Su3a 40th Anniversary Day 9th June - Whirlow Brook Hall and Park

And so it had arrived, the day that had been in the planning for 18 months and had been the cause of many a sleepless night for some.
Would anyone turn up? Would too many turn up? Would the weather be kind? To paraphrase former US Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, there were too many “known unknowns” not to mention the “unknown unknowns”

The day itself dawned bright and by 8.00am the Limb Lane car park had been opened by our trusty Logistics Manager Pete (if you can manage 90 Su3a Croquet players you can manage anything), and a truck was on the way from Barnsley with 100 outdoor chairs. By 9.00pm at least 30 people were on the terrace lawn unloading chairs, putting gazebos up and fixing the electrics.

At 10.30 the Blues Group opened proceedings on the Terrace Lawn in “upbeat Blues mode”. Down in one corner of the lawn Art Group 1 were
doing their “Drawing for the Terrified” session. In the opposite corner Outdoor Sketching were under their gazebo…sketching. Play Reading 2
were doing the whole Noel Coward thing, performing an extract from Blithe Spirit to an appreciative audience in the Oak Room. The sun
continued to shine and, it being a public park, we were joined on the lawn by a mums and toddlers group.

The great and good started to arrive with Third Age Trust (TAT) Council Rep Pat Collard and Yorkshire & Humberside Region Chair Frank Bailey. The other TAT rep, our own Brian Cave had been chair shifting since 8.30 but managed to tidy himself up in time for the arrival of the Lord Mayor who officially opened proceedings at 11.30 by cutting our enormous yellow and blue Anniversary cake. Hot on the Lord Mayor’s heels came TAT Chair Allan Walmsley, delayed by a Board meeting but as he put it “in time for lunch”.

But enough of the name dropping, what were our members and groups doing? The Whirlow Brook Park gardeners had set up their stall, literally, plus a plant creche and were doing a good trade. Vintage Voices and A Capella sang their hearts out from the Terrace whilst the Guitar Group serenaded a sizeable audience in the Su3a Commemorative Garden.

Our Bird Watchers had set themselves up on the Horseshoe Lawn but the shrubbery had grown so much in the previous few weeks that initially
we had to send out an expeditionary force to make sure they were there. The mums and toddlers bopped on the lawn to the music of the Uke Groups.

It was too good to last. At 1.00pm the heavens opened! The Recorder players were halfway through their set at the bottom of the terrace steps, no gazebo for them, barely an umbrella between them but they carried on, didn’t miss a beat, after all this is Yorkshire so you’d expect a bit of grit!! Everyone else hightailed it to the Hall or the nearest tent.

Would the rain stop? No, it would not but unlike a well-known high street retailer, we did have a Plan B. Somehow, we managed to get the performers and audiences into the Hall. We had Air Yobics in a “boudoir” upstairs. Downstairs Walk & Talk German had turned into Walk & Sing German. The Folk Group fitted very nicely into one of the bay windows from where they could perform for us. Creative Writing were in the Oak room but battling against the music somewhat, which was a shame. Also, a shame that the Tree Walks and Orienteering were affected but the Wellbeing in Nature Walk may just have managed to finish before the rains came down.

Unfortunately, our two “sparks” Dave & Les , declared their own electrical equipment too wet for use so Cellar V had to conclude proceedings with an unamplified set. One over- exuberant member attempted an ill-advised rendition of House of the Rising Sun a la Eric Burden. The guitar accompaniment was flawless but thankfully the singer could only remember 3 verses which was more than enough for most of us!

Our thanks are due to everyone who made it possible, those behind the scenes and those who put themselves out there. All told, it was an
enjoyable day in a very British way!