It seemed appropriate to have the meal at the George IV and on the day we had 40 people sat down to dinner.  A nice meal, which most enjoyed, lots of chatter, laughter, a fun quiz trying to identify people from photos from their childhood days, a raffle and generally just enjoyable being together.  Our thanks to Sandie for selling the raffle tickets and to Mal for doing the calling of the numbers.  Thanks also to those who brought a prize to donate to the raffle.  The photos we took didn't come out too well but better than nothing.

who came:

EastHoods: Mike and Lorraine Shearing, Piddy and Debbie, Andy and Michaela

SG7s: Chris Brown, Stephen, Lesley and Andrew Altwasser, Mike and Myra Gouldsborough, Sandie and John, Mal and Lynne, Peter Bell, Roy and Hian Bowron, Paul and Ann Brown, Doug and Maggie, John and Yvonne Hamilton-Smith, Tom Brown and family, Glyn and Chris Rust, Bob and Sheila, Brian Barker, Pete Cherry, Ced and Lorraine, John and Helen.

We had four kits in the car park, brave for coming in them, must have been a bit chilly going home.

We were very pleased to see so many people having a good time and take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support again this year.  We are already thinking about what to do next year and will be sorting out the diary once we know exactly what the dates of the major shows are going to be.

All that remains is to wish our members and anyone who reads the site a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year.  Stay safe, don't drink and drive and come and see us next year.

Best wishes, Helen and John

 We would like to thank the following for coming:

John and Sandie, Mal and Lynne, Peter and Carol, Richard and Caroline, Griff and Mary, Chris, Mike Montegue, Bob & Sheila Plastow, Tom and Carol, Mike and Myra, Andy, Julie, Andrew and Gemma (The Rizla Family), Stephen, Lesley, Andrew and Michael, Paul and Ann Brown, Roy and Hian Bowron, ‘Will’, Pete Cherry, Glyn and Chris Rust and of course John and Helen. 

Sadly Paul and Angela Wicks had to cancel at the last minute because Angela was taken into hospital, hope she is ok.  Also Steve Wakefield wanted to come but was unable to do so because of other commitments.  We missed not having the Norfolk team with us but they had their own do at the same time. 

When I put together the quiz this year, I thought I would make it slightly harder and not give multiple choice answers.  Myra won the quiz after a tie break (bottle of Asti for her).  We did have a few interesting answers, some of which are below (no names mentioned but you know who you are!!!):

Q: What is the fundamental oath usually associated with doctors?

A: The Hippocratic Oath 

Answer given:   Not to kill

Q: What is the other name for the Jewish day of Atonement?

A:  Yom Kippur

Answer given:   Saturday

Q:  Which two elements make up water?

A:  Hydrogen and Oxygen

Answer given:   Wet

Q:  They may be complex, vulgar or mixed, what are they?

A:  Fractions

Answer given:  Canon and Ball

Another answer:   Emotions

Q:  What carnivorous animal lives wild in the Australian outback?

A:   Dingo

Answer given:  Wallaby

Q:  Who was the captain of the Pequod in Moby Dick?

A:  Captain Ahab

Answer given:  Captain Pugwash 

It is easy for me to have a chuckle at these answers because I had them all written down in front of me!  I would have only managed 13 out of 25 had I been doing the quiz so everyone did very well.  It is always much harder to think of an answer when you don’t have the choices provided.

Pat on the back to everyone for having a go. 

Another thank you for your comments about how John and I run the club, it is good to know you think we are doing ok!

A HUGE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

Have a very Merry Christmas

and all the best for 2006!

Helen and John 

Having had a successful Christmas meal last year we decided to have a 'do' at the George IV where we hold our regular monthly meetings.

We were amazed to have 42 people sitting down together.  This is a credit to the Club that so many members and partners wanted to join in the festivities.  We opted for the three course meal at £13.95 a head.  Our thanks go to Marc at the pub for giving us an evening to remember. We were well looked after from the moment we arrived at the pub and the food was served hot and well timed. 

We were very pleased to have three members and their wives join us from the East Hoods Area.  It was great to have them with us and appreciated their willingness to travel all the way to our 'do'. They have supported many of the SG7s events this year and we hope to see more of them next year.

To amuse us between courses I made up a 24 question quiz, multiple choice to save having to read the questions out, and the winner with 22 questions correct was Griff. He won a bottle of Cava for his efforts.  Well done Griff!

A huge thank you to Sandie as always for selling so many raffle tickets, she does a fantastic job. For those of you who don't know, the profit we make from the raffles (not a large sum each month) goes towards the cost of running the web site, outings, barbeques, last year we bought a gazebo, a new barbeque and various other items that go to making the club more fun.   I spend each shopping trip keeping an eye open  for suitable prizes that will interest all of us, ranging this Christmas from a computer scanner as the main prize down to a whoopee cushion, which, sadly, Abby won and is now driving me slightly mad with it! (I have hidden it at the moment).  There were humorous complaints from one side of the room because all the numbers drawn out seemed to be on our side of the room but then their luck changed and it was fairly even in the end.  Hopefully everyone who won a prize is happy with it. Went shopping today with John and I saw something and said 'that will make a good raffle prize', so I have started already for next year.  Thank you Sandie, Mal and Griff for your prize donations, much appreciated.

