Report on 75th Anniversary Social Evening 25th June.

Right on cue, after weeks of cloudy, wet and windy weather, the wind finally dropped and the sun emerged just in time for Lymington & District Sea Fishing Club's annual social evening on the twenty-fifth June at their headquarters-this year celebrating their seventy-fifth anniversary.
Over ninety members, family and friends attended, with plenty of traditional games for all ages. The club would like to thank everyone who generously donated prizes, including the Rainbow Fish Bar, Brockenhurst, Andy Hayn, at Greenham Regis, and Terry and Phyl Kempton, who donated the large anniversary balloons.

The event was organised and run by the officers and members of the committee; who worked hard to ensure it was a success. Vice-President Robin Lane did a marvellous job in the planning and ensuring everything ran smoothly on the day.

During the evening, the club's chairman Alec Harmer thanked everyone for supporting such an important milestone in the club's history. He mentioned that the evening's event had also been the impetus for completing a few outstanding tasks; improvement of the surface water drainage to the site, for which he thanked Wally Ward, Bob Drodge and Derek Smith; the rotted wooden railing alongside the clubhouse had been now replaced in tubular steel, for which he thanked Georgie and Sue Moody for ordering the materials, and Ady Moody and Tony Humm for its installation.
Thanks went to Colin Saunders for renewing the fascias and soffits to the front and rear of the clubhouse; Tim Clark and Terry Kempton were both thanked for ensuring the grounds were neat and tidy for the occasion.
Maggie Harmer, Georgina Lane and Jackie Saunders kindly helped out with the barbeque. Thanks went to Robin for supplying a delicious salad assortment and the floral decorations for the tables, from his allotment.

The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of the new sign for the clubhouse- a copy of the club's emblem, which was originally based on the carving done by former club member Ted Welland for the Welland Challenge Shield. Specially commissioned to celebrate the 75th anniversary, the sign was made by club