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Christmas Lunch 2019 2018 photos

On Wednesday, December 11th, the 17th annual Association Xmas Lunch will be held as usual at the YMCA Hawker Centre, in Richmond Road, Kingston, KT2 5BH.


The cost of the Lunch this year is the same as last year, namely £17.50 per head. (There is NO £2 "signing in charge" for the Xmas Lunch.)

Ken Batstone will be taking bookings and payments at the November Association Meeting. Alternatively, cheques, made out to The Hawker Association, may be sent to Ken at 42 Kings Road, Walton on Thames, Surrey  KT12 2RA. If you have any questions, you can phone Ken on 01932 229938.

Please note that all bookings and payments must be made by December 3rd, for catering reasons. Any Members who have paid, but find themselves unable to attend the Lunch, will be refunded providing they inform Ken by December 3rd. After this, payments cannot be refunded.

The meal will be served at 1.15pm and attendees are requested to arrive at midday, but not earlier please.

For the last few years, the Xmas Lunch has been blessed with fine sunny weather, so the Committee looks forward to welcoming as many of you as possible on December 11th in sunny conditions again.

Booking Details

The menu will be nominally the same as last year with prawn cocktail to start, followed by traditional roast turkey with trimmings for the main course. The final details of the alternative main course and dessert will be decided nearer the day; if you would like alternatives from the menu please specify when booking.

Menu


Glass of Wine or Soft Drink on Arrival

Starter:

Prawn Cocktail

    or

Tomato Soup

Main Course:

Traditional Roast Turkey & Trimmings
    or
Poached Salmon or similar & Trimmings

Dessert:

Fruit Tart/Gateaux or Fruit Salad

To Finish:

Coffee or Tea with Mince Pie

Please note that as in the past two years, there is no Xmas Pudding option. Also, the alternative courses preceded by an underlined "or" must be requested when paying for your booking. This is of great assistance to the caterers in preventing food waste.

On Wednesday December 11th 2019, the 17th annual Association Xmas Lunch was held in the YMCA Hawker Centre in Richmond Road, Kingston. (For those who didn't know, or may have forgotten, this Centre was the old Sports Club for the Hawker Aircraft factory next door. The Xmas Lunches and Association Meetings have been held there ever since the Association was set up.)

The weather was dry and mild, but not as sunny as the previous three years' Lunches had been; a surprising record for December. Thirty eight Members and guests attended the Lunch, which was markedly down on 2018's attendance. This drop was put down to illness and the sad demise of a number of Members during the year.


Before the meal there was convivial conversation between Members and guests over a glass (or two) of wine and the meal was then served after grace was said by the Rev Vernon Lidstone. The traditional Xmas meal provided by the Hawker Centre staff was, as usual, of excellent quality and quantity and could not be faulted. The YMCA also generously provided a glass of mulled wine at the start of the meal and further supplies of wine during it! After the meal, there were (thankfully) short speeches by the Chairman and the President of the Association, the content of which could not possibly give offence to anyone; even twitter officianados. Coffee and mince pies were then enjoyed before the Xmas Raffle concluded the afternoon.

The Committee expressed its sincere thanks to the Hawker Centre staff for providing another excellent meal to the consistently high standard maintained over the years; it is much appreciated.