ANNUAL BBQ 2008

 ANNUAL BARBECUE 2008. 

For many years the annual BBQ of the Scunthorpe Camera Club has been held at the home of members Reg and Kath Cooke. It is their proud boast that members will always have an enjoyable evening whatever the weather.  

This pair of senior members can make this confident promise because of their contingency plans. In their picturesque garden, in addition to the patio tables and brightly coloured parasols, they erect two large gazebos and furnish them with chairs and tables sufficient to offer shelter to everyone should a summer shower strike. If the shower becomes a storm, Kath makes everyone comfortable indoors in their spacious lounge. In these circumstances only poor Reg suffers; the BBQ has to remain outdoors! 

Kath’s non-alcoholic punch bowl is a perennial attraction; Reg starts with hot-dogs, progresses via roast chicken parts to baked bananas with a ‘special sauce’ of his own concoction. He will not reveal the recipe – but he warns drivers not to have any seconds! After the savouries Kath dispenses fruit salad, trifle or lemon drizzle cake from the kitchen door with assurances that everything is sugar-free. 

This year member Ted Dowse offered to bring his own marquee to save the hosts the hassle of erecting the gazebos; he erected it early so that as members arrived they got the full impact of the red canvas  ‘hall’ squeezed into the garden with only inches to spare.  The structure was remarkably sturdy in spite of the absence of internal poles or external guy ropes. The fine and warm June evening meant the marquee was not needed for shelter but the spacious interior gave rise to many comic suggestions as to how it might be used! 

Members donated seven raffle prizes with bottles of wine being in the majority. Reg Henry [a member for 54 years!] and his wife Dorothy sold the tickets and raised money to supplement club funds. 

Duncan Hill developed an intriguing competition - appropriately based on twelve A4 size photographs that had been taken by famous photographers throughout the history of photography. Each member was given a list of the twelve photographers and the challenge was to match the prints to their authors.  President Roy Featherstone [a long established professional photographer] was a clear winner. 

As the festivities came to a close, members marvelled at how quickly and easily Ted’s marquee disappeared in to two kit bags. President Roy Featherstone ended the proceedings with a vote of thanks to Kath and Reg for yet another enjoyable evening.