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| Commodore's Newsletter -
March 2010. |
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| Dear Friends and Fellow Members,
I was hoping to start this letter with good news
about the weather, but how wrong I was. The canal seems to be
freezing over every other day. The poor bulbs in the tubs don’t know
whether to wake up or go back to sleep again. Never mind, the nights
are getting lighter and we have the spring to look forward to. The
sooner it comes the better we will all feel.
Since my last letter to you we have had the
Auction which ran as smoothly as ever with Kath and Eric in charge.
Thank you to all the helpers you did a grand job. February 13 th
was the Valentines Dance which saw the Club
House transformed into romantic mode. Helped along by Frank Forde
and his wonderful renditions of all the old crooner songs. The night
seemed to be a great success. It makes the hard work the Sailing
Officers and Social Committee put in worth while. Thank you all, not
forgetting the bar staff, and Bob for his posters and tickets.
Thursday 18th February
saw the club house buzzing with anticipation as Keith, Janet and
Margaret tossed the pancakes. Would they catch them or not? It was
good to see so many of you.
We have a few events coming up over the next
month. The 6 th March is
the Quiz Night, 8 pm. Please come along and join us. It will be
light hearted and a bit of fun. There will be different categories
of question and I am sure there will be something for all.
Hope you have all been practising your ‘yippees’
ready for the Fitting Out Supper Ho Down on 20 th
March. Tickets are going well so if you
haven’t put your name down yet please contact myself or any of the
Sailing Officers. You don’t have to dance - it will be fun watching
other people doing the dancing and you can always help out with the
‘yippees’. We will be having Hot Pot and Apple Pie. If you require
the vegetarian option of Vegetable Bake please let me know.
Sunday the 28 th
March is the Opening Cruise. We will be sailing from
the cill at 10.30 towards bridge 20 and then back to the club where
hot food will be available. There will be a prize for the best
dressed boat.
April sees the Easter Weekend Cruise to Bugsworth.
We will be erecting the big marquee and there will be entertainment
on Saturday and Sunday. The club will not be providing a bar so
bring along your own supplies. Sunday is Keith‘s 60 th
birthday. We will be providing food and
entertainment and a drink to celebrate his birthday and we would
like to invite you all along . There will be an Easter Bonnet and
Tie competition and I would also like to test your ingenuity by
dressing your windlass. Anything goes.
That’s it for now; here‘s to a brilliant sailing season with lots
of sunshine.
Denise and Keith |
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| Commodore's Newsletter -
February 2010. |
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| Hi Friends and Fellow Members,
Well, at last the ice has gone and Keith and I
were able to take
Hirondelle for a cruise on Sunday. Let’s
hope that is the last of it. It was lovely and we enjoyed the beauty
of it when it first came, but then the novelty wears off. We missed
seeing boats going past.
By the time you read this the Race
Night and Tea Dance will have been and gone. I am sure they will
have gone down well. The next event is the Auction on 7th
February run by Kath and her team. Please come
along and support her. This is followed by the Valentines Dance on
13th February at 8pm. We
will be entertained by Frank Forde who will be serenading us with
romantic songs and we will be having a Ploughman’s Supper and a
‘naughty but nice’ cream cake. |
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| Thursday 18th
February is Pancake Night. Come along and
indulge yourself and watch the lads tossing the pancakes.
The next event makes me think winer is coming to
an end as it is the Fitting Out Supper which this year is to be a
Hoedown. We would like to see as many of you as possible entering
into the spirit of it by dressing up as cow-boys and cow-girls. The
Hoedown Band Fiddlestix will be on hand to help us with the dancing
so get practising your "yippee’s".
If you wish to attend either of these events please contact
myself or any of the
Sailing Officers or if you are in the club add your name to the
lists.
Due to the continuing bad weather and possibly
more to come, we have decided to re-schedule the Pantomime for later
in the year, possibly October, but will keep you all informed.
Finally, we are getting names together for the
Amsterdam trip in September. If you are interested we have a list on
the Commodore’s Board or phone Keith or myself to put your names
down. We need to know approximately how many of you are interested
so we can negotiate the best deal. When I have a draft itinerary I
will call a meeting with every one interested to discuss it. It
would be helpful if we could have all names by the end of February.
That’s all for now folks, looking forward to seeing you on the
canal or at the club.
Denise and Keith
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| Commodore's Newsletter -
January 2010. |
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It has been a very busy time for all of us since
the last newsletter. We started December by putting up the Christmas
tree in time for the Floral Display organised by Sheila and her
team. What a great night it was! If you have never attended it, I
would strongly recommend you put it in your diary for next year. We
held a Children’s Christmas Party on 5th
December and 15 children came along with
parents and grand-parents. It was a lovely afternoon and the
children enjoyed watching Father Christmas coming along the towpath
and up into the club-house. I must say how well behaved they were
and they brought a lot of pleasure to us ‘oldies’ watching them
enjoy themselves.
