HERE'S a look back at some of the Ayr Advertiser pictures and articles from mid March 2003.

Who can you spot in these pictures?

Ayr Advertiser: The opening of the new pavilion in 2003

Caledonian Football Club celebrated the official opening of their new community pavilion.

The facility was made possible by an award of more than £290,000 from the sportscotland Lottery Fund sports facilities programme and a cash injection of £20,000 from South Ayrshire Council.

Club Chairman Bill Briceland said: “We are very pleased that sportscotland recognised the need for a new pavilion which will benefit the local community."

Ayr Advertiser: Struthers pupils send soft toys to help children in Iraq

Youngsters from across South Ayrshire joined an appeal to send beanie toys to the children of Iraq.

Campaigner Agnes Hunter, who had been spearheading local efforts to send soft toys to the children of the war-torn Gulf region, visited Troon’s Struthers Primary on Friday.

And she was stunned to be greeted by a special assembly - and a formal handing over of more than 200 soft toys collected by pupils at the school and their families.

She said afterwards: “The children had clearly worked very hard and had collected lots of toys which will soon be on their way to the youngsters of Iraq.

“They had also collected £35 and a huge pile of stationery to help send out the parcels. The response from schools across South Ayrshire has been fantastic.”

Ayr Advertiser: The celebrities gather at the Gaiety

A host of top local celebrities enjoyed a cheese and wine evening thanks to the Friends of the Gaiety.

The event was the Friends of Gaiety's thank you to the stars that have lit up the local venue in recent times.

Sydney Devine, Joe Gordon, Sally Logan and Lou Grant were just some of the names that enjoyed the event which was held in the local theatre. As a double celebration, the group introduced the Gaiety's new manager Paul Pomfrey who was about to take his new post.

Ayr Advertiser: The Kosmic Crew

A LOCAL theatre company kicked off a national tour with a performance of their spectacular new production at the Gaiety Theatre.

M&M Theatrical Productions, who were based in Green Street Lane near Ayr Harbour, were taking the Kosmic Krew round 48 theatres all over the United Kingdom - but chose to kick off the tour in Ayr.

Aimed at kids between the ages of four and 14 the show was a musical spectacular set in outer space.

It was written by local man and former Wonderwest World stage manager Chris Mitchell, and one of the company’s two founder M’s - the other being co-producer by Maggie Garry, also an Ayrshire lass and former primary school teacher at Glencairn Primary School in Stevenston.

This space-age pantomime adventure initially blasted off in summer 2002, and toured primary schools from the north of Scotland to the south coast of England.

And finally, a long-awaited feature film revolving around the life of Robert Burns was to begin filming.

The much-hyped movie, entitled Red Rose, would begin shooting in and around Ayrshire on June 7, with filming scheduled to continue until July 19.

But despite revealing the green light had been given to start shooting the film, producers have yet to lift the lid on the big news of who will play Rabbie.

Several of Scotland’s leading men had already been linked with the role, including Dougray Scott and Ewan McGregor, but Mauchline based makers of the film, Palm Tree UK Ltd, have yet to reveal exactly who had been lined up to play the Bard.