The Annual General Meeting was held in Edinburgh on Saturday 23rd October, 1999. Following is the Chief's Message:

Greetings to all members of The Clan Hannay Society wherever they may be, and we do extend over quite a large part of the globe.

1999 has been an interesting year -- a good forerunner to the new Millennium.

Clan West, U.S.A., has elected a new Convenor, Jack Hanna from Orinda, California. He has entered on his new responsibilities with enthusiasm. His letter to all members introducing himself was most encouraging. He stresses the fact that the purpose of being part of the Clan and being a member of the Clan's Society is to join together for fellowship, to strengthen and enrich the quality of life for our families and ourselves. We now have the opportunity, with modern methods of communication, to learn of distant relatives and recognise them by the names of Hannay, Hanna, Hannah and Hanney. The Internet and e-mail seem widely available.

At the Sorbie Gathering last year, at the end of May, we were joined for the first time by Hannahs from Iceland, who gave my son David and his wife Janet a great welcome when they visited them later in the year.

I myself was delighted to receive personal visits from Major General and Mrs. Hanna from Ottowa, Canada and their family; from Patti and Keith McVetty also from Canada -- Ontario, who were doing a bit of ancestor hunting; and from Jack and Evelyn Hannah, N. Carolina whose five sons are all members of the Society.

In June, I was visited by Mathew and Coleen Russell -- Mathew's grandmother was a Hannah. They were celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary. Later that month Judge Forest Hannah and his wife Janet from Kansas City called on me -- a most interesting couple. In August Robert and Julie Lett from Alabama visited me and we wathced the total eclipse together. They were on their honeymoon (Julie is the Hannah).

I always welcome such visits and would encourage clansfolk when on their travels to check whether any Clan members are in the area and endeavour to visit them. Personal contacts do most to achieve the purppose of being a clansman as envisaged by Jack Hanna of Clan West.

There will be a special Sorbie Gathering to celebrate the Millennium, as indicated in this newsletter. December, 1999