Christmas Lunch 2015

Wednesday, December 9th is our annual Association Xmas Lunch and it will be held as usual at the YMCA Hawker Centre, Richmond Road.

The cost this year will be the same as last year at £16.50. You can pay for your lunch(es) at the next Meeting on Wednesday, 11th November or send a cheque (made out to The Hawker Association) to Ken Batstone at 42 Kings Road, Walton on Thames, Surrey, KT12 2RA. If you want to speak to Ken, you can phone him on 01932 229938.

As usual, you are requested to arrive at the Hawker Centre between 12 and 12.30pm, when you will be greeted with a glass of wine and have time to chat with friends you last saw at the 2014 Xmas Lunch! The meal will be served at 1pm; assuming everyone has arrived.

The Menu will be the same as last year, with a poached salmon alternative to the turkey and also a vegetarian option. When you pay for your Lunch, it would be appreciated if you would indicate whether you wanted the prawn cocktail, or the poached salmon or the Pavlova or in fact if you wanted a vegetarian main course. This information enables the caterers to ensure they have enough to satisfy all requirements.

Would you please ensure that your payments have reached Ken by Friday 4th December at the latest. We look forward to seeing you on the 9th December.

NOTE the time is earlier than for our usual meetings.

Ken Batstone

On Wednesday December 9th 2015, the 13th annual Christmas Lunch was held in the YMCA Hawker Centre in Richmond Road Kingston. Attendance was very good, with 53 Members and Guests arriving by 12.30pm. This number was just one less than the 2014 attendance. This sustained number of diners is very pleasing as it shows that the YMCA is providing the food and ambience to make an enjoyable event and that the strength and relevance of the Hawker Association continues.

On arrival at the Lunch, Members and Guests enjoyed a glass of wine and social intercourse before taking their seats for the meal. Soon after this it was revealed that our President and principal after-dinner speaker, would not be able to attend after all, which caused some pale faces and "looking the other way" at the Top Table as our Chairman frantically sought a replacement speaker!

The meal was then served and was announced to be slightly different to the publicised Menu; the Starter was Prawn Cocktail with Soup as the option, rather than the other way round and the Dessert was not Christmas Pudding (gasps of shock horror! No, not really.) but a Fruit Slice with Cream with the option of Carrot  or Lemon Cake. As in previous years, the meal was excellent in both quality and quantity, for which the YMCA kitchen staff are to be congratulated.

 Hover over photo for a larger version More photos

After the meal, coffee was provided and the speeches commenced with our Chairman, Ambrose Barber, saying a few words and noting how the years leading up to this our 13th Lunch had flashed by and then introduced our surprised Speaker, the ever stalwart John Glasscock, our Past President. John regaled us with memories of the very good old days, but said he had some difficulty in choosing a joke to tell, so he told the other one!

After the Lunch, many people said how much they had enjoyed the afternoon. The only criticism noted, was that there had been no facility on arrival for hanging up outer coats. This justifiable comment will be followed up by the  Committee at its next meeting. This year, due to the photo displays erected in front of the windows, there were no complaints about the very welcome bright sunshine outside.

Subsequent to the Lunch, the YMCA was thanked verbally and financially for providing another enjoyable Christmas Lunch.