CHAS Autumn Show 10th September 2023
Well, Mike our Show Secretary pulled it off again.
On a beautiful sunny day 323 exhibits from 52 exhibitors were wonderfully displayed giving the Trading Centre a beautiful appearance with all the dahlias, roses, and other plants in all their glory. Our Judge Jim Buttress was very impressed with the quality of the exhibits on show. (He judges for the RHS and has done Chelsea and Hampton Court Shows.) so praise indeed.
After the judging there very many excited exhibitors eager to see how their particular exhibit had got on. Many accompanied by their family and friends and as the afternoon drew on, many members of the public. The general consensus was that this was the best display of plants, flowers and vegetable we had for many years. It was also very encouraging to see so many new exhibitors.
The show is only part of the event however, with the very tasty food and refreshments competing for the visitor’s attention. Christina and her and her other half did a fantastic job dispensing copious cups of tea and slices of homemade cakes donated by members. Kourosh our secretary sweated it out behind the barbeque cooking his fabulous kebab wraps. The volunteers serving the wines, beer and soft drinks were also kept very busy.
Our auctioneer was another volunteer Martin Parsley who did a fantastic job with is witticism and persuasive chatter, selling all the excess produce and make a healthy addition to CHAS funds.
Vernon Wood who deals with the administration of the entries is the true unsung hero. He has written the programme which calculates how many points each entrant has received and translates that into who will be receiving the various cups. His patience in dealing with every entrant who are all screaming for attention at the same time is something to behold, and he had to occasionally say “I can only deal with one person at a time, can you please wait.” Good job Gillian Keegan was not doing the job.
Thankfully there were some volunteers from the people attending who helped Mike do some of the clearing up.
The sting in the tail is always as usual the lack of volunteers for the setting up and breaking down of the event. I hope this does not lead us to being unable to put on the shows In the future.
Enjoy the photographs courtesy of Robert Steer
