first opened its doors in 1921, just three years after the end of the First World War at the Kirkcaldy United Services Institute, a meeting club for ex-servicemen.
President Bob Henderson said Remembrance day was a special event in the club’s calendar.
“The club was founded for the assistance of veterans after the the First World War in 1921, so we've continued this.
“The British Legion are the organisers, and we just attend along with everybody else. We lay a wreath, one of our veterans was in the Black watch for 14 years, so he’ll lay it for us in memory of those who have gone before us.
“I don't go the parade now. I'm elderly and fairly disabled, but I used to go on the parade with my father, who'd been in the RAF for well five and half years during the Second World War, so I used to go on the parade in his memory.
"My mum was French so if it wasn’t for the war they wouldn’t have met. It’s funny the way things turn out.
“It’s a day for me to remember my parents and the sacrifices they made along with many others.
“It’s an important day for the club. It’s one of the standouts of our year.”
The club’s doors on St Brycedale Avenue at noon after the service in the Memorial Gardens and will start the afternoon with a performance from the Kirkcaldy and District Pipe Band.
Later entertainment will be provided by singers Aiesha Hunter and Steph Gilmour.
Bob said: “It’s an open day designed for people who have been on the parade, but anyone is welcome.
“We’ll have pies that have been donated from Stuart’s Bakers
“The pipe band will play some tunes and occasionally get some young girls doing Highland dancing. So there’s music in the afternoon and people seem to enjoy that.
“It's a good afternoon, we don't charge people and I think part of the attraction of the KUSI is that we do drink quite cheaply!”
Bob says he’s hopeful that the open day could maybe attract some new members to the century-old club.
“Like all clubs we really have a difficult time of with things like electricity and gas, so it would be nice to get a few new members. We’re one of the last remaining social clubs in Kirkcaldy of our ilk. We’re still hanging in there!
“Sunday is an ideal opportunity for anyone to pop in, see what the club's like and see if they like it.”