Growing in Capel St. Mary
Thanks to all our guests for supporting our 2019 BBQ & taking part in the competitions & entertainments including the Treasure Hunt, 5 teams braved the persistent rain to track down the treasure. The Quiz looked back 50 years to the 1st Moon landing and other events in or before our youth and more recently in the last year. The ‘Charity Grand Draw’, raised another £100 for good causes thanks to your generosity. ‘The Best Dressed Table’, always colourful and so difficult to decide the winner, thanks to every one of you who took time to add an element of sophistication to the evening. The Games including the ‘BIGGEST’ Bagatelle in the World’ had to be hastily brought inside under cover & the ‘Racing Pigs’ organised by our ‘Pig Master’ Dennis, once again caused much excitement & encouragement as we all cheered on the winner & the tailender at the same time. Well done to you all for taking part and congratulation’s to the winners. The refurbished ‘Scarecrow Tavern’ Horse Box looked brilliant & more than ever of you took advantage of our excellent ridiculously low priced Draft Ale & Wine. A huge thank you to all our Chefs for created some sumptuous dishes & everyone who poured so much time & effort into creating another memorable event. And yes as mentioned above it RAINED ALL NIGHT.
Graham Whybrow
My thanks to all of you who have endured the food and weather experiences we have jointly enjoyed/suffered? over the years, either here on the Allotments Site or in David and Sheila Halls Garden.
While I have been at the helm the success of these evenings would not have been possible without Sue (Everything plus Wonderful Flowers) and our team of past and present helpers who have prepared and served the food. Thanks to Gra (Brazier King) & Di (Fish Queen), Pippa & Mike (Quizzes), Phil (Our Intrepid Smoke Shrouded main course BBQ Chef) & Jenny (Star Quiz Master), Becky (“Dad, never EVER do Mediterranean Hedgehogs again”). Charles & Brenda (Inspired Treasure Hunt’s & Charity Draw, £1000+ raised for good causes thanks to your generosity) & Angie & David (The Scarecrow Tavern, ex Horse Box now purveyor of fine Ales & Wines)…. and many others for preparing wonderful dishes for us. Please don’t forget, Keith & Pat, who kicked off the events with the first Primrose to celebrate the grand opening of our (19 years in the planning) toilet & the many past helpers, especially Mick & Sylvie for organising the early years. Team Tina – mum, sister, son, ex-husband and friend Fiona, and Daniella and Adrian who pushed the art of hog roasts - three more Pigs named Primrose - to 41 chickens (….named Rosie) on a rotisserie that resembled the front end of a combined harvester (thanks Derek for your continued enthusiasm & encouragement & calming our fears on the colour of the chicken bones that night ---- don’t ask, they were cooked through, honest.)
Looking back on the 12 years of menu’s I have on record, that cover the foody wonders we have prepared & introduced to you, my highlights include the Hot Smoked Line Caught Mackerel, Salt Baked Fish and those wonderful jars of Homemade Antipasti. The madness of the Charcuterie Board on 30 slate tiles comprising 14 elements including Home Cooked Meats & Crayfish Tails. The Baked Camembert, South Korean Beef, Glazed Pork Fillet, Sticky Ribs, Sizzling Prawns & all the incredible homemade desserts. Summer Puds, Pavlovas, Gateaux’s, Pies, Sticky Gooey Yummy Things & Suffolk Cheeses, Runny Brie’s & Blues………& the fear in the eyes of the team when they realised the lunacy of prepping for, & serving, 100+ people with a crazy menu. It’s amazing what you can do with some half oil drums, burning discarded timber under wire mesh, & using a mendaciously named ‘Pop-Up Kitchen’ all for under a Tenner a head!
I hope we have been able to pass on to you some of the food experiences we have personally enjoyed. We are only enthusiastic cook’s and food lovers running a BBQ with a difference. But a massive thanks to those who thought otherwise…... #feedback
In 2012 Dennis introduced a games element under the banner of Olympics 2012 – thanks to Dennis’ confidence they were an immediate success with 85% of you joining in, WOW, and then he made some more games. The Biggest Bagatelle in the World, Bar Billiards, Sally gets her Man, Bowl for a Pig, Darts, Golf, Tennis, Target Football, Target Bowls and more and the incredible Racing Pig’s, all a must at every BBQ night. My thanks to Dennis for enthusiastically making and organising and to everyone for enjoying his amazing efforts.
Finally. It has been tremendous fun, and with other projects in mind, Dennis and I independently decided in 2018 to take a back seat after the 2019 BBQ, still happy to help out but not organise future events. The Committee will be discussing what kind of events we could have to replace the BBQ. Something that would be fun but with a lot less work involved. We hope to continue to make 100+ people very happy on a rainy, windswept night at the Allotments Site in 2020. If you would like you run an event for our members and their guests we can rustle up a passionate back up team. Please do contact us.
Graham & Dennis
