Jazz & Hog Roast

Two changes this year. Due to the cost there was no live jazz band and some of the saving was invested in a hog roast replacing the typical BBQ.

The cost of live jazz has skyrocketed over the last two or three years to the point were it can no longer be justified. We still had jazz but via a sound system provided by Rodger Wheeler, including vinyl records, and as people always tend to talk through the music anyway I'm not sure lack of 'live' music was any great loss.

The hog roast was a very pleasant change and seemed to go down very well with the 75 people who attended. The hog was supplied, ready prepared and mounted on a rotisserie. Cooking time was 4 to 5 hours and Bodgitt & Son (Catering Division) ensured that it was cooked to perfection. They were, of course, suitably lubricated while slaving over the hot rotisserie with pints of the Hogs Back Brewery best collected by Peter Carpenter earlier in the week.

This year Pete was ably assisted in the bar by Joan Walkden who was in charge of a large punch bowl of Pimm's No.1 which seemed to hit the mark with the Aquarius ladies.

Our new patio really came into its own providing more than enough space for everyone who wanted to dine 'al fresco' although earlier in the day Nigel and the team had erected a large gazebo on the patio deck on the assumption it might be wet, which it was. One exited the lounge into a very large covered area so the continuous rain was hardly noticed.

A whole range of salads had been prepared by members of the Social & Management Committee's ensuring that there was something for everybody, including our younger members.

After everybody had eaten our club President George Bray formally opened the new patio and also thanked Donald Babs for the handsome teak bench donated to the club in memory of Pat Shore.

Mike (Over Easy) Baker