The Power of People and Place to Bring Spirit and Heart to a Community

By Amanda MacMillan

Having visited Strathpeffer from birth to see grandparents, when I was 9 we moved from Glasgow as the new owners of the newsagents A&M Fraser (MacMillan's newsagents) to this seemingly quiet Victorian spa village.

I remember the stinky spa water that once was free to 'help healing' they said, the lifeless spa pavilion used to shelter under in the rain, the pipe band EVERY Saturday night - annoyingly right outside my bedroom because we lived above the shop!

My mum and dad poured their life, soul, heart and passion and I believe this to be a true story of history and spirit.

My dad, John MacMillan, was a local legend, known for delivering the papers running (wind, snow and sunshine) to help his marathon, cycling and highland cross training - he won first vet one year! He helped train the shinty and I remember boys saying how tough he was on them. He was the life and soul of any party and was well-known in the village for his dancing skills and laugh. He was a regular on the bus to watch Rangers play most weekends. Hats off to my mum who had two kids and a newly 24 hour a day shop to run!

We had everything for sale in the shop, candles for power cuts and single caps for guns! We had the first machine to dispense videos in the Highlands and first in queue for a lottery machine. The local people that worked added to the positive vibes, happy, so were the customers. We all enjoyed a banter with locals and the throngs of visitors that would come by coach to visit our village.

The friendship, the welcome, the determination to offer up to date and quality service to all. The buzz of laughter, sense of community, a meeting place before phones! Ask people they will tell more!

Dad passed suddenly in 1996. We were devastated but so too was the community. I still get people remember, 25 years later, who he inspired. Please help to tell his history and keep village legacy alive.

John MacMillan inflating balloons and standing with local women from Strathpeffer

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Stories are at the heart of what we do as a project and we are always looking to learn more about what the Highlands and Islands means to people who live, work, and visit here.

The connections between a person and their community are vital to the very essence of a place. We would love to know, what are your some of your favourite memories you have spent in your community? How do you feel they represent the 'Spirit of the Highlands and Islands'? Tell us below, we can't wait to hear from you!

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