Well attended meeting The closing of the November convention signaled the end of our 49th year and now the green light is well and truly shining and beckoning us in to our historic 50th year in 2011. This meeting was well attended; especially on Saturday and with a very decent Sunday attendance it all bodes well for our special anniversary year. The Imperial Hotel In the relatively short space of time that we have held residence here, the Imperial has rapidly become our home and the Winter Gardens now seems to be a dim and distant memory. This was another great weekend from all points of view with everyone working hard to promote the event and everybody working hard to enjoy it. New Members At each convention there is always new members and new performers and one who the audience took to immediately was 15 year old Ben Bradley from Castleford. Ben received unanimous approval for his performance and got the biggest cheers of the weekend. He has lots to learn but has all the makings of another great GFS entertainer. Entertainment Steve Helme, Alan Yates and Martin Harrison are all seasoned campaigners and all gave brilliant performances and whilst they may not have the same skills on the ukulele, Frances Terry and Tommy "Teapot" Quirk are just as popular with the membership. Malcolm Rigby gave a great rendition of “Hill Billy Willie” dressed as a cowboy and complete with six-shooter. Kitty’s Raffle Kitty Barrett's raffle raised over £160 for the benefit of the Society, gone are the days when we came to Blackpool and enjoyed the best of venues free of charge, now we have to pay our way so Kitty's efforts are even more appreciated than ever. Over the years she has raised thousands for the GFS and her honorary membership is definitely well deserved. Although we still receive a small contribution from Blackpool Tourism, it is nothing like enough to pay for a weekend in the magnificent Imperial and surely as we roll into 2011 our committee will have to seriously consider how we can increase our revenue. Blackpool's generosity over the years has allowed us to build up our finances but they will soon disappear unless we can increase our revenue streams. The GFS Shop One highly successful source of finance is our GFS shop, managed by Dennis Taylor and run by Pat Taylor and Kathryn Pollard. They enjoyed another successful weekend and without their efforts and Dennis's Internet postal service, the GFS would really struggle. Concert Organiser Another who deserves a special mention is Alan Chenery who transports all the sound equipment and then balances the sound all weekend, hires the lighting system, and for the last eight years has found the time to be the concert organiser. Alan has now stepped down from this demanding role and we thank him for all his efforts. We are now on the lookout for a new concert organizer – any volunteers? The Band Our resident band of Tony Thornton, Dale Norman, Dickie Speake, Matthew Richards and David Partington all supported us royally and all in the GFS should be grateful for these talented lads – there is nothing like taking to the stage with a band, we are all used to playing with backing tracks but in Blackpool the luxury of The Band is a real treat. A Memorable Weekend To sum up, another memorable weekend and everybody played their part, from the reception desk, the shop, the concert MC’s and the band, Gill Walley buzzing everywhere with notepad and camera catching every moment on film and paper to later present a far better report then the one you are now reading. Fantastic entertainment from all. Well done to everybody and we’ll be back in March 2011.
NOVEMBER 2010
Well attended meeting The closing of the November convention signaled the end of our 49th year and now the green light is well and truly shining and beckoning us in to our historic 50th year in 2011. This meeting was well attended; especially on Saturday and with a very decent Sunday attendance it all bodes well for our special anniversary year. The Imperial Hotel In the relatively short space of time that we have held residence here, the Imperial has rapidly become our home and the Winter Gardens now seems to be a dim and distant memory. This was another great weekend from all points of view with everyone working hard to promote the event and everybody working hard to enjoy it. New Members At each convention there is always new members and new performers and one who the audience took to immediately was 15 year old Ben Bradley from Castleford. Ben received unanimous approval for his performance and got the biggest cheers of the weekend. He has lots to learn but has all the makings of another great GFS entertainer. Entertainment Steve Helme, Alan Yates and Martin Harrison are all seasoned campaigners and all gave brilliant performances and whilst they may not have the same skills on the ukulele, Frances Terry and Tommy "Teapot" Quirk are just as popular with the membership. Malcolm Rigby gave a great rendition of “Hill Billy Willie” dressed as a cowboy and complete with six-shooter. Kitty’s Raffle Kitty Barrett's raffle raised over £160 for the benefit of the Society, gone are the days when we came to Blackpool and enjoyed the best of venues free of charge, now we have to pay our way so Kitty's efforts are even more appreciated than ever. Over the years she has raised thousands for the GFS and her honorary membership is definitely well deserved. Although we still receive a small contribution from Blackpool Tourism, it is nothing like enough to pay for a weekend in the magnificent Imperial and surely as we roll into 2011 our committee will have to seriously consider how we can increase our revenue. Blackpool's generosity over the years has allowed us to build up our finances but they will soon disappear unless we can increase our revenue streams. The GFS Shop One highly successful source of finance is our GFS shop, managed by Dennis Taylor and run by Pat Taylor and Kathryn Pollard. They enjoyed another successful weekend and without their efforts and Dennis's Internet postal service, the GFS would really struggle. Concert Organiser Another who deserves a special mention is Alan Chenery who transports all the sound equipment and then balances the sound all weekend, hires the lighting system, and for the last eight years has found the time to be the concert organiser. Alan has now stepped down from this demanding role and we thank him for all his efforts. We are now on the lookout for a new concert organizer – any volunteers? The Band Our resident band of Tony Thornton, Dale Norman, Dickie Speake, Matthew Richards and David Partington all supported us royally and all in the GFS should be grateful for these talented lads – there is nothing like taking to the stage with a band, we are all used to playing with backing tracks but in Blackpool the luxury of The Band is a real treat. A Memorable Weekend To sum up, another memorable weekend and everybody played their part, from the reception desk, the shop, the concert MC’s and the band, Gill Walley buzzing everywhere with notepad and camera catching every moment on film and paper to later present a far better report then the one you are now reading. Fantastic entertainment from all. Well done to everybody and we’ll be back in March 2011.
November 2010