by DrummerLady » Thu Dec 08, 2016 01:04 pm
The Christmas dinner was Monday night. 27 people attended. While that's not a record (33 is the record), it's one of the highest attendances we've had.
For me, the first part was greeting everyone and making sure that they knew what they were having for dinner. We had several newbies: Rak, who has been to an afternoon meet but never an evening one; Caroline, who went through a journey for Hell to get there; and Hazel, Mark's girlfriend (this is the Mark who is friends with Sim and Eunice, not the other Mark - keep up people!). It was nice to see such a mix of members. There were some who have been coming for over 10 years, while others joined recently. There were the hardcore members who come every month and others who drop in every now and then. It was great to catch up with so many people.
I sat with Julia and Mahrie who, upon discovering that they were compatriots, discussed Scotland extensively and ending up sing the Scottish folk song "Marie's Wedding". Daren and I debated whether we were supposed to eat the aubergines in which our meals were housed. Apparently not, according to the staff, as they were not cooked through, but Daren nevertheless ate all of his plus most of Marina's, as she was not hungry.
After dinner Andrew did a quiz on Discworld hats. He wore his own jester's cap especially for the occasion (he also wore it on the train to work and all the way home). It all ran smoothly as we decided to print the question papers rather than shout to such a large group. I am sorry to report that Chris won. He says that he will do a quiz on firsts for January. Later in a discussion on quiz rules (or lack thereof), I reminded everyone that ANYONE can do a quiz. The whole winner does it next time thing is just a way of making sure that someone does it. The result is that Marina has declared that she will do a quiz for February.
Sim brought her Lockedinaroom flyers. We have decided that there will be a special Drummers session on Sunday 22nd January at 2pm. I will send a separate email about it. Thanks Sim!
I must also thank Steeljam, that brave non-conformist who ordered the fish. Steve has told me that he is maintaining our website, which he designed, at his own expense. Thank you very much for that Steve.
I had suggested that it would be nice if people could make an effort to look festive. I saw many people wearing bright red tops. Special mentions to Jax and Sim who turned up in cheesy Christmas jumpers. Chris was adamant that Sim's jumper was not a Christmas jumper as it showed a penguin in the snow and it does not snow in Antarctica in December. This was in spite of the fact that the penguin was wearing a Santa hat! This should give you some idea of what to expect with Chris' quiz next month.
Next meeting is Monday 9th January. That is the second Monday as few people would have come on Monday 2nd. Otherwise, we're sticking to the first Monday schedule.