Twins Morgan and Megan McTiernan were happy that their mum and dad managed to pull a rabbit from the hat in 2001.
The seven year-old twins were delighted when they received two giant toy bunnies after their parents, Patrick and Davina McTiernan had just signed up for a £3000 cooker and fridge package with electrical retailers Scottish Power.
But the Brisbane Primary pupils’ happiness turned to woe when their parents cancelled their order, claiming that the company had delivered the wrong cooker.
They were asked to pay extra to have another cooker delivered but refused and cancelled the package.
ScottishPower then demanded the return of the twins’ bunnies. Patrick said: “I couldn’t believe what kind of game ScottishPower were playing.
“How can we persuade our twins they should hand back the rabbits? Easter is just round the corner and they would burst into tears.”
The electrical giants eventually relented and agreed to let the girls keep their bunnies.
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Also in 2001... Largs Academy sixth year pupils surprised a drugs advisor by naming new slang names for drugs which she had never heard of before.
It was a telling sign of how the issue of drugs was becoming more and more prevalent.
When pupils were asked to name any drugs they knew, one pupil answered ‘sweeties’ which baffled the drugs advisor who had not heard this name before. The pupil responded by saying that ”sweeties“ were otherwise known as ecstasy tablets.
The dangerous underworld of drugs was just one of the issues given prominence in the recent Largs Academy Sixth Sense day which offered pupils the chance to learn about real matters in the outside world in a bid to prepare them for life after school.
The one day scheme held at Inverclyde Sports Centre, which was hosted by BBC Scotland football personality Gordon Smith, provided students, in their last year of academy life, the chance to learn various wide-ranging factors including sexual health, yoga, self-defence and shiatsu. This was the first time the holistic approach had been taught to school pupils with local business Well Connected also helping out on the day.
Indeed - the drugs battle on local streets has taken a dramatic twist with school pupils being caught in possession of cannabis on their way to Largs Academy while a drugs raid took place in a block of flats in the town centre where a suspected drugs dealer lives - as portrayed on our front page.
New premises for the Museum of the Cumbraes finally arrived on the island though the arrival was not greeted with universal acclaim.
Cumbrae Community Council Chairman Ian Frame spoke of his disappointment at the temporary buildings. He said: “Why did they (North Ayrshire Council) have a building specially designed when to all intents and purposes it is a Portakabin. “Although saying that, anything we get at all is very welcome.”
The Station Director of Hunterston B, Peter Tarren, said that it is still his understanding that there are no firm plans for a new “C” power station in the area. British Energy have purchased available ground for the site but Mr Tarren said community support would play a big part in deciding the future of any such development.
And below, British cross country ski champ Nicole Walker was hoping to encourage youngsters to take up the winter sport which had seen her travel the world in prestigious contests. The 37 year old had triumphed in the British Ladies Championships in cross country ski-ing in the 1990s and was eager to encourage others to take up the sport.
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