Burn’s Night fun and frolics!

Knowing very little about Robbie Burn’s himself but knowing
Clive and Ann from the Oxford Branch very well, we knew that a Burn’s Night
would be great fun and it is always in aid of the excellent Royal British
Legion Riders charity so with no more of a thought we said we would go along.

Held at Clive and Ann’s local village hall, we had
instructions to be there by 7pm if we wanted to eat – food, soft drinks and
whisky (?!?) provided but bring your own beer.

By the time we arrived at 6.45 the hall was quite full with
tables laid out on either side.   With an
excellent turnout and lots from the Oxford HOC and quite a few SERV Blood Bike
riders, we knew a lot of folk in the room.

Settling down for a drink and a look at the brain teasing quiz, it was
not long before the much honoured Haggis was ‘piping hot’ and ready to be
enjoyed with neaps and tatties (topped with grated cheese!)  There was even a vegetarian Haggis for those
who preferred (equally delicious).  Ample
servings of tasty hot food were served to all 60+ folk in no time at all, with
seconds offered for those who had room, followed by home-made cake for anyone
who could manage it!   All for a donation
to the RBLR collection buckets.

And then the fun began, playing the equivalent of shove
ha’penny for a bottle of whisky and then (supposedly for the younger members of
the group) the same game but for a jar of Jelly Babies.  Not sure how much you can buy a jar for but
this one raised over £14 as the competition got keener and keener! After a close
contest, the winner was awarded his prize and then donated it to the younger
members of the gathering, much to the consternation of his partner who loved
Jelly Babies!!

The Quiz answers were called and papers marked and all
became clear with the cryptic clues that had baffled so many for so long!

More fun to follow with a Chinese raffle.  Absolutely hilarious.  Five prizes, one booby and four good ones all
wrapped up.  Tickets were sold and
winners pulled out, who ‘called for’ one of the prize numbers, then another
ticket was pulled and the person could then call for any number which, if
previously allocated, was lost to that ‘winner’.  This calling and swopping of prizes continued
for 10 minutes until ‘time’ was called when those with the prizes actually got
to open their winnings (with one not-quite-winning and receiving the booby
prize!)

.

And then, the Christmas Sweater competition (albeit now a
little later on in January!) and out of carrier bags came a variety of
outrageous jumpers – even a matching pair for John and Carol!  The competition was decided by the level of
applause for each entry and, after several heats, the winner was Mark from
Oxford HOC with his bright, festive ‘flashing lights’ sweater!

Dancing to an excellent lively disco brought the fun evening
to a close, with a very successful £580 being raised for the RBLR – to be added
to the other totals from the previous 2 years which now equals over £2,000!

Following a thoroughly enjoyable evening – well done to
Clive and Ann and their helpers for all their excellent hard work – I decided
to look Robbie Burns up on Wikipedia. 
Well, he certainly was an interesting person who lived a very very
productive, lively, (albeit short) life and he would have definitely approved
of the fun and frolics in his name!