The Adult Christmas Party was on the 12th
December. We were served a three course meal
by Chris and Rose Bosley and their team. I think they excelled
themselves this year. I don’t know how they manage to do so well in
our kitchen. Following the meal we had some excitement with Father
Christmas arriving by boat to deliver presents to all our guests. I
think Father Christmas had a twinkle in his eye when the ladies sat
on his knee! Father Christmas and his helper then gave us a
rendition of ‘The Pudding Song’ before setting off for Lapland. The
music for the evening was by ‘Steal Duo’. After the initial problems
with the sound and volume, they went on to entertain us well.
Keith, Michelle and I went up to Glasgow on
Christmas Eve to be with Jamie and his girl-friend Nikki. It was
lovely having Christmas dinner with Nikki’s parents and family. It
did mean a very early start at 6am to get back to Marple for the
Boxing Day Cruise - well, Car Cruise, as the canal was frozen. We
arrived at the Forces Club just as Pam, John, Brian, Hazel, Jean and
Shep arrived with the soup and sandwiches. We were not expecting to
see a lot of members because of the dreadful weather but were wrong
as between 45 and 50 members came along. It was lovely to see you
all and especially Steve and Margaret after Steve’s operation.
We saw the end of 2009 with a Hogmanay Party. The
room looked lovely with its tartan theme. I hope you ladies liked
your tartan sash and the gentlemen your sprig of heather. We were
entertained by Double D Disco. He was great as he had Scottish pipe
music when the guests arrived to set the scene. He provided music
for every taste including ballroom dancing, Scottish dancing and
disco. We were even entertained with golden oldie music while we ate
our picnics with people singing along to them. Just before midnight
we heard the sound of the pipes and in came a mad piper and his
equally mad assistant who entertained us with the pipes and a
sword-dance. Don’t know where they had escaped from but they did get
us onto the dance floor, jigging about and ready to bring in the New
Year. I have been assured they have been securely confined to a
steel boat on the canal somewhere.
I would like to thank Keith, my Sailing Officers,
the Social Committee and everyone who has helped me in any way
during this very busy period, as we couldn’t have done it without
you.
An apology is due to the skipper and crew of
Hakuna Matata
for leaving you off the list of boats attending the
Bonfire Weekend.
Dates for your Diary :
Games Night Friday 22nd
January (Changed date) 8.00 pm
Race Night Saturday 30th
January 7.30 pm -
Organised by Sheila and the Fund
Raising Team
Auction Sunday 7th
February 2.00 pm
Valentine’s Night Saturday 13th
February
Lastly Keith and I wish you all a brilliant 2010 with many
blessings and plenty of sailing.
Denise and Keith
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| Commodore's Newsletter -
December 2009. |
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Dear Friends and Fellow Members, It’s hard to
believe a month has gone by since taking over as Commodore. It has
been a busy month with a Bonfire Weekend at Whiteley Green attended
by Hirondelle, Fleur Denise, Taylor Maid, Quantum, Gralyn, Columbus,
Moonlight Shadow, Aquarius, La Vie en Rose, Sarah, Tat, Ellie, Ganda,
Wild Rose, and Altonian. We also had Malcolm and Barbara Bridge
attending in their motor caravan and John Fenton and Pam Russell
came by car. It was a great evening with a bonfire, hotpot, parkin,
treacle toffee and even a few fireworks. After supper we were
entertained by Ian Bruce and Barbara Bridge. Even the weather was
kind to us and we sailed back on Sunday in the sunshine. Many thanks
to everyone who helped to set it up and to everyone for coming and
making it such a success.
21st November
was the Sailing Officers’ Dance with ninety people attending. The
evening started with the Sailing Officers being presented to
everyone. This was followed by an excellent meal by Chris Bosley.
After the meal we were entertained by ‘Elvis’ who gave us a great
show. Following the raffle we had our second piece of entertainment,
the ‘NCCC Strictly Come Dancing’ final. |
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I hope all of
you who attended enjoyed the bit of fun and well done to Ian and Mo
Spooner for winning the Glitter Ball. The next event is the
Christmas Party on 12th
December, 7 pm ‐ 7.30 pm start.
It is a three course dinner with entertainment by ‘Steal Duo’ who
perform hits from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Tickets: £15 for members
(£17 for guests). New Year’s Eve this year will have a Hogmanay
theme. It will be the same as previous years ‐ bring your own plate
of food. Tea and coffee will be available. Double D’ will once again
be entertaining us. 8 pm start. Tickets: £8 for members (£10 for
guests).
Don’t forget the Boxing Day Cruise to Marple
Forces Club. Soup and sandwiches will be available. We will be
leaving the arm about 11 am. That’s all for now folks. Thank you to
everyone who helped in any way to make the first month so much fun.
Keith and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year. Look forward to seeing you all soon.
Denise, Commodore.
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