The Annual Dinner on 31st October saw the traditional mix of quality food and humour. The Club is used to providing fireworks on the pitch, but the Dinner saw the real thing with a fine display on the Whitton outfield. As Club President Basil Keen said grace the rockets and bangers in the background gave proceedings a surreal air but his professionalism won through.
After enough starters to feed a small army, and curry and kulfi too, it was time for the speeches. Luke Redman spoke of past Committee meetings and interesting selection discussions, in a style reminiscent of Ricky Gervais if you used your imagination. With little in the way of notes, it was a smooth performance now available on DVD in all of Hounslow’s 99p shops.
The Club Secretary filled in for Steve Rushworth who had been laid low by swine ‘flu. There were demands for a refund from some, but others offered to pay a bit extra. The resultant speech seemed to go down well; clearly not everyone had heard the jokes as often as Derek Hill, who pointed out a range of inaccuracies.
Thanks are due to Preeti Catering who provided a superlative spread once more, Simon Daldry who did the vast majority of the organising, Simon Barnes who acted as toastmaster, and everyone present for sparing us any Richie Benaud impersonations.