In many ways The Cruikit Rainbow will come to be seen as an important turning point in raising the spirit and pride in an Alness, devastated after the Smelter closure in 1981 together with a downturn in work for the oil
industry. 
A year before the play, the Business Association, who had worked hard to attract business back to the town, held a Vintage and Classic Car Rally in May 1989. The idea came from two of the Associations members, Sandy MacRae and Charlie Munro, both classic enthusiasts.The previous year they had shown some classic cars during Gala Week. They brought on board the Highland Classic Car Club and managed to attract around 7,000 spectators to wander round almost 200 entries from a' the airts.
Such was the rally's success, they decided to make this an annual event. Each year more and more entries arrived, more and more people came to Alness. It is now the second largest event on the Scottish Calendar. But 'The Rainbow' was a different kind of achievement for Alness. The cast involved all four primary schools and Alness Academy, local councillors, local musicians, gymnasts and anyone else they could rope in.
The emotion from the performers and the audience on the final night, the pride the had in telling their story, the new friends they had made, made it a very important Chapter in Alness's story. It was the beginning of many 'firsts' for the town.
In fact, another 'first' came just before The Rainbow. The first issue of the Alness & District Times was published. This was another concerted effort to raise the profile of the town, prompted largely, by the constant bad
coverage in the local media, in many cases, the lack of coverage. There was, at this time, around 300 voluntary organisations in and around Alness and the ADT would give them the coverage and platform they needed. It would have more in depth analysis of local issues. it would give the residents a voice.
The first issue sold out quickly and since its launch, it has continued to grow, attracting plaudits from other community publications. By 1996, an estimated 3,500 pairs of eyes read the ADT every month, and another 50 overseas. The ADT is a division of the Alness Community Association which became a limited company in 1991. Its charitable status would be advantageous to grant grabbing and also, and important legal safeguard for all the other projects it would undertake in the future.
The first of those projects came in 1991, when Alness attracted the Scottish Pipe Band Championships. The first time the Scottish Pipe Band Association had ventured north of Inverness. It was the culmination of two years hard work by the ACA and began with Ross & Cromarty District Council officials being asked to look at various locations in Ross-shire for such an event. The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association's Robert Nicol liked Alness and Jock Watt and Bryan Beattie knew Alness would put on a good show.
Jock, a former teacher at Invergordon Academy and a long time friend of Alness, was given the honour of being the Chieftain for the Championships. Over 90 Pipe Bands made the journey to Alness and for days afterwards some organisers could still hear pipes ringing in their head! At the dinner held afterwards for the officials, numerous plaudits were bestowed, the best of all being the offer from the RSPBA that Alness host another Championships, if we wanted it. The acceptance was practically made there and then.
The Championships were held on Saturday 18th May and coincided nicely with the Car Rally to be held on the next day enabling the both events to join together in a 'Weekend to Remember'. Over the two days it was estimated that over 15,000 people came to the little town of Alness.
The next 'first' came as a natural progression to the Alness & District Times with discussions beginning a year earlier on the town having its own Community Radio Station. It was instigated by the Community Council who held a public meeting to gauge
interest.
Like the ADT, Ross FM would be another layer of local radio, just as the ADT concentrated on the more local issues that the North Star and Ross-shire Journal couldn't, having to cover the news from all over Ross-shire, Ross FM would compliment the excellent service we had had from Moray Firth Radio and the former Radio Highland. Their first RSL (Restricted Service Licence) was for two months starting in November 1994. MFR's portable studio equipment was moved into the front office of the ADT building on the High Street with the 15 watt transmitter attached to the chimney of the Royal Bank next door. Programme content was as varied as could be imagined; everything from Scottish Dance bands, Jazz and Blues, Traditional Folk, Heavy Metal et al.
Alness was on a roll. Another Pipe Band Championships in September 1994. The Car Rally attracting the Concours' D'elegance in May 1995 and another two RSL's from Ross FM. It had been a busy few years, but it was already paying dividends. Business was coming back as well as a real community spirit among the residents as they were witness to the Rebirth of Alness.
The Enterprise Zone has, in general, been successful. Many small, sustainable businesses have been established there. Award winning companies like Grants of Dalvey and Mupor have brought credibility and have attracted many more. The towns best asset, the immense community spirit, was as strong as ever. At the forefront of this was the Alness Initiative Group. Their task was to attract commerce and actively raise the profile of Alness. In 1996 a small band of people decided to brighten up the High Street and set to work with tubs and hanging baskets. It was a huge success and the whole community benefited from the displays. No one could have guessed the consequence of some bright spark in 1997 suggesting we enter Beautiful Scotland in Bloom. Alness was entered in the Small Towns category along with another 383 entrants. The first judging took place in July and won a place in the final with another five towns. The final judging took place in August with the winners of the competition to be announced at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness in September. Alness won the Best Small Town category and when the supreme award, the Bank of Scotland Champion Rosebowl Winner was announced, Alness had won that as well! We were the first town to win each award on the first year of entering. It was a tremendous effort by the community and a magical day for the town.
In 1998 Alness was an automatic finalist in Scotland in Bloom and represented Scotland in the finals of Britain in Bloom. The trip to Bath proved worthwhile as Alness showed them how to do it by picking up the Best Small Town in Britain title.
On the eve of the Millennium Alness stepped onto the world stage as finalists in Nations in Bloom, held that year in Abu Dabi, where the award for the Most Enhanced Landscape was ours. The Best Small Town title in Scotland in Bloom came back to Alness for the third year running and we were part of the British team that won the coveted World in Bloom title in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
So, Alness 2000. The townsfolk can only see a bright future ahead. After the Smelter closure Alness was described as 'an economic black hole', but with the concerted efforts of the community,it has transformed itself into an economic and social rising star. Alness is going places and there will be many obstacles still to be overcome, but how many communities have seen such change and come out on top?
