Only a few empty seats in the Washington

Suite

At one o’clock on Saturday 1st April. Only few empty chairs for the whole of the weekend. The room was packed. A fabulous attendance. The audience was raring to go. They were expecting a good meeting, they had come prepared for a good time and they were not disappointed. By the time the meeting started most of the hard work and organization had been completed. Special mention must go to Kevin and Cathy Staniland who set up the sound system on Friday, then spend two full days sitting on the sound desk, have it all to put away ready for next time. The usual stampede for the stage heralded the first thrash with members clutching ukes of all shapes, makes and sizes taking their place for a rousing rendition of Formby songs followed by President Andy Poppleton who resplendent in military uniform welcomed everyone and announced that this meeting was our tribute to the Dam Busters’ 80 anniversary. So ‘Operation Chastise’, the attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF ... like our meeting began with those immortal words, ‘Chocks Away’.

EDDIE UTTLEY Is POPULAR!

The audience had come armed for the meeting with Eddie Utley clutching his tool bags and was soon engaged with those seeking advice, changing strings, vellums, and anything else ukulele. They clutched newspapers, iPads, camera phones, knitting ukes, and chocolate bars. That’s not all, so many were dressed in appropriate costumes of the time. There were plenty of military personal hanging around most of whom would immediately have been put on a charge for not polishing their uniform buttons although in their defense they had tuned their ukuleles. Compere Frances Lister admitted she loves a man in uniform, and she had plenty of choice. There were also a couple of nurses, a French onion seller, who didn’t sell many onions and a vicar! The vicar (Daz Barry) let it be known that he was available for confessions throughout the meeting. Stuart Lowther boasted he’d booked a two-hour session. He must have been a very bad boy with such a lot to confess. Apparently, Henry VIII decreed that anyone impersonating a vicar would be hanged. Daz being the first compere didn’t hang around and began the meeting with a song all about George’s hometown - Wigan. After that, performers followed each other on the stage negotiating the narrow wobbly steps in quick succession, and throughout that first half, the audience were constantly reminded of all the treats they had in store throughout the weekend.

Humorous `MISHAPS

The meeting contained many humorous mishaps, such as picking up the wrong uke, playing in the wrong key, and playing a different song from the band. Confidences were shared, the grand daughter whose first words were ‘stop singing grandad’, and other odd facts, the Swiss flag was a big plus or that conjunctivitis.com is a site for sore eyes. We were reliably informed that ‘The Irish were Egyptians long ago’! We’ll let historians work that one out. Finally, the mind boggles when the best explanation given for being late on stage was, “I was looking for a screw!”

VISITORS FROM HOLLAND

So with the Saturday meeting underway, the arrival on stage of a quartet called ‘Small Cases’ provided a rare treat, a Dutch quartet, the Rotterdam branch of the GFS which was formed in 1985. Their ukes may have fitted into small cases, but the Sousaphone was HUGE and everyone was left trying to imagine how that travelled to Blackpool and how on earth they were going to get it home again. After their first fantastic performance of three songs which became four after the audience demanded more - they made repeated successful appearances, and we hope to see them again.

THE DAMBUSTERS

Saturday evening provided the climax of our tribute to the Dambusters. The film ‘It’s In the Air’ was specially chosen for the RAF theme, and featured George who caused no end of havoc at an RAF airbase when he was mistaken for an airman and then fell in love with the Sergeant-Major's daughter. This was followed by a short compilation of newsreels from the time (thanks to Peter Pollard a technical wizard). John Walley gave a short introduction to George’s war experiences when he worked for ENSA having been rejected by the armed forces owing to flat feet, arthritic toes, and sinusitis. George entertained civilians and troops in all theatres of war as well as entertaining in factories, theatres, and concert halls around Britain, always accompanied by Beryl. By 1946 it was estimated that he had performed in front of three million service personnel. A three song, wartime thrash then preceded the usual evening concerts.

