Ken Batstone reports… More photos
On Wednesday December 9th 2015, the 13th annual
Christmas lunch was
again held in the YMCA Hawker Centre. Attendance was very good, with 53
members and guests, just one less than in 2014, arriving by 12.30pm.
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 members and guests enjoyed a glass of
wine and social
intercourse before taking their seats for the meal. It was announced to
be slightly different from 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. The food was excellent in both quality and quantity, for which
the YMCA kitchen staff were congratulated.
After lunch 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 introducing 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!
Afterwards, many people said how much they had
enjoyed the afternoon. A criticism was that there had been no facility
for hanging up outer coats on arrival, a valid comment which will be
followed up by the Committee. This year, due to the photo displays
erected in front of the windows, there were no complaints about glare
from the very welcome bright sunshine outside. The YMCA was thanked
verbally and financially for providing another enjoyable Christmas
lunch.