“ORDINARY people doing extraordinary things” were celebrated at the Press’ second Community Champions Awards. There were tears, touching tributes, tunes and twists in the course of the memorable awards night, which was held on Friday in association with Stevenson Funeral Directors and honoured the best in West Fife community spirit. Fittingly, the award finalists were feted in the heart of Dunfermline – the Glen Pavilion, which looked resplendent all lit up with a glitter ball and candelabras. Bagpipes played by Cameron Cochrane, 12, a Culross Primary pupil, welcomed more than 200 guests to the red-carpet event. Guests enjoyed a drinks reception and mingled while being entertained by Inverkeithing High principal teacher of music – and last year’s Community Champions Teacher of the Year – Paul Wickham, and his talented pupils, Katie Lax (vocals) and Jacob McDonough (piano). Hosted by broadcaster and sports journalist Alison Walker, the night kicked off with an energetic performance by Dunfermline’s Spartans Resurrection Display Team, who reached the live semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent recently. Entertainment was also laid on by the night’s Live Music Award finalists Amy Louise Rogers, Dancing on Tables and The Moon Kids, who performed original material. A charity “guess the balloons “prize draw raised £1,280, which was split between the three Charity Champion finalists – Hyperclub, Dunfermline Foodbank and MND Scotland. Shona Watson, who guessed the correct number of balloons in Macklin Motors’ Ford Kuga won the prize, donated by Stirling’s King Robert Hotel, for four to attend the “80s Heaven Tribute Show” and disco in September. There was also a twist in store as the judging panel revealed Elsa MacLean, a finalist in the Heart of Gold category, as the winner of their surprise special award – “someone we kept coming back to, someone going about her daily life who saved a life”. Fife regional editor Simon Harris said: “My favourite part of being a journalist is being able to share stories like these, of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. “These are all ‘good news’ stories. All our finalists have appeared on our pages over the years, and we do try to champion our communities where we can. Tonight shows we have a strong community that we can be proud of. It’s a cliché but tonight you are all winners.” Barry Stevenson, managing director of Stevenson Funeral Directors, said: “It was an excellent night that showed true community spirit and recognised people who usually go unnoticed but who make such a contribution to their community. I never expected judging day to be as difficult as it was! I think we got the winners right but N Linda Pearse everyone is a winner.