To the tune of “Day Trip To Bangor” By Fiddler’s Dram
Didn’t we have a terrible time
The night we went to Mike Shaw’s
It was that time of year
The one we all fear
The annual club garden party
The fish when arrived
It was still alive
And the chips were still potatoes
And Mike felt a fool when he fell in the pool
Still fully clothed
And Annabelle cried when she realised
She had left Reg at home!
Or maybe it went well, who knows? That is down to you and of course the weather!
Yes in case you had missed the e-mails, announcement, notices, carrier pigeon messages, newspaper ads, Internet memes and door to door reminders from Mike himself, this year’s garden party makes its return to Mike Shaw’s palatial abode (address is in the members section) after a two year break which conveniently sees the expiry date of the ASBO Mike received from the last time he hosted it!
A quick note before we get onto the dos and don’ts regarding parking – there will be limited prearranged priority only parking on the main drive and those people who should already have been notified about this. Everyone else will have to try the luck on the road instead. Perhaps some of you could carpool to avoid having the whole street occupied by OVFM?
On to the specifics of the evening and the arrival start time is a little earlier than usual with a 7:00pm for 7:15pm start. If you arrive late you will be locked out and Mike will set the hamsters onto you.
By now you all should have filled in the forms Pat Palmer sent round at the last few club meetings with your choice of meal and dessert. As ever if you have your own dietary needs or wish to provide your own alternatives and dessert that is fine. Drinks are to be provided by you while teas and coffees will be served later in the evening.
As Mike has given the servants the night off, you will be responsible for bringing your own chairs, table, cutlery, glasses and condiments, while it is encouraged you pack an umbrella or a jacket in case the weather decides to be unfair and swerve towards being inclement. Also anyone in possession a gazebo is kindly requested to bring it along it with them. Those of you not attending the party do not need to bring anything.
While there will be fun and games throughout the evening to liven things up a bit, those of you who attended the last party held at Chez Shaw will know that Mike has a heated swimming pool and the invitation has once again been extended to anyone who wishes to make use of it can do, on the proviso that you wear regulated swimming attire. The good thing about this is that if it rains and you get cold and wet you can dry off in the warm pool!
Finally this meeting marks the deadline for the Create a Poster Competition so if you have a last minute entry, please bring it along with you. I don’t know if the judging will be done by a public vote there and then but if it does, may I just point out that people who vote for my entry will have a longer life expectancy than those who don’t.
Anyway that’s pretty much all the bases covered so all that remains is for me to say everyone have a good time. Go on – I dare you!
