As I reflect back on last weekend’s activities, I’m probably coming at this from a biased viewpoint when I say that it was the biggest and best yet! However that is said with confidence on the back of the tremendous feedback I have received both during the weekend and this week.

It all started on Wednesday 24th June when the marquee company arrived to erect the ‘tent’, and as we saw it taking shape you could sense the buzz beginning to start and there was anticipation in the air of the events to follow.

On the afternoon of Thursday 25th June, the folk from St. Mary’s Church began setting up for the antiques valuation they were hosting for the local community. John Crane from Cato Crane Auctioneers managed to see somewhere in the region of 40 different people, and a lot more perceived ‘antiques’ as the guests enjoyed some delicious light refreshments. The evening passed superbly well and I was greeted with a lovely email on Friday morning thanking us for the warm welcome they received and how much they’d enjoyed it. This was a great way for us to extend our reach into the local community and present the club in a positive light.

On to Friday and the army of volunteers descending on the club to get things ready for the Sportsman’s Dinner. Having such a large number of volunteers made my job so much easier and it was heart-warming to see them set about the task in hand and work tirelessly for the cause – thank you everybody. As the evening commenced, the guests were welcomed into the marquee by the MC for the night, Pete Clark. As the evening kicked on, the guests enjoyed a sumptuous feast prepared by Barwise Caterers and drinks being served to their tables so as they could relax and enjoy the evening. What was refreshing to see was my wife, Debbie, taking money off other people rather than me for a change as she weaved her way in and out of the tables selling raffle tickets. The raffle passed with some splendid prizes being won, for those, we are extremely grateful to Gravity Health & Fitness Club, Speedy Hire, Polypipe Civilic and Rich Battersby. Moving on to the auction, there were some wonderful pieces available (thanks to O2 and Jewsons), and there was some thrilling bidding taking place which kept everyone on their toes, not least Pete Clark as his head was spinning around the room keeping an eye on the arms flying in the air. On to the main event, Mr Phil Thompson – what can I say! Having had the pleasure of his company all evening I knew he wouldn’t disappoint, and he certainly didn’t as he regaled stories of his past career and then more recently his time working with Sky Sports. Mick Monroe concluded the evening to plenty of laughter and as the lights dimmed, the focus turned into the transition for the following evenings Summer Ball.

With only a few hours’ sleep under my belt, I headed down to the club to start the tidy up process and was pleased that I was greeted with the kettle being on and Mr Barrett with vacuum in hand! The set up for the evening went smoothly as the marquee was ‘dressed’ suitably and as people popped their heads in, I lost count of how many times I heard “WOW” being uttered. As the army of men in penguin suits and women looking a lot more elegant than their male counterparts descending on the club, the evening began to flow very nicely, and after a splendid buffet The Trunk Monkeys kicked into life as the guests enjoyed the ‘party end’ of the marquee throwing some shapes on the LED dance floor under the starlight ceiling. With the party in full flow, the night passed without a hitch and culminated in a dance off between Life Member; Madeleine Ward and 1st XI opening batsmen Jay Williams. I had the unenviable task of deciding the winner, and not that I was persuaded by a stern glare from the wife, I announced Madeleine to be the worthy winner for a second consecutive year. As last orders were called, the revellers departed the club and headed for some well needed sleep.

Sunday morning seemed to come round very quickly, and it was back down the club to get ready for the wedding reception of Lian & Dave Swaine. The marquee was in remarkably good shape considering there’d been 180 party goers in there the previous night and as the couple arrived at the club to set up they were greeted to a near pristine marquee much to their delight. As their guests arrived, they enjoyed the warm sunshine and the ability to open up the marquee to extend on to the pitch allowing the children to play out there whilst the adults enjoyed the reception. Ian Sharrock, as he had done all weekend, ran the bar superbly well, and I am so grateful for all the work he did over the weekend.

There are so many people who helped out in various guises in both the lead up and over the course of the weekend. I won’t name you all at the risk of missing anybody out, but you know who you are and I can’t thank you enough.

To all the guests who came, thank you for supporting the club and I look forward to welcoming you for next year’s events.

A photo montage of the weekend can be found HERE.

Cheers
Jez Lamb