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The
2008 GAC Charity event
July
25/26/27
“No
one would have believed, in the last days of July 2008 that so much
could be done for so many,
by so few………”
Friday morning, after a restless, warm and muggy night brought with it
the climax of the fishing calendar for the club and so begins the
story of the 2008 charity event….
Arrival
at the pond was greeted by Colin, looking a little excited he waved my
car to the far end of the car park and waved enthusiastically as Alan
pulled the green boat from the hut.
“Mornin’
tosspot!!” Colin shouted
as I exited the car with a MCd’s breakfast in hand.
“Mornin’
fatso” I quipped and Colin promptly pointed me in the direction of
the far hut.
The
islands needed clearing and myself and Alan were prime candidates for
the job. Off we went, like two little Indians in the boat, retrieving
the various bits and bobs from the margins, always in the background
Colin shouting orders.
The
job was completed and we were joined by Dennis and a steady stream of
excited and eager competitors in the bailiffs hut. The atmosphere was
building, the competition still hours away turned to conversations of
‘my bait is…..’ and ‘this groundbait will….’ , the heat
was on!
Friday
mornings’ weather started with a deluge of rain, warm rain I’ll
add, but a deluge nonetheless. Now I’m not a religious man but I
swear we were blessed, as the competitors arrived so the sun came
blazing through and the skies cleared. It couldn’t get better, could
it? Four o’clock was approaching and the plethora of rods, pods,
bivvies and alarms were in place and ready for the onslaught. Mick
pulled out his ‘new toy’, a fire extinguisher with a car horn
attached to the nozzle! WHHHAAAAAARRRRRRRRPPPPPP!!
, the hooter sounded and the event was well and truly under
way. In went the rods and off went the forty or so alarms as lines
were tightened, baits presented and anglers poised to strike at the
slightest beep!. Little known to us that
the hot sunshine had forced the fish to hole up, well away from all
the noise and commotion. Not much was being caught in the afternoon
sunshine by the carpers, however the two youngsters , Caleb and Sean ,
were hammering the silvers with a vengeance, they were poised to fish
a competition of mammoth proportions, each nudging a little ahead of
the other with every fish caught. From time to time one would visit
the others swim and before you know it they were helping each other
along, a real pleasure to see….
Caleb
(left) and Sean.. comrades to the last, as they’ll soon find out!
Mick,
stalwart and teacher showing Sean how to get a hook stuck in his
thumb, on purpose of course….???
Mick
gets a little too clever and hooks his thumb, Sean decides this is not
a good time to smile and tries to hide his embarrassment behind his
rod..!!
And
proving that water is both wet and green in the fringes….
Friday
afternoon soon turns to Friday night and the night owls take their
places in their bivvies, lights lighting up the margins with a gentle
glow and
the
sounds of wildlife travelling through the still air can be heard from
one end of the lake to the other. Is it a badger I ponder? Is it a
fox? A distressed chicken? No, It’s Brian Dickmans laughter!!!
One can only try and imagine what sort of creature produces
such a wild and crazy noise, but through it all Brians titters, hoots
and girlish laugh had me crying with laughter at the other end of the
pond. Midnight, the witching hour and we hear the first of a REALLY badly sung rendition of
‘Happy Birthday’, it was Addy’s birthday and he wasn’t going
to forget it! Between them, Brian, Nick, Steve,CJW, Mike and Richard
release a cacophony of badly put together notes to blurt out their
birthday greetings. Thankfully it was over in minutes and we returned
to our states of alertness, our states of half sleep and in my case my
state of snoring. A peacefull night was promised, the fish not showing
enough interest to keep the alarms buzzing and the stillness of the
air made for a very quiet
night…that is in until 02:30 and
we are bombarded with a second rendition of ‘happy birthday’ from
the pointless sisters and a rather fetching view of Brians puckered
lips……..
Mr
Dickman getting ‘jiggy’, what a sight huh?
The night was
long, the giggling and tittering took us into the wee hours. Talking
of wee, around 3 a.m we hear a succession of repeated BANGS
and THUDS, what now? Simple……Brian
decides to sleep in the back of his van, says “
sayonara “ to the rest of us and in he goes. However the
course of nature and the many litres of beer take their toll as Brian
knocks aimlessly from inside the pitch dark van unable to find a door
handle! Another unforgettable moment.
Dawn
on Saturday and only the hardy remain at their pegs, bleary eyed but
as keen as ever. News from the far bank filters through of several
anglers topping the 100lb mark overnight, so begins a monumental
battle for supremacy, once everyone is awake of course!
A
quiet start on the lake and all around we see little being caught as
the daytime temperatures hit 30 degrees and the fish become almost
completely inactive. However the juniors are in a battle of their own
and seem inseparable. Caleb, taking a good lead at 8lbs, with Sean
behind on 7.5 lbs. Is the battle over? I think not.
Sitting
in the next swim to Sean is the stalwart ‘
Roy
’. Looking on as the two battle it out he walks to the boys swims
and hands over two very sentimentally valuable items, one to each of
them, his first knife and his first rod…..truly the spirit of the
event and a touching gesture.
