We are pleased to announce that this year's Bari Gadgi and Bari Manushi.

Bari Gadgi - Stefan Cameron
For those of you that don’t know, I spent all my childhood growing up in Yetholm, first
attending Yetholm Primary School before moving onto Kelso High School. Now 22 years
old, I have spent my last four years studying Marketing & Business at Abertay University
in Dundee and will be due to graduate this summer.
   Aside from the demands of university life most of my free time is taken up by sports. I
play rugby for my university team and a local club team in Dundee, as well as competing
in judo. I also really enjoy any water and snow sports whenever the weather allows for
it.
   One of my fondest memories of the festival week growing up was building my boat for
the boat race followed by the family day, so judging the boats this year is something
I’m really looking forward to! Growing up I never spent too much time on a horse so
learning from scratch now has been an interesting experience, although I’m sure I’ll be
more than ready to lead the cavalcade by the time Stob Stanes comes around!
   Having spent so much of my life in Yetholm it was a dream come and an honour to be
asked to be the Bari Gadgi for this year. Although I don’t plan on moving back to Yetholm
just yet, it still is and always will be my home and I can’t wait to represent Yetholm along
with Emma across the other Border towns. I hope we can make everyone proud and
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible over the summer and during the
festival week.
Bari Manushi - Emma Wauchope
I’m very honoured to be able to represent Yetholm as this year’s Bari Manushi. I fondly
remember Festival Weeks from when I was younger, especially the children’s games
on the village green. Hopefully this year will bring some sunshine to enjoy the week’s
activities.
   I’m currently 25 and I’ve been lucky to call Yetholm home ever since I was born. After I
left school, I headed to Newcastle for university where I’m still living whilst I complete
my last year of my degree in Medicine. I hope to graduate this year and I’ll be headed to
Liverpool after the festival season to take up a position in Aintree hospital.
   In my spare time I love getting back to the countryside, to explore at home or around
Northumberland. My main hobby is Lacrosse which I’m very passionate about, I’ve been
fortunate enough to enjoy a fun career so far which has offered me many opportunities
to play at home and abroad.
   Prior to this, I spent much of my time on top of a horse, hunting the College Valley in the
winter and following rideouts in the summer. Having spent many years trying to hold my
pony back from charging to the front, I’m very pleased to be able to lead the cavalcade
up to Stobstanes this year.
   I’m really looking forward to being your Bari Manushi for 2019 along with Stefan as Bari
Gadgi and I’d like to thankyou the Festival Committee for this opportunity. I hope you
enjoy Festival Week and I’m looking forward to spending time with you all during the
village activities.

A big thank you to all those who helped to make the village panto, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, such a success - both the actors and the many people who helped behind the scenes. As usual, the performance took place well after Christmas - 15th/16th February - and poked fun at a variety of village characters. This years panto was written by Margaret Rustad and concerned the efforts of three Kirk Yetholm goats to cross the Bowmont for the greener pastures of Town Yetholm. Donald Trump made a brief appearance with a plan to build a wall between the two villages, but in the end the Community Council decided to hire a Norwegain troll (played with gusto by a be-kilted Michael Rustad) to keep the goats out.  Fortunately it all ended happily (of course) with three goats (Megan McLaren, Zoe Keddie Dixon and Dan Alderson) dancing on the banks of Romany Loch.
   Money raised by this year's panto will go to the Wauchope Hall and to the Margaret Kerr unit in memory of Eddie Robertson ('Steady Eddy') who sadly died a few weeks ago and who was always a willing helper at this event.

Scottish Borders Council are plannning to close the High Street in Town Yetholm, between 9am and 5pm for several days in early March, to enable road resurfacing work. Details of their proposal:
Scottish Borders Council
Road closure details
 Reference – B6401 High Street, Yetholm
 Title – Temporary Traffic Regulation Order
 Address – B6401 High Street, Yetholm
 Grid Reference – 381991,628057 – 381771,627334
 Order Details –Road Closure
 Reason for Order – Resurfacing works
 Start Date and Duration –
• Tuesday 5th March 2019 for 4 days – between the hours of 9:00 and 17:00 each day.
• Monday 11th March 2019 for 2 days – between the hours of 9:00 and 17:00 each day.
 Alternative route:
 Northbound – via B6401, B6436, B6352 and B6401 to point of closure.
 Southbound – the above in reverse.
 Access for pedestrian and cyclists will be maintained with minor delays.