What a great twenty-seventh Birthday Party we had! As usual, I arrived on Wednesday to set up camp and check things out. I made sure that the canteen fridge and freezer were up and running. The mower man was kept busy cleaning up the sites as the previous campers left, so there were plenty of clippings to get into the vans.
On Thursday, it was drizzling most of the day, with most of the arrivals ducking the showers to get set up. Friday and Saturday were clear, with some passing high cloud, and a gentle breeze strong enough to blow any paperwork around. A total of 13 vans with 22 people were able to turn up, most on Thursday, but everyone was early enough to participate in any activities that Don, the President, organised.
On Friday afternoon, we held the General Meeting, with the next one organised to be at the Whiporie Outing on 05 Jul 25. Marjorie was kept busy organising all the activities listed in the agenda. After the General Meeting, there was a Disc Bowls competition. There were four teams, and, after 16 ends, the winning team was Helen, Gary, Harry, and Yvonne. At afternoon tea/happy hour, Ray gave us all an interesting demonstration of the AED. Robo was kept busy manning the club BBQ for dinner, with a helping hand from Don P., cooking up fried onions, sausages, and beef and chicken patties, to be added to a make-yourself salad and bread provided by Nola. Dessert was a fruit salad and custard.
On Saturday, Marjorie organised the horse races, with Pam and Don P being the ladies’ and gents’ winners respectively. The fashion stake winners were Yvonne, for Best Outfit of the Day, Helen, the Owner, and Harry in his tights, the Jockey. The grocery grab went off at a gallop, with Nola being the winner.
The birthday cake in all its glory was wheeled out for everyone joining in a verse of “Happy Birthday”, before the cake was sliced up by Paul, one of our founding members. After Happy Hour, most of us walked down to the Golden Dog Hotel Bistro for a delicious meal, drinks, and chats, and then strolled back to the Reserve. Sunday morning was mainly clear, and everyone helped clean up, then move on with their lives. Thanks to Don T for creating the agenda for the weekend, for Nola for all the catering she provided, for Marjorie working so hard to bring all the activities to fruition, to Ray and Shirley for running the raffle, and to the Board of the Reserve for allowing us to use the canteen at no cost to us. The March Outing will be at Alumny School, and I will be sending out more information on getting there soon. Regards, Don Brackenreg (Secretary).