The Christmas Party on Saturday 11th December was a wonderful selection of poems, songs and sketches performed by our talented members and patrons and co-ordinated and presented by Hermin Daley.
John and Betsy Rimmer organised a brilliant set of quizzes to entertain us at the Members’ Evening on Saturday 28th August. Our knowledge of poetry, films, actors and actresses, as well as more general subjects was challenged and prizes were awarded for the winners. The Chairman’s Challenge competition for 2003/2004 was a very close run thing and the winner Linda Stabler was presented with the cup at the end of the evening.
We once again ran our highly successful Bottle Stall at the Village Fayre and Flower Show on Saturday 17th July.
A double bill of entertainment was enjoyed by members on Saturday 8th May. During the first half members and their guests were thrilled to be in the company of Margaret Firth as she watched her winning entry to the 2002-2003 Chairman’s Challenge Cup A Country Retreat directed by Linda Stabler. Margaret sought inspiration for her winning one act play from an old family home in Yorkshire. It had an underground smugglers run and a rose garden both of which featured in her fast moving dialogue. Following a very tasty supper the second half saw Linda and Eddie Stabler performing Terry Temple’s short play, Dinner for One. The action took place in the dining room of Miss Sophie’s ancestral home. A most enjoyable and amusing performance.
On Saturday 14th February we presented our Murder Mystery Evening – Murder at the Manor by Chris McDermott directed by Zaria Page. Members acted out a tense melodrama while the audience had to spot the clues and guess the identity of the murderer of Sir Marcus. The first prize was awarded to Jean and Ray Hunt and their party – all credit to them for untangling the host of red herrings and not only guessing the answer but also providing the relevant evidence.
Scarcely had the curtains closed on the final performance of Toad of Toad Hall, when many of the cast were back in rehearsal for our December Members’ Evening on Saturday 13th December. A record attendance of 70 members and guests were entertained by a somewhat unusual version of Cinderella. Later in the evening, following one of our renowned hot suppers, we were delighted to be able to present to a representative of West Chiltington School a cheque for £300 towards their appeal fund.
The Members Evening on Saturday August 30th was very well attended and enjoyed by all. This was an opportunity for anyone to perform and it was delightful to see our younger members on stage – Amber Williamson sang for us, George Williamson performed a cornet solo and James Hodge played the clarinet. We were also treated to a song from Linda Stabler accompanied by Terry Turner on piano, a very funny sketch from Betsy and John Rimmer and a Pam Ayres poem read by Gordon Wells. Mick Hoolahan entertained us with a talk entitled ‘Keep it Short’ (it was just the right length!) and Janet Methley read us one of her own excellent poems. The entertainment was rounded off in fine style by Julia & Doug Yule, Jan Zingel and Roland King in a tribute to ABBA.
Both the Gin and Whisky Raffle and the Bottle Stall were tremendously well supported in spite of a very hot day. We were delighted to be able to hand over to the Fete and Flower Show profits of £151 for the Gin and Whisky Raffle and £350 from the Bottle Stall
making a grand total of over £500! Well done to all those who participated, in particular Frank Warriner, who as always did a wonderful job and completely sold out his 250 Gin & Whisky Raffle tickets by 3.45 pm.
The Members Evening on Saturday 3rd May was a Mini Drama Festival co-ordinated by Linda Stabler. The programme of three one-act plays followed by a finger buffet was a great success. The plays were Then written by David Compton and directed by Zaria Page, The Clean Up written by Dan Sutherland and directed by Linda Stabler and The Cloak written by Clifford Box and directed by Hermin Daley. We were delighted to welcome Margaret and Tom Horan as adjudicators and though all the plays were excellently performed and enjoyed by all, a decision had to be made. The cup winners were pronounced as: Best Production – The Cloak, Best Performer – Betsy Rimmer and Best Performer Runner-up – Hermin Daley. After a delicious supper provided by members, a £500 cheque was presented by Hermin Daley to Andrew Shaerf, the new community fundraiser for St. Barnabas Hospice. Andrew spoke eloquently of the real difference that the money would make to those in their care. We were pleased to be able to make this donation from the proceeds of the first night of No Time for Fig Leaves. Finally Hermin was presented with an engraved vase to thank her for her many years of hard work on the Committee and as Chairman.
Sadly that is the end of our supply of photographs of Members' Events - unless you know better? Here are a few memories for the rest of 2003 and 2002 - please do get in touch if you have any photos you can share.
Love and Romance - a Valentine themed evening of sketches, poems, songs and music co-ordinated by Hermin Daley
On 14th December over 50 members, patrons and guests experienced a ride through a Christmas wonderland of entertainment, co-ordinated by Linda Stabler. This was the Members' Christmas Party of carols, panto, cabaret, comedy, monologues and seasonal cheer - all performed by members and patrons. All the performers worked hard to make the evening a success. Linda has to be congratulated for not tearing her hair out during rehearsals and she was rewarded as it was pretty well alright on the night!! Well almost…. It was good to see Roland King taking on the role of Stage Manager, which he performed beautifully. The icing on the cake came with the performances from our two youngest members of the cast George, who played Christopher Robin and Mandy our exquisite ballerina. There was an excellent supper of chicken casserole, veg curry and jacket potatoes followed by mince pies and cream. Many thanks to the committee who provided and cooked the delicious food. The raffle with superb prizes brought many a smile, particularly the draw overseen by our own Father Christmas and raffle supremo Mike Page. Our grateful thanks to everyone who donated prizes, they really added value to the evening’s entertainment and helped the Society’s funds. Thank you also to all the many helpers who contributed to the evening’s success by running the bar, providing tea and coffee and helping to clear up.
A marvellous Quiz Evening devised and co-ordinated by Betsy Rimmer. Betsy put together five quizzes - Know your Shakepeare, Know your Theme Music and Guess the Star Gallery. We finished with a lighthearted game of audience charades.
Members' Evening entitled Poetry in Motion directed by Linda Stabler.
Members' Evening consisting of a number of playreadings with a comic theme directed by Linda Stabler. It was a great evening of excellent entertainment, food, raffle prizes and of course the audience.