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As is now usual, the Chadwick Hotel was the venue for
the St Annes-On-The-Sea Probus Club Christmas Lunch of 2011. Only 85 members and guests
booked (and, of those, five were unfortunately unable to attend on the day); the lowest attendance figure
ever, probably, but also one of the most enjoyable events from what people said
to me.
The raffle, which has been a feature of these
lunches for many years, was disposed of this year. For the last two years it
has added £60 to the bill, but it only provided entertainment for the few
minutes of the draw and only six people (at the most) were likely to benefit
from the three prizes. The Committee looked around for some sort of
alternative entertainment without any success, until Roy Winter volunteered to
write and perform a monologue in rhyme, describing Committee members in comic
verse - a proposition which the Committee nervously accepted!
So special thanks this year must go to Roy, who
really made the event different and memorable! We all sat back and enjoyed
it and it had the longest round of applause I can remember at any function I've
ever been to! Roy has even agreed to his script being made available on
the web for all to enjoy. To see it, please click on the link below -
Roy Winter's Christmas Lunch
Monologue
As last year, we were unable to have our
President with us: Harold had had an accident at home a week before the day of
the Lunch, which
hospitalised him. And, in the same way that Harold as VP last year had
stood in for Stuart Westley, so our current VP Keith Barlow and his wife Mavis
very capably stepped into the breach and performed all the duties. Mavis
accepted the traditional gift of a bouquet of flowers, charmingly presented by Zanna Willey.
As well as acting as President for the day, Keith
had, as usual, also printed all the tickets and individual menu cards, for which we give
our grateful thanks. With so much to do as Acting President, he was unable
to be the official photographer as well, so Eric Burrell took over that role.
Some of his work can be seen below.
Make a note in your new diary - the date for the
Christmas Lunch next year is Thursday 13 December 2012.
Cliff Elliott
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