sheffield gfs
Successful opening night
The Sheffield branch reopened last night (Monday 27 March 2017) at
a new venue, with new faces in the audience, new faces on the
stage, a new sound system, and a new sound engineer. All that plus
the fact that this first meeting is almost to the day since Sheffield was
formed on 28 March 1997.
Quite a change from the old venue and I have to say that all the
changes were positive. The club is Ward Green WMC in
Worsborough near Barnsley, just a two minute car drive from the
previous meeting place. Now we are in the same room as the club
members as opposed to us being a private event, I have always
thought that we should always have this arrangement, it is the only
effective way to attract new members to the GFS – and at Ward
Green last night the local club members certainly enjoyed the efforts
of those who played on stage.
Of course the stage is why we are all there, the Sheffield organisers
have dispensed with suppers (nobody did it when I first joined in
1991) and also there is now no need for a raffle to pay for the supper.
So that means we can still have a decent break to chat and charge
glasses, but also there is now more stage time for performers.
All night long the entertainment was good and sometimes brilliant! A
steady supply of well known Formby faces were supplemented by
some friends of new sound engineer Kevin Staniland and in the
second half of the concert they really made it a special evening.
Brilliant singing and playing from John Platt on wooden ukulele and
his friend Mo’s stunningly good singing surely claimed the evening’s
top marks – but Kevin also performed two good songs with his pal
Dave. Kevin’s banjo uke and Dave’s guitar worked well together and
gave us another memorable moment.
It goes without saying that the Formby gang all did their stuff and the
evening passed very enjoyably and quickly.
We might have lost a few faces from the old Friday night but one great
addition is the aforementioned Kevin Staniland. Kevin has a
commitment on Fridays which prevented him from attending the
Sheffield branch, so it is good that he is available every fourth Monday to entertain and to organise the sound.
All in all, a very successful start at a club that is very friendly and amenable to the sound of George Formby and
the ukulele. The price of drinks is very sensible and the bar staff are very friendly.
One pound coin is all you have to pay to be part of this happy event and as the branch enters its 21st year,
congratulations are due to those who found the new club and organised the first of what will surely be a long
and happy association with Ward Green WMC.
NEW SHEFFIELD BRANCH
The new branch started with a bang in the 'Times Gone By - Sheffield at War' theme museum ... with a mock air raid. Fifty members of the George Formby Society came, some local and some from afar - plus about 30 visitors. Peter Harper came all the way from Ipswich. " I've come 300 miles," he said, "and still had to pay a quid to get in!" Towards the end, Peter admitted that it had been well worth it to be at the inaugural meeting of the 14th branch of the George Formby Society. The branch was opened by President Dennis Taylor, who had dressed up in army gear for the occasion, along with a few others to get everyone ' in the mood' for this 1940s-style meeting. The evening was based on a World War II theme starting with a recording of the Declaration of War from Neville Chamberlain, then speeches from Winston Churchill and, of course,
George Formby recounting his
Normandy experiences.
About 20 members performed
accompanied by Vice President and
Musical Director Dickie Speake.
Branch organisers, Kathleen
Hammond and Judith Townsend
monitored the door and also organised a
raffle to help raise a few funds.
A George Formby biography written
by Alan Randall and Ray Seaton - quite a
rarity nowadays - was donated by new
member, Paul Harper, who is also
Entertainments Manager at Times Gone
By. This was auctioned and purchased by
Richard Cunningham for his 10-year-old
grandson Richard.
The evening was a great success and so
meetings will continue to be held on the
last Friday of each month except where
this clashes with a Blackpool Convention
when they wi ll be held a week earlier.
(June and November).
Well done Sheffield
FLASHBACK TWENTY YEARS TO THE VELLUM REPORT
OF THE OPENING MEETING
sheffield gfs
Successful opening night
The Sheffield branch reopened last night (Monday 27 March 2017) at
a new venue, with new faces in the audience, new faces on the
stage, a new sound system, and a new sound engineer. All that plus
the fact that this first meeting is almost to the day since Sheffield was
formed on 28 March 1997.
Quite a change from the old venue and I have to say that all the
changes were positive. The club is Ward Green WMC in
Worsborough near Barnsley, just a two minute car drive from the
previous meeting place. Now we are in the same room as the club
members as opposed to us being a private event, I have always
thought that we should always have this arrangement, it is the only
effective way to attract new members to the GFS – and at Ward
Green last night the local club members certainly enjoyed the efforts
of those who played on stage.
Of course the stage is why we are all there, the Sheffield organisers
have dispensed with suppers (nobody did it when I first joined in
1991) and also there is now no need for a raffle to pay for the supper.
So that means we can still have a decent break to chat and charge
glasses, but also there is now more stage time for performers.
All night long the entertainment was good and sometimes brilliant! A
steady supply of well known Formby faces were supplemented by
some friends of new sound engineer Kevin Staniland and in the
second half of the concert they really made it a special evening.
Brilliant singing and playing from John Platt on wooden ukulele and
his friend Mo’s stunningly good singing surely claimed the evening’s
top marks – but Kevin also performed two good songs with his pal
Dave. Kevin’s banjo uke and Dave’s guitar worked well together and
gave us another memorable moment.
It goes without saying that the Formby gang all did their stuff and the
evening passed very enjoyably and quickly.
We might have lost a few faces from the old Friday night but one
great addition is the aforementioned Kevin Staniland. Kevin has a
commitment on Fridays which prevented him from attending the
Sheffield branch, so it is good that he is available every fourth
Monday to entertain and to organise the sound.
All in all, a very successful start at a club that is very friendly and
amenable to the sound of George Formby and the ukulele. The price
of drinks is very sensible and the bar staff are very friendly.
One pound coin is all you have to pay to be part of this happy event
and as the branch enters its 21st year, congratulations are due to
those who found the new club and organised the first of what will
surely be a long and happy association with Ward Green WMC.
NEW SHEFFIELD BRANCH
The new branch started with a bang in the 'Times Gone By - Sheffield at War' theme museum ... with a mock air raid. Fifty members of the George Formby Society came, some local and some from afar - plus about 30 visitors. Peter Harper came all the way from Ipswich. " I've come 300 miles," he said, "and still had to pay a quid to get in!" Towards the end, Peter admitted that it had been well worth it to be at the inaugural meeting of the 14th branch of the George Formby Society. The branch was opened by President Dennis Taylor, who had dressed up in army gear for the occasion, along with a few others to get everyone ' in the mood' for this 1940s-style meeting. The evening was based on a World War II theme starting with a recording of the Declaration of War from Neville Chamberlain, then speeches from Winston Churchill and, of course, George Formby recounting his Normandy experiences. About 20 members performed accompanied by Vice President and Musical Director Dickie Speake. Branch organisers, Kathleen Hammond and Judith Townsend monitored the door and also organised a raffle to help raise a few funds. A George Formby biography written by Alan Randall and Ray Seaton - quite a rarity nowadays - was donated by new member, Paul Harper, who is also Entertainments Manager at Times Gone By. This was auctioned and purchased by Richard Cunningham for his 10-year-old grandson Richard. The evening was a great success and so meetings will continue to be held on the last Friday of each month except where this clashes with a Blackpool Convention when they wi ll be held a week earlier. (June and November). Well done Sheffield
FLASHBACK TWENTY YEARS TO THE VELLUM REPORT
OF THE OPENING MEETING
