The public meeting took place the following month, with Provost Somerville presiding. On 26 June, the Courier stated that "...the suggestion to build a Town Hall with seating accommodation for 1000 was eventually carried". However, by the following February, this decision had t be reversed. The Dundee Evening Telegraph on 27 February 1920 recorded that only £150 of the necessary £5000 had been raised and the scheme had to be abandoned. At another meeting chaired by Provost Somerville, it was decided to erect a stone memorial instead, either at Scoonie Kirk or on the Promenade.
It would take a further year to finalise the precise plans but by March 1921 the location, costs and design had been settled. The above photograph was taken at the unveiling ceremony on 24 September 1921, where Sir John Gilmour of Montrave carried out the unveiling while Provost Somerville accepted custody of the memorial on behalf of the community. The Courier reported on the event, stating...
"There was a large and representative assembly at the unveiling at Leven on Saturday afternoon of a memorial to the 182 men of the parish of Scoonie who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War....The memorial is in the form of an obelisk and is from a design by Mr A. C. Dewar architect, Leven. There are four panels on which the names of the officers and men are inscribed and also the regiments with which they served."
Provost Somerville was grocer John Somerville, father of Andrew Somerville the long-time grocer on Leven Road, Lundin Links. He can be seen in the centre of the detailed image below, with the white hair and beard, wearing the provost's ceremonial chain. To left of Somerville, closer to the memorial is Colonel Alexander Sprot who has also featured in this blog before when he opened a bazaar at the Lundin Bowling Club. If you can pick out any other individuals in the crowd, please comment.