Brilliant weekend, full house on the riverside, with 22 Boats attending + 3 cars.  The weather not too bad with light winds and some sunshine, although there had been overnight rain which left us a wet morning. At least 30 members and guests were at the afternoon “60’s” tea party, and attending the evening’s entertainment. Others were in separate groups, all acknowledging social-distancing rules.

Most arrived early for the weekend, rafting off as usual until spaces became available, and by early afternoon Saturday we had everyone safely moored. Dave off-loaded the new gazebos early morning, and then we spent some time deciding on which of the “old” white gazebos we should erect. (consensus was that we should ditch the old white gazebos and invest in an additional 2 pop-up units to match those we already have – unfortunately it was subsequently discovered that there is a shortage of those and we will have to wait until next season, so “long-live” the old 9m x 3m lightweights!) Erecting our new pop-ups was done fairly quickly, and the fun then begun for us to remember how to put up the old gazebo – although it didn’t take too long as we didn’t need the front panels. By 12 noon we had a great open-plan L-shape of gazebos, and the ladies immediately set to work to decorate them beautifully in “60’s” style – even generously hanging old 45’s and record sleeves everywhere.

Tables and chairs were then brought up by all members and it was time to don fancy dress and lay out the party food, and drink of course. Once again the club speaker/iPod player was put into action, and my iPod set to play all the old 60’s favourites – giving background music whilst we ate our cakes and sarnies, and imbibed plenty of beer; prosecco; and wine. There was even the odd cup of tea drunk, just to fulfil the essence of the occasion! The weather brightened up, the sun shone, and it was pleasant sitting out “al fresco” in the early afternoon – lucky us once more.

We had decided earlier on our chosen charity – the “Louise Hamilton Palliative Care” unit at the James Paget, and our first collection was a £1 entry fee to our Bingo session – hosted by Bim. That was great fun, with prizes given for one line; 2 lines; and the eventual Full house – the later won by Bill (Mr C). Nearly all boats had donated a prize or 2 and the prize table was heaving – so we decided to hold a raffle, and Mandy volunteered to go around and sell the tickets at a £1 a go, greatly adding to our donation fund.

At the end of the day, we had collected a total of £213 for the hospice, and Jim (Helene) contributed the contents of his “pennies” jar – adding a whopping £47.50p to the fund! John and I rounded up the monies to a total of £270, to be sent to the James Paget. A brilliant effort from all.

The 60’s Fancy Dress parades began at 4pm, Men and women parading separately, and we enlisted the help of 3 ladies, who were sitting picnicking near to us, to judge the contestants. These ladies were joining in the fun, and even purchased raffle tickets.

1st Mens was won by hippy John (Pizzazz), with hippy Andy (Cloud Nine) 2nd and Fidel Castro Ivan (Court Jester) a colourful 3rd.

First of the women was 60’s chick Jackie (Frances Mary), with hippy Audrey (Grebe) 2nd. (There was no 3rd. awarded) All very comical and colourful.

The raffle draw was then held, with nearly all the remaining “prizes” on offer and our Fay (Precious Time) seemed to win them all – until the last – a big bottle of Couvoirsier brandy – which was won, of course, by me! Peter (Highly Strung), who had very kindly donated it, was most jealous!

It was then time to BBQ, at 5.30, for those who had not gorged enough cakes and snacks? Still in the late afternoon sunshine, the barbies went well and all cleared away by 7 or so, ready for Jackie’s 60’s Quiz – won (as usual?) by Ivan & Hilda (Court Jester) Bim and Jackie also did a picture board quiz that ran all afternoon. The final quiz was Bim’s ‘Name That Tune’ which was won by VC Steve and Angela (Emma Louise)

Bim and John started their “60’s flavour” music about 8.00pm with lots of singing along and socially-distanced dancing until 10.30pm, when we stopped early so as to clear up and have quiet by the witching hour of 11pm – as promised to the Parish Council. It had been a great night and I hope was enjoyed by all.

There was a threat of early showers on SUNDAY morning, so a lot of members were up early to dismantle the gazebos and clear the area – all done by 10am! It was a cool morning, as many of the boats returned to their moorings, but the sun returned at lunchtime for those late stayers to enjoy and rest a little after the hectic Saturday. All boats had gone by early afternoon. It had been another fantastic Club get-together.

My thanks to all the organisers, Bim and Jackie for the bingo and quizzes and to our house band – Bim and John.

Next meeting is the Summer BBQ at Stracey Arms Mill on 17th.July, still only the FIFTH Northern’s Run (as the 2020 event was cancelled due to Covid.)

See you all there.

(Ken  4 July 2021)

PS: £270.00 has been sent to The Louise Hamilton Palliative Care Unit at The James Paget Hospitel for which they are most grateful for. Awaiting an acknowledgement letter which I will put in the Charity section.

John