Roy,
angling stalwart and ever the gentleman.
The
weather was stifling and many of us were suffering in the heat. Now
was the time to light the BBQ and get the afternoons proceedings under
way. With a flick of lighter and a WHOOOOMPH of ignited gas, the
cooker was prepared, oiled and made ready for the onslaught!
Mal
(that’s me folks!) cooking for 42 people and one rottwieller!
Remember
I mentioned earlier that someone was celebrating a birthday? Well none
other than our distinguished secretary Paul Addecott had a rather
pleasant surprise mid-way through the afternoon break on the BBQ.
Maureen and Colin appeared from the hut with a very nice homemade
cake, candles, card and a bottle of Bacardi. Paul actually shed a tear
in surprise, following that he demolished half the cake and proceeded
to perform the infamous Bacardi trick of ‘now you see it…….now
you don’t…HIC!’
Overcome
with emotion and Paul turns into a cissy….
…and
now feels much, much better having something to play with….
…followed
by a nice slice of
Aunty
Mo
’s fruit slab…YUMMY!!!!!
“Buuuuuuurp!!!!!”
“OOOOOH! You
animal!!”
Don’t
encourage them Mo!!..it’s like feeding time at the zoo……
See what I
mean??????????
Sadly
for many of us this was the end of the days fishing, what with
celebrating birthdays, telling old army tales and listening to Colin
do a rendition of a buffalo mating call after eating brains chilli.
The social aspect of the event was clear to see and we partied well
into the small hours. A fabulous time was being had by all and
everyone deserved it. The
night was decidedly quieter than the previous one, the late nights ,
hot weather, lashings of ginger beer and slices of homemade cake had
taken their toll. That is except for one Brian Dickman, who went to
the land of nod only to be rudely awoken by his bite alarm shrilling
out it’s dulcet squeal in the middle of night. Like an antelope with
his nuts on a lions on a lions nose he came HURTLING
out of his van, half dazed and bleary eyed, reaching desperately for
the rod, only to end up trying to play the fish with the branch of a
tree in his hand instead of the rod!!!!What a
PLONKER..hahahahaaaa….
Sunday
Morning and the masses rise wearily from their slumber to a beautiful
blood red dawn and the start of another hot and sunny day. News had
circulated of a 200lb bag being caught on the far banks and another
contender close behind. The heat was most definatley on…
Personally,
after a hard 2 hours of fishing I decided it a good time to pack away
and lend a hand to getting the raffle, presentations and winners
prizes ready for the end of the match. Soon enough we were again
signaling the end of the match and were joined by Jane
Griffiths of Marie Curie Cancer Care and
Wendy Hunt representing the Vale
of Glamorgan Looked After Children and Foster Carers Children-
both our chosen charities for the event.Without further ado the
presentations for the biggest bag (senior), biggest bag (junior),
under 11’s and biggest fish were awarded.
Senior winner Daniel Forward with his trophy being presented
to him by Wendy,
well done Daniel..
Junior winner Adam Preddy being presented his trophy by Wendy,
congratulations Adam.
A familiar face, Daniel Foreward being
presented the best specimen trophy by Wendy and Jane,
again well done Daniel.
After a hard fought but friendly battle our two under 11 entries ,
Sean and Caleb, finished on exactly the same weights,go figure??? At
12 1/4lb each these two boys showed dedication, unmatched
sportsmanship and above all were a credit to themselves and a shining
example of great anglers. Fantastic work lads and well done.
Before
commencing with the raffle Colin made a speech that was both sincere
and heartfelt to introduce our chosen charities to the competitors and
to announce the contributions to be made to each of the charities.
Through the hard work, dedication and good will of the club we managed
to raise in excess of
£3500
. As a result we were able to increase our planned contributions to
the charities and awarded Wendy Hunt of Vale Of Glamorgan Looked After
Children & Foster Carers Children with a cheque totaling £750
and a
cheque totaling £2600
going
to Marie Curie Cancer care…
Paul
Addecott presenting a cheque to the Vale of Glamorgan Looked After
Children & Foster Carers Children.
Paul presenting a cheque to Marie Curie Cancer care…
Wendy (left), Jane (right ) and Colin Farnham (sunbathing) getting
ready to present our fabulous raffle prizes..
The
prize table in all of its glory. The baboon on the right was the bogey
prize.
The
people that made it a success………
All
good things must come to an end and we look forward to another even
Bigger and Better event
in 2009!!!!
A massive thank you to everyone who took part and helped to make this
the most anticipated event in the angling year for GAC. The total
raised was beyond any expectation and those that benefit from it will
do so with gratitude and thanks to us all,well done everyone.
Finally,
a picture that was sent to me that really does epitomize the whole
event for me and I’m sure for everyone else……
Now
THAT’S what I call a fish!!!!!
‘till next
time folks…..
Mal. (GAC
Roving Reporter)
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