Here is the news from Grantown: it's our birthdays!
Friday was a great news day for a Grantown care home resident: a BBC radio announcer turned up to broadcast his very one version of ‘Happy Birthday to You’.
And who better than the ever-popular Radio Scotland broadcaster Gary Robertson? It was, after all, his birthday too.
The double birthday joy was shared with Joy Phillips at Parklands’ Lynemore Care Home on Seafield Avenue.
It was her 99th birthday and the event could not have been more appropriately marked.
The delighted BBC star explained: “My partner, Donald, works for Parklands Care Homes and told me that Joy shared a birthday with me.
“So we both agreed to drop into Lynemore with some flowers to wish her a happy birthday.”
Joy was ‘absolutely delighted’ and the feeling was mutual, Gary admitted.
Earlier, residents and staff held a birthday party for Joy to celebrate her special day.
Gary was, of course, no stranger to Joy, who often tunes in to BBC Radio Scotland’s flagship morning news programme Good Morning Scotland.
Mr Robertson has over the years broadcast to millions in his celebrated career, initially presenting the lunchtime news programme Scotland Live and later the news programme Sunday Live, both of which he helped launch.
His previous morning programme which ran from 2000 to 2005 won the factual radio category at the Mental Health Media Awards in 2004 and was nominated for a Sony Award.
Having been with the BBC since 1990 as a producer, he moved to Radio Five Live in 1994 and presented all of the network’s news programmes including hosting a six hour special covering the Oscars live from Los Angeles.
During that time in London Gary also worked for the BBC World Service and hosted a world news programme that was broadcast on public radio across the United States.
Since returning to Scotland in 1999 he has also presented Reporting Scotland TV news bulletins.
Gary shared some happy memories with Joy on Friday.
The Moray lad, born in Elgin in 1967 started in broadcasting while at school, working at his local radio station on a voluntary basis, before fame and the BBC beckoned.
