HARLEQUIN BONFIRE AND FIREWORKS DISPLAY
Saturday 7th November 2009
Gunpowder,Treason and Plot.... Well, not quite but a wonderful traditional bonfire night none the less.
The night kicked off about 6pm with the lighting of the bonfire. Our Chef, Chris Martin , also fired up the BBQ
in readiness for the expected crowd. From 6:30pm onwards we had a steady flow of expectant company members all
waiting to warm themselves by the fire and whoop and wooh at the fireworks.
After a few glasses of Ally's mulled wine and Chef's bangers and burgers everyone was ready for the fireworks. At 7:30pm
the 'Pyrotechnic team' (well maniacs!!) kicked off the show with the first rocket of the night. This was followed by an excellent 30 minutes
of flashes and bangs which was well appreciated by the 60 strong crowd watching.
The highlight of the night for many was when the leather sofa was finally thrown on the fire at just after 9pm. This lit up the late evening sky with
sparks and flames to the delight of the watching crowd.
With people starting to drift away home the evening drew to a close about 10:30pm. A few late night diehards stopped to finish the booze and sit by
the embers of the fire till the early hours. A thoroughly enjoyable night was had by all.
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HARLEQUIN QUIZ NIGHT
Saturday 24th October 2009
The third annual Harlequin Quiz night on 24th October at Brewood Cricket Club featured the challenging questions Frank & Chris Clarke set (& marked) being ably read out by Paul Bowman. The ten teams formed from some of our youngest members (Norfolk & Chance – see photo) together with our most mature (The Grey Wrinklies and Golden Oldies teams) strained little grey cells to come up with the right answers as well as the best round (of 11) in which to play their double points ‘joker’.
The half time interval allowed the forty or so members & friends to demolish the cold buffet whilst also indulging in a round of stand-up bingo-type competition. This was won by Alan Grainger from the Wombat Wunderers team who received his prize from Frank Clarke.
After refreshments, battle recommenced with a neck & neck competition developing between The Comparethemeerkats, Wombat Wunderers & the Goosegogs teams. In the end, the Comparethemeerkats team of Martin Deane, Ann Jennings, Phil & Jean Brown won, with only five points covering these three teams. The best youngsters team was the Supa Girls team of Emily Stringfellow, Jenna Derry & Hayley.
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HARLEQUIN SUMMER BBQ
Sunday 12th July 2009
Unlike the Treasure hunt a few weeks before, the Annual BBQ on 12th July at Pauls was blessed with glorious sunshine (compare photos). The Secretary was kept busy extracting money from unsuspecting guests at the ‘Something Red’ themed BBQ. This years BBQ was attended by about 50 Harlequin Pantomime members, friends & family who were entertained by an early (poor lookalike) Father Christmas, the odd person strutting their stuff as well as wonderful BBQ food from the hands of Chris Martin. Not sure the two old men were enjoying themselves though! And not at all sure what the Vice-Chairman was doing … too many hotdogs & beer?
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HARLEQUIN TEAM ENJOY SHAKESPEARE IN THE RAIN
Saturday 27th June 2009
Ten members of the Harlequin Pantomime team were entertained on Saturday 27th June at Weston Park to a modern rendition of A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. After a finger buffet & thanks to some meditation from Ian Jones, the team had to take cover as inevitably the rain came down. However, this didn’t deter someone from having to get their head in for seconds! See the accompanying photos to work out you.
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HARLEQUIN TREASURE HUNT
Sunday 7th June 2009
Wet! Wet! Wet!.... No not the pop group but the theme for the day. In fact dingys, rowing boats and coracles would have been
more appropriate. This was the Harlequin annual treasure hunt. Again organised by Jan and Andy Cole the hunt took us through
the towns, villages and hamlets of Staffordshire and Shropshire. After leaving the car park of The Summer House in Kingswood at 2 minute intervals the 10 teams made their way around the highways and byways of Pattingham before ending up at Worfield.
After a trudge around the village church the teams wended their way to The Old Vicarage for a delightful coffee and cake pit stop.
The final destination was the Shropshire market town of Bridgnorth where the teams trod the well worn cobblestones of the ancient
historic streets for the final clues of the day. By this time the constant precipitation had ceased and given way to a lightly coloured blue sky.
The day ended back at The Summer House where the prizes were awarded. The deserved winning team was the Bradley's and the Holbrey's who received
a certificate and chocolates for their efforts. The day was a resounding success which was enjoyed by all. Watch this space for date of Harlequins
2010 Treasure Hunt.
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HARLEQUIN NOMINATED FOR NODA 'BEST MUSICAL AWARD'
In April, six of our Members attended the annual NODA Awards Evening in Sutton Coldfield. Harlequin Pantomime Productions and Wolverhampton Musical Comedy Company had been nominated for the ‘Best Musical Award’, Harlequin for ‘Puss In Boots’ and MUSCOM for ‘Back To The 80's’. It was a great honour to receive the nomination for Harlequin as this was only the companies 2nd show! Not unexpectedly, MUSCOM won the award with Harlequin as Runners up. However Harlequin received many congratulations for our achievements in the short space of time we have been running and hope to have the chance of winning the award again in years to come. Keep up the good work Harlequin and good luck with your upcoming show of ‘Mother Goose’ in 2010.
Olwen Rowley
President
