Well, what a great time we had in Glenreagh for our 28th Birthday celebrations. We had the highest number of campers since our Brooms Head outing in Feb 2022, with 21 Units, 39 people and 2 puppies. We were blessed with great weather, no rain, mostly hot, with a mischievous breeze to blow playing cards and raffle tickets around.
It was the first of the new format allowed of four nights, five days, and many took advantage of that. Of course, some people had other commitments, but they turned up when they could, instead of not coming at all.
Again, Nola has outdone herself in making the birthday cake, which she and Chris were able to assemble and decorate in our Outer Space theme for this outing. Carla called on the two previous presidents, Don T and Marilyn, to do the honours and cut the cake, which was then shared. It just made it through the whole weekend, so Nola could take her cake boards home cleaned.
We took the Wednesday to start arriving and setting up camp, and checking out the facilities. We had the use of the pavilion and kitchen, with more and more fittings that the catering staff could use. The pavilion had been extended so that we were under cover from the sun for longer in the afternoon, and shrubs had been planted around the edges to beautify the spot. I was able to make use of my picker-upperer and find many broken pieces of glass as well as other litter to help ‘keep it clean and leave no trace’.
Thursday was another sunny day, so the Finska that Ray and Anna set up was played in the shade of a grove of trees just down from the Pavilion. As usual, Ray won, with Ken second, and Chris third.
On Friday, Ray gave us a very detailed rundown of the use of the Chapter defibrillator, with a demonstration of not only how to use the device, but also the latest first aid instructions on how to best apply resuscitation on a person who has no apparent pulse. Hopefully we never have to use the information, but it is so important that we know what needs to be done. This was followed by a class on needle felting, with Carla and Elaine guiding others into making little felt critters. After that we had the official welcome to the outing by Carla, the cutting and sharing of the cake, and then the General Meeting. Errol Gray, the backyard balladeer gave us a two-hour session of his songs and poems, mainly about travelling on the road as a grey nomad, and all the troubles we can have on the way. The Chapter provided tea of beef or chicken burgers with grilled onion and salads of your choice, all prepared by Nola and the rest of the catering crew. We were going to have a fireside chat, but it was deemed still too hot to have a fire, but thanks to the Greg and the Reserve in supplying a fire drum for our use.
Saturday morning had the opportunity for everyone to attend the Glenreagh Markets, just a short walk down town. Ron was able to be an Uber, and run a service back and forth to take those who couldn’t walk that far, or needed help in carrying everything home. After a quick lunch, those that wanted to play Space Fun got out their costumes, and dressed up. Harry and Helen were judged the best dressed, and Don and Yvonne second best. Then the fun began, with two teams defending their rockets that Ken had built for them, or trying to take out the enemy’s. With Carla and Sandra controlling the CVR Control Panel, and judging the war, with water pistols, soakers, sponges, balloons, buckets and hoses, everyone got thoroughly wet, and the war was declared a draw.
After everyone dried off, we paid our Chapter fees, and had our raffles, and then enjoyed another happy hour. Thirty-three of us sat down in the beer garden at The Golden Dog Bistro to enjoy more fellowship, and a meal that we didn’t have to prepare ourselves.
Some people left early Sunday, but many stayed to enjoy a happy morning tea, and help clean up, so the whole place was cleaner than when we got here.
Don Brackenreg
Secretary