As the Provost of Nairn, Sandy Park spent eight years representing his community at a string of functions, parties and receptions in the Highlands.
With his important role came great responsibility – and that included keeping his town together in times of need.
When Mr Park received a phone call from police on November 28, 2004, just hours after Alistair Wilson was shot dead, his blood ran cold.
Lost for words, his hand gripped the receiver as he tried to make sense of what had just happened in his quiet seaside town.
The last murder in Nairn had been back in 1986, when a man was stabbed to death after an argument at a wedding.
Apart from a handful of petty offences and a splash of graffiti here and there, crime was not a major issue in the town.
But what made the murder even more chilling for Mr Park was that he had sat next to Mr Wilson at a business dinner at the Newton Hotel just weeks earlier.
“I found him a very pleasant, very clever guy. He was a whizzkid,” said Mr Park.
“I said to myself, ‘he will go a long, long way’.”
Over dinner the pair discussed doing business together, with the former provost explaining several projects the council had in the pipeline.
They swapped business cards and promised to keep in touch.
“There had been talk about him leaving his job and setting up on his own,” said Mr Park.
“I was looking forward to speaking to him again.”
But those discussions never took place. The next time Mr Park would discuss Mr Wilson was when he talked to police officers about his cold-blooded murder.
As provost, Mr Park was briefed daily by Northern Constabulary as the media turned its spotlight on Nairn.
From fielding questions to retaining his composure, he became a pillar of support to the community as everyone, sadly, became a suspect.
He even says it was because of his constant pestering that the gully in which the murder weapon was found was eventually cleaned out.
“The drain had been overflowing for months, and I’d received countless complaints about it,” he said.
“BEAR Scotland and the council were in disagreement about who was responsible for it. But with winter approaching it needed to be fixed.
“Had the gun been left there any longer, who knows if it would ever have been found.”
Ten years on from Mr Wilson’s murder, Mr Park – who also ran a butcher shop in Nairn High Street – said it feels like only yesterday he received the news that the bright, charismatic father-of-two he had spoken to just weeks before was dead.
He still has the business card he was handed by the banker that night, perfectly preserved.
“Alistair seemed to have a tremendous family life and had everything to live for. What happened to him was shocking and terrible,” he said.
“He was very much a family man. Nothing like that should happen to a man with two young kids.
“Then again, nothing like that should happen in a small Highland town like Nairn.
“On the anniversary, it does make you think about the case again. It reminds you that life can be so cruel.
“It changed Nairn. It made people more aware and it reminded them that we are not immune to the horrors of the world.
“But it’s amazing how people move on. It was all people spoke about back then, and people do still speak about it from time to time.
“But life had to continue.”
Mr Park has appealed to Police Scotland to do everything in their power to finally solve the crime than rocked his town.
“The police threw everything at the case. The investigation went on for months,” he said.
“But a fresh pair of eyes can find something.
“There are cases today that are being solved 30 years on because of breakthroughs in DNA. It’s mind-boggling.
“All I can ask is that the police do not give up on Alistair Wilson for the sake of his family. It’s a tragedy no one should ever have to face.”