This poem was presented at the Covenanter International Holiday Conference in Gartmore, Scotland (July 2010) during the Conference Reflections time. Andrea McKelvey, a member at Cloughmills, Ireland, RPC wrote this poem, and it summarizes well our time at the conference. Fifty-nine persons attended from North America.

—Kim Backensto First RPC of Beaver Falls, Pa.

Gartmore 2010

I wanted to write a wee poem,

But I hadn’t much time to rehearse,

So please be kind and polite,

And clap after you hear the last verse!

There’s a bonny wee place in Scotland,

And Gartmore is its name,

And after this week of church conference,

It won’t be the same again!

On Saturday we did all our travelling,

Some came in style on a bus!

But a car broke down in Girvan,

And gave Vincent & family a fuss!

Some people were staying in tents,

And their feet got awfully damp,

But they kept on smiling and didn’t complain,

I suppose that’s what you do when you camp!

Some others they stayed in the mansion,

And we thought it terribly posh!

But they kindly shared their bathrooms out,

So the campers and tenters could wash!

Bruce Backensto preached on the Sabbath,

He told us to “Sing a new Song.”

Roberts faithfully opened up Haggai,

And God’s teaching His church to be strong.

On Monday Loch Lomond was soggy

But some into a boat they did go,

While others were late on the bus,

Did they take the “high road” or “low”?

On Tuesday it was mini-Olympics,

And the rain was all part of the game.

But poor Barry he twisted his ankle,

And I think he’ll be going home lame!

On Wednesday the rain kept on coming,

But many kept on with the fight

Like the faith of the true Covenanters—

Their grave was a humbling sight.

Today we had beautiful weather,

And what a difference it did make.

We tried again to go on a boat

Called “Sir Walter” on the lake.

Our trip is to Stirling tomorrow,

The castle’s a beautiful sight.

And conference reflections from bygone years

Will hopefully round off the night!

Our thanks must go to Committee,

For all the hard work you have done.

Nance and Norman have borne the brunt of the work,

We hope you managed to have fun!

We’ll be sorry the conference is over

At Gartmore 2010,

But in 2 years’ time in the U.S. of A,

We’ll hopefully see you again!

—Andrea McKelvey