With a band of hosts at the ready The Ramblers rolled into Donaghadee eager to celebrate Easter and true to form our members soon got into the swing of things.
Handbrakes were barely engaged when the bunting and eggs were soon on display and van dashboards turned into Easter scenes to mark this special occasion.
The festivities started on Friday night with Bingo as popular as ever and Florence Little rattling off the numbers with her usual aplomb and making people dreams come true in the process! There were winners all over but there must have been something in the water in Co Armagh with Alan Fluke winning a round swiftly followed by Noleen coming up trumps on the Jackpot round. Not one to be left out Robert Coalter also claimed a round making it a lucky table all round. Well done folks.
Nostalgia was then the order of the day with DJ Joe taking us down memory lane with a quiz based on a selection of Showband tunes. Brendan Bower, The Royal Showband and the likes made a triumphant return to the sound-waves and jogged both our memories and our feet.
Having made a dry start on Friday things got even better as Saturday arrived and with it the Sunshine. Yes, folks that is right I actually said SUNSHINE. Coming out of our vans blinking into the sun, nearly forgotten chairs and sun-hats were dusted off as members lapped up the all the fresh air and Vitamin D that Donaghadee had to offer.
Some read, some had tea, some simply relaxed and some went for a walk and did some shopping. It really was the weather to do it all and some did. With The Dee looking so well this was not a day to be wasted. As the evening came we retired to the clubhouse and with DJ Norman taking the reins members were treated once again to another selection of his great music. I don’t think he played “Things can only get better” by D-Ream, but judging by the way those hips and knees were moving it must be on his playlist somewhere. The Phantom Dancer of Downpatrick also made another appearance. Precise details of this energetic apparition are scant, and it is unknown if he only frequents County Down venues so make sure keep your eyes open at future events for his sprightly presence.
The sunshine continued on Easter Sunday as everyone gathered in the clubhouse for Coffee Morning along with some lovely tray bakes and cake. Our Vice-Chair Joe continues to step in for David and treated us to a number of good news stories the most exciting of which was the securing a venue for the NW200 this year as well as Foyleside College for Halloween. Even bigger however, was the news that thanks to the splendid fund raising efforts of our members, including £255 for the previous night’s raffle, The Ramblers Club were now the proud owners of a Defibrillator. However, controversy is never far away, and The Name the Bunny competition arranged by Enda & Flo created quite the stir when Winnie beat Cynthia to win Ramble Rabbit. Just remember Cynthia, “what a friend gains is never lost!”
After waving goodbye to a few of our members the tea & coffee was allowed to settle before Florence McClune treated members to a line dancing class where enthusiastic dancers showed of their Electric-slide and wagon-wheeled their way around the floor. It was all good practice for what was to come later that night.
Thinking caps were then required as Quizmaster Murphy took over in the evening and caused both furrowed brows and rumbling tummies as he teased us with his chocolate-based questions. Thank goodness for the surprise arrival of the Easter Bunny to satisfy our need and shower us with chocolate. As much as we are all “Dyer-ing” to know the identity of our mysterious guest I am afraid that will just have to remain a secret.
More music followed suit and between Gary & Joe the clubhouse floor took another pounding as waltzes made way for Florence and her pupils with an impressive line-dancing display before a Ceilidh followed suit to round off the event. This really was a weekend to remember.
On a final note a very big thanks to the combined hosting efforts this weekend where along with ourselves, Joe & Roberta, Norman & Cynthia, Martin & Winnie, Enda & Flo and Joe & Florence all gave a day. An extra special word of thanks however to our venue Donaghadee RFC who welcomed us warmly and extended us every courtesy.
This was only exceeded by their generosity when they asked that all site fees from our event be donated to Chest, Heart & Stroke in aid of Andrew Lemon, the Father and Uncle of two young members who sadly passed away recently. A kind gesture we were only too happy to comply with.
Thanks to all for making it such a good weekend and we look forward to seeing you in Portrush.
Gary, Yvonne, Peter and Jurgen!