Newslink March 2009

This newsletter was created (free of charge) for Mudeford Men's club by Lware Limited. Please note that images and formatting are absent. Can you spot all 34 song titles included in the text - or even a few that were accidental? NEWSLINK The Newsletter of the Mudeford Men’s Club March 2009 The times they are a-changin’! The Committee has decided to make some exciting changes to the opening times of the Club to provide an improved service to the members including earlier weekday opening and some all day sessions too. Check the notice board for some news very soon … You say “Goodbye” and I say “Hello” I’m sure we were all equally saddened to hear that after eight years with the Club, Assistant Steward Judy Janes decided to move on to pastures new. In recognition for her services, Judy was a guest of honour at the 2009 Dinner Dance. We all wish her well in her new career. Replacing Judy is our very own Rob Boulton and we wish him every success in his new role. Also, it looks like Mark Roper may not stand for another term as Entertainments Officer. If this is the case, a big “Thankyou” to Mark for all his years of hard and successful work. Dance away The 2009 Annual Dinner Dance was another huge success with numbers increased following the good reviews of the 2008 event. Honoured guests were Don and Wendy Kearley, Judy Janes and Richard House, Alan Mills and Julie Porter. The hair might not work, but Gordy Nash can still Grow balloons out of his head! Last Christmas Another hugely successful Christmas Draw with a new format this time. In addition to the hundreds of usual prizes there were also three star prizes. This meant that one night of number drawing was saved. Unfortunately this was the night when all my numbers would have come out … Another successful ram-raid by the Committee You take me up Simon says “Arms up” Once again passing Aircraft had to take their chances as they flew through the technicolour storm that is Balloon Race. That’s cheating Mr. Griffiths This year’s winning ticket made it to Hamburg and the lucky winner, Shelly Allen received £50 as her reward. The race raised around £300 for our charity fund. A little help from my friends Once again, thanks to our generous members, we presented cheques totalling £4,000 to local good causes in a ceremony held at the club on Sunday 1st March 2009. This money was collected at the Boxing Day auction, the Balloon Race, the collection boxes on the bar and various raffles and draws held over the festive period. The recipients of this year’s money were as follows: Mudeford RNLI (£250) in support of their ongoing commitments which will soon include providing lifeguards on We all knew the President was drowning in money … local beaches. The Friends of Christchurch Hospital (£500) who are renovating and bringing back into service wards that had been earmarked for closure. Christchurch Day Centre (£750) to provide improvements for the residents’ dining room. The Macmillan Unit at Christchurch Hospital (£1000) which has provided care for many members of the Club over the years. First Opportunities (£500) is a unit based at Ashley Junior School - to help with providing an outdoor play area and a “sensory room” for children with physical and learning disabilities The Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy (£1000) to assist with the purchase of a new pony for use by children and young adults with physical and learning disabilities. Club President, Laurie Wilkinson stated: “It is a great privilege to be associated with Mudeford Men’s Club on a day like this. Our members, like everyone else, are feeling the effects of the economic climate and yet, they have once again shown extreme generosity in raising this magnificent sum of money. I would like to thank them all, and also the organisers of the various fundraising events and the many local businesses who provided donations for us to auction on Boxing Day.” Here’s an example of just what makes MMC such a special place. Jeff Morgan won a Christmas cake in the Christmas Draw. Jeff donated it back to the Club to raffle. Hugh Barrie won it in the raffle and donated it back to be auctioned. He then ended up bidding and buying it himself! Then he got Judy to cut the cake up and sell it piece by piece and he even paid for a slice himself! Thanks to Jeff and Hugh, that cake raised £85 for the charity fund! We are the champions The conquering heroines (Jean, Joan, Denise and Julia) “Wake me up before you go-go” Over 60s snooker - Dec 2008 This year saw (arguably) the best standard of snooker for several years. Charles Denney was attempting to win both singles and doubles for the third consecutive year but was foiled in both efforts by his nemesis (and former doubles partner) Don King. However, the Denney - Elwood partnership was not to be denied completely as Ken Ellwood triumphed to take the singles title from an in-form Dave North in a hard fought match. Roger attempts to run off with Ken Ellwood’s trophy In the doubles, it was the pairing of Brian Croft and Eddie King who lifted the trophy with Stan Cording and Don King runners up. Doubles champs - sponsored by the Salvation Army Sloe Gin Competition – Dec 2008 This year’s event was won by six clear points by Mo Marshall. Hugh Jones and Albert Raven shared second place with John Davies coming 4th. The President would also like to present the “Memory Award” to Eric Jesty who made some sloe gin but forgot the competition was on! Finals Night - Dec 2008 The President thanked Phil Marchi for all his hard work organising the events and paid tribute to the Lady Members who this year did extremely well and picked up several trophies. Richard Thomas also thanked the ladies for not taking part in the billiards and snooker! Crib singles Winner: Bernie Pitcher Runner up: Norman Grindley Crib doubles Winners: Laurie Wilkinson & Jeff Arnold Runners up: Dave Sexton & Bob Read Dominoes singles Winner: Jeff Arnold Runner up: Julia Brolan Dominoes doubles Winners: Jean Ellwood & Joan Pinfield Runners up: Denise Hayes & Julia Brolan Billiards Winner: Richard Thomas Runner up: Chris Beavis Snooker Winner: Tim Morgan Runner up: John Challen Darts singles Winner: Gary Howlett Runner up: Martin Wood Darts doubles Winners: Gary Howlett & Luke Ramsier Runners up: Martin Wood & Craig Jones In-house poker league The in house league has gone from strength to strength with 30+ players now turning up every week. Competition is fierce and, at the time of writing, there is one week left to decide places for the final. Check the notice board for further details. Good luck to everyone (except those that are in direct competition with me for a final table seat!) Redtooth Regional Poker Finals – Portsmouth – by Phil Marchi Three players who qualified from MMC attended the Redtooth Regional Final at Portsmouth on 1st March along with two other regular MMCplayers who had qualified via the Southbourne Cliffs league. Approximately 100 players were at the event hoping to be the next Phil Helmuth and a chance to progress to the National Final at Nottingham and have their picture taken with Abi Titmuss & Jimmy White. Funnily enough, Jimmy White came a distant second in that popularity contest!! Richard Thomas received his trophy as league winner from the club but unfortunately was the first of us to go out - due to a lack of patience and pushing the boat out too far. Greg Lisk & Neil Haskell fared better but eventually joined Richard at the bar!! Big Kev Hastings managed to make it to the final two tables but just fell short after being involved in some big hands. Congratulations to Phil Marchi who managed to make it onto the final table but in eighth position and with the fewest chips by far this was a short lived experience.All in all it was a thoroughly great day out and a couple of special mentions are deserved for making it so. Firstly to MMC's number one fan Joe Hastings who came along to support us. Those of you who know Joe will agree he is a great sport and he contributed hugely in making it a memorable day out. (By all accounts, Joey was totally bushed – Ed) Finally and most importantly, many thanks to Dave Hastings who organised the day and drove us all to the event in the minibus. As the poker players at the club know, Dave organises and puts a lot of work into the poker scene at MMC and this has been the reason for its huge success. By the time this article goes out I'm sure you will have heard all the bad beat stories! Winter snooker league An in house league is proposed to run from October to March on a Tuesday or Thursday evening. If interested, see the notice board in the Mens’ Bar and put your name down. The letter A touching letter of thanks to the members from Lyn Hastings who receives this issue’s £10 worth of drinks over the bar. Dear Mr. Editor, I would be extremely grateful if you could publish a big Thank You message in the next Newsletter. My Family is currently going through a very sad and tragic time due to our wonderfully brave Daughter-in-Law, Nikki Hastings, being diagnosed with widespread terminal cancer. My Daughter, Leanne, and I decided to raise funds to pay for my Son, Kev, and our Daughter-in-Law to go to New York for a long weekend as this is Nikki's chosen destination that she would most like to visit. With the permission of the Committee I placed a box of handcrafted Greetings Cards, made by myself and my Daughter, on the Bar in the Lounge and was amazed at the generosity of the Members who purchased our cards and often placed much larger donations than was suggested. I couldn't make the cards quick enough at one point during the two weeks when it was on the bar! They are now planning their trip for the beginning of April and they also have a short break holiday booked at Centre Parks in March when they will take their two little girls, Leah (4) and Megan (2) to make lots of happy family memories for the girls’ future. I know my two little Grand-Daughters will benefit greatly from these special times.I would like each and everyone of our fellow Members and Friends, who made a donation, to accept my heartfelt thanks for their kindness and generosity and it bought a ray of sunshine into what has been, and continues to be, quite dark and sad days for my Family. Some times when watching our National News it is easy to forget that there are still an awful lot of kind and good people in this World. Fondest regards, Lyn Hastings And it wouldn’t be the same without a contribution from Rick Wood who wins a pint. This month he has sent us a list of things genuinely typed by NHS secretaries in Glasgow. As it was rather long, here are the highlights. · The patient has no previous history of suicides. · Patient has left her white blood cells at another hospital. · Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days. · Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year. · On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it disappeared. · The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993. · Discharge status:- Alive, but without my permission. · She is numb from her toes down. · Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid. · Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized. · Skin: somewhat pale, but present. · Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities · When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room. · The skin was moist and dry. · Between you and me, we ought to be able to get this lady pregnant. · Patient was seen in consultation by Dr. Smith, who felt we should sit on the abdomen and I agree. · The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stock broker instead. · She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night. That’s entertainment 14th March Greg Suggitt's Roar with Laughter Show 21st March Super Simmo’s Disco Sun 22nd March Paul Hammond 28th March TBA 4th April The Bugattis Band Sun 5th April Adagio 11th April Des Law Sounds (Bank Holiday) 18th April Blowin' Free Band Sun 19th April Paul Hammond 25th April Adagio 2nd May The Pete Mitchell Disco Experience (Bank Holiday) 9th May Filmed Race Night (10 Races) 16th May Envy Band 23rd May Football Club Presentation Night with BBC Radio Solent’s Jason Dean Disco (Bank Holiday) 30th May TBA 6th June Brian Moon and the Satellites 13th June The Silky Sounds of Phil Joseph 20th June Alan Roberts – Solo Entertainer Fri 26th June Men’s Darts Presentation Night with Coroma Disco 27th June Pussyfoot Gentlemen’s Evening with Russ Williams Don’t you forget about me … · AGM 8pm Wednesday 18th March · Committee elections – nomination sheets now available. Voting for President, Vice-president, Treasurer and Entertainments Officer from 26-28 March. Voting for Committee Members 2nd – 4th April. · Frank Sellick Trophy – 2nd April (home) and 14th April (away). · Grand Easter Egg Draw Call me (or write or email) Write to Newslink via the Club. E-mail xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or via the Club web site.Or call Rich Leyshon on xxxxxxxxxxx