OLD FRIENDS RETURN

Some old and familiar faces returned to the stage. Tommy Quirk clutching his towel, delighted us as always. Great to see Nick Saunders, and Dean Spencer not only present but back on stage again. Judge Henry now almost recovered from his recent illness promising to be back performing…..one day! Good to see Caroline Stewart who not only performed for us but also compèred and whose husband, recovering from heart surgery has developed another interest - monorails which had led to him developing a one-track mind! A real treat for the audience is to play, spot the expressions as the performers take to the stage, and what a range there are, everything from worried, scared, to concentrating, relaxed and even confident. What makes a performance really special is the performers are really enjoying themselves and smiling. It’s not about how good a performer you are, but all about having fun with friends. Watch Andy Poppleton beam while he sings. Even newcomers, Glyn and Diana a lovely couple from the thriving South Yorkshire Branch who made their successful debut performance smiled when they sang. However there is no-one who can beat Pat and Geoff Silcock whose performance oozes so much enjoyment, that it’s infectious from the moment they start to the moment they leave the stage. Two new members Steve Hewitt and Ros Birch joined the GFS on Monday and booked their BnB on Tuesday to come to sunny Blackpool this weekend. They are both from Oldham and are members of the Barnhowlers run by Jim Makin. Steve has been a member of the Barnhowlers for 14 months after Ros bought him a banjolele for Christmas and kept strumming and plucking every day using children’s uke books. He reckons he can now play all of the notes and chords but not necessarily in the right order!

MATT RICHARDS - SUCH TALENT!

Matt Richards was feted after his wonderful performance on ‘The Piano’. What a brilliant performance by this talented young man. The return of Dean Spencer meant that not only could Matt enjoy a break and sit in the audience, and see the performers’ faces for once, but he was for the first time backed by the band. What a treat for him, a totally different experience. So the weekend crammed with activity providing opportunities for retail without having to stir from the building. The GFS shop was full of all things for ukes, including strings, bridges, tuners and vellums- and Formby tuition CD’s, and songbooks. There were several good ukuleles for sale, more this time than last. Again, Uke raffle tickets were being sold for the Eddie Uttley special uke. The usual raffle had a wide assortment of prizes and the tickets sellers proved experts at parting as many members as possible from their cash. The ‘closed auction,’ also took place with an assortment of goodies. All these raised valuable funds for the society.

NEW CLASSES

It was a busy meeting, not only were there the tuition classes by Andy Poppleton and Daz Barry, but two new treats were on the agenda. The first was the Wooden Ukulele Class for absolute beginners run by Cathy Staniland. Cathy said, “Six members came along, so it was easier to give time to people individually. Everyone left with positive comments and new things to practice.” She even received an email from one member to say, “I found your class very useful in reminding me of some basic but key points.” The second activity was an informal chat by Andy Poppleton, about some of the society’s archives, which being so personal to George makes them priceless. George’s diary was on show containing some paper money, a stage door pass for his final performance, and an appointment card including the time and date of his appointment with his heart specialist: phone numbers for producer of the Friday Show, his solicitor and Pat Howson. Apparently, John Crowther the solicitor and Pat Howson withdrew three of George’s ukes from the sale including a mini Angelus, a Ludwig and one other. Next to the diary was George’s pure silk tie, which he wore in his last recording of ‘Banjo Boy’ when he played a Dallas C. Apparently a peg on his D model broke, so he never used it and chose the C model as a replacement as it produced a mellow sound. There was also a restored sign ‘Heronby’ not the original, of which there was a photograph - but a sure link between George and Wroxham. Heronby was the name of his house in Wroxham, so called because there was heron by the pool near the house. When George died everything went to auction - even his slippers which were bought and then used by the new owner until they wore out! What sacrilege!

EVERYONE PULLED TOGETHER - THE WEEKEND WAS A

REAL SUCCESS

The success of this meeting was due to the hard work of the committee and everyone who fulfilled a job over the weekend, but mainly because the audience wholeheartedly got involved, supported the shop, the performers, the raffles and auctions and put bums on seats. So, a superb weekend with a great attendance with Formby fans having yet another chance to meet their friends and pay tribute to George.