Anyway, back to this year. The awards were as follows (Mal came up with the names for each category!)

OOPS! AWARD This is an award for the most embarrassing or amusing moment in 2004

 The nominations are: 

John Tween : for sounding his horn just as the 2 minute silence was about to take place on Remembrance Sunday 

Sandie:  For driving to work with a casserole dish covering her air filter 

Mal: For breaking the window on John’s Cobra  

Chris Brown:  For the oil slick deposited in the Lower Stondon Car Museum car park. 

Helen:  For waiting until no-one was watching before getting into her car with the hood on.

 WINNER:  SANDIE

 BROWN NOSE TROPHY This is an award for services given to SG7’s during 2004

 The nominations are: 

Sandie:  For selling raffle tickets and being a great support always reliable and there to help

Peter Bell:  For promoting and recruiting new members for the club and giving advice and help whenever needed

Chris Brown: For technical advice and help

 WINNER:  PETER BELL

WEE WEE AWARD  This is an award for the member who has had the most micky taken during 2004 

The nominations are: 

Mal:  For driving a Westfield 

Helen:  You just have to take the micky out of her!  (why I have no idea, I suppose you all know you can!!)

Stephen Altwasser:  For his very well equipped trip to LeMans this year. 

Andy Barbet:  For not having a car and now having a Yellow one (anyone who reads the RHOCaR Chit Chat pages will understand the reference to a yellow car)

 WINNER: STEPHEN ALTWASSER

 BEST EXCUSE AWARD  This is an award for the member who gave the best reason for not coming to a meeting during 2004 

The nominations are: 

Alan Rowe:  Because it looked like it might rain 

John:  For being in hospital with his 'health problems' 

Mal: For blowing up his engine in the Westfield

 WINNER:  JOHN TWEEN   (I must add that anyone who knows how John and I work, will appreciate we prefer to have a laugh about difficult situations, it is our way of coping, so this was not meant to offend anyone!) John also had no idea that I had switched the winner to him so it was rather a double cross but one that worked very well.

  WOZ ‘ERE AWARD This is an award for the member or members who attended most meetings during 2004 other than ourselves (John has missed one meet in October and I missed the unscheduled July meet at the pub)

WINNERS:  SANDIE AND JOHN - ATTENDED 17 MEETINGS/EVENTS

COVETED CAR AWARD     Members were invited to vote for the car that they most admired this year.

In joint third place   Daves Hot Rod and Helen's Robin Hood Exmo

In second place     Sandie's Dax Rush (with casserole dish)

and the

WINNER :  JOHN AND HIS DAX COBRA

The other nominations were:

Chris Brown - Robin Hood

Mal - Westfield

Steve - Dax Rush

Rob - Ronart

Mike Shearing - Robin Hood

Richard Sumner - Robin Hood

Alan Nagle - Ultima

********************************************************************************************************

 Mal then sprung a surprise on both John and I by having a further award to give.  He had arrived with a large holdall, I wondered what was in it... Anyway the award was for:

THE CRAPPER CUP     This was given to the person who had the scariest moment of the year.  As Mal was talking, John and I both became aware that he was talking about John and the situation we found ourselves in September, quite an emotional moment when Mal said the award went to John.  Thank you for that one.  We did laugh so much though when we saw the trophy, it is a plastic potty (a new one by the way) suitably inscribed.  John will hold this for a year and then it will be passed onto the winner next year (he promises not to use it).

Again, thank you Mal for doing such a great job presenting the awards.  I hope everyone else enjoyed it. 

Sandie and John Dax

Chris Brown

Peter and Carole Bell

Stephen, Lesley, Andrew and Michael Altwasser

Andy and Claire Barbet

Mike and Lorraine Shearing

Andy and Linda Petrie

Martin and Debbie Pidd

Rob and Paul Ronart

Simon and Nikki Trigg

Steve and Jacqui Wakefield

Derek and Martin Dax

Mario and Lisa

Laurie and Betty

Helen and John Tween

Abby and Adam

Steve and Mary Griffiths

David and Janet Edroff

Mike and Myra Gouldsborough

Mike Montegue

All that remains to say now is a very BIG THANKYOU for your support.

Apart from too much rain, we have had a terrific year, plenty of variety in our outings and meeting places, we have ventured to other county meets, had a trip out with the Westfield guys, and finished off with a memorable Christmas dinner with all our friends. 

We are looking forward to starting all over again in February! It will come round soon enough.

We would both like to wish everybody a very Happy Christmas and wish you a prosperous New Year.  It has been a pleasure to run the club, we have made so many friends, something that with John's problems this year, has been invaluable.  It was great to know you were at the end of the phone/e-mail/RHOCaR when we needed you. 

All the best,

John and Helen