Terry & Sue Bradley's photos

The hard-working ladies - photos by David Parkinson

For many of the Committee and the loyal band of slicers, dicers, bakers and site preparation volunteers it was an early start, as well as a late finish. Don and Margaret Roberts and their wonderful band of helpers were well organised and busy, with a huge variety of tasks ranging from putting up gazebos to putting soap and toilet paper in the bathrooms, all to ensure the comfort of our members!

The "sound guys" our own Richard Perry, and David Hinton and Alan Stephens from Cameo had wires and speakers spread out in very attractive patterns all over the ground in the "entertainment area". It was difficult to see how they would ever put it together - but of course they did.

The initial welcome was from the folks parking cars, and of course Gerry Bird had a plan. This was very sensibly to fill up one car park first, but Caz Williams, who was assisting Gerry tells me she was offered some very generous incentives to allow Members to park nearer to the picnic site. I didn't understand this until I saw all of the cool boxes which were being carried! Caz of course refused all attempts to shortcut the system!

Michel and his helpers from Los Leones were working under very difficult conditions, and although the rest of us were delighted to see the sun, I think they would have been glad if it had been a bit cooler.

The salad servers did well, the food servers did well, the cookers of all the onions did well, and of course the Members carrying their very full plates did well to keep it all under control!

The quiz, compiled by Gordon ("I've started so I'll finish") Kershaw was passed around to all of the tables, and answers were written during the meal. For some of the Members the questions were easy, for some of us they were impossible, but it was all good fun. The answers were collected in and marked by Gordon and his team, and the top three teams were:

1st The Swingers with 27 points
2nd Hot Stuff with 26 points
3rd Table 22 with 25 points

So well done to all of you.

Shortly after the meal Shirley Baehr, the Groups Co-ordinator and I had a special award to present to a U3A member. This was for the person who attended the most groups, the award, a smart rosette in U3A blue and yellow, and a bottle of Cava went to Janet Westgarth with a total of 5 groups, well done Janet!

We then moved to the excitement of the free raffle, and chances to win prizes! Folks had several prizes to choose from, including a lovely suitcase which was donated, as was some wine brought by Sylvia Tatnell.

We were delighted that Nikki Luxford from the Costa Blanca News came, and even more pleased that she stayed for most of the event. By now she's an old friend, and always says what a friendly crowd of people we all are! Jack Troughton came along too from the Round Town News, with his trusty camera much in evidence. It will be interesting to see what - if anything - goes in the press this week.

Once the meal was over, (and the wonderful desserts thoroughly enjoyed), it was time for a lot of folks to stretch their legs by going down to the "Entertainment Area", which by now had been made very safe by Richard Perry and his friends.

The entertainment started with our own U3A choir under the direction of Ann Johnson, they started with a specially written song for us, the words were cleverly composed by Ann and set to the music of a Norwegian Song. This was followed by several other well known songs, which were very well received. It was clearly hot for the choristers, but in true British style they all gave of their very best until the end of their performance.

They were followed by our own U3A/Richard Perry discovery Roy (Hank) Cresswell, playing several numbers which got many feet tapping, and two ladies jiving outside the Ermita! Roy is a star, and a thoroughly nice chap, we're lucky to have him "on our books!"

After Roy came Cameo, 6 people, 3 of whom stared out as cats, and goodness they must have been hot under their furry masks, paws and tails! More numbers followed, songs and dances, all done in a most professional manner, and every one very different from the last. Cameo brought the entertainment to a close, and how lucky we were that such quality acts had joined us on our special day, a vey big thank you to each and every performer, and the folks in the background as well.

We were very pleased to welcome as guests José Luis Alaminos Montes from the Council of General Services, and Sylvia Tatnell. José Luis was responsible for making sure we had all the tables and chairs that we needed, and Sylvia of course has been a true friend to us since before the U3A was even formed. Both Sylvia and José Luis wandered among the guests chatting and enjoying the entertainment on offer.

A huge vote of thanks to all of the Members who helped in any way shape or fashion, but especially to those who kindly stayed at the end to make sure the site was as clean and tidy at 6 pm as it was at 9 am. By the time 5pm came the Committee and the original helpers were flagging, but the site had to be clean and tidy before we all left.

Many of you will have heard that sadly the day closed on a down note. Two of our late afternoon helpers were Anne and Chris Ricketts. Chris had a fall, thankfully two (unknown) Spanish chaps who were offloading soft drinks into the Ermita were on hand to summon the Red Cross ambulance. This arrived in the promised 10 minutes, together with the local policemen, without exception they were all very kind, reassuring and helpful to Chris and his wife Anne. Chris was taken to hospital in Beniabeig, and was confirmed as having broken his leg in three places, and damaged his hip. He is in very good hands, and we do of course wish him a speedy and full recovery, and our best wishes go to his lovely wife Anne. As she followed Chris into the ambulance, Anne's last words were "thank you very much for a wonderful party", what a super lady!

Thanks very much too to those of you who wrote to say how much you enjoyed the day, and recognising how hard the organising Committee worked - ladies and gentlemen, you have no idea of the work that went into the afternoon, so it's good that so many of you had a super time.

I wonder if it's too early to start planning for next year ..... !

Best wishes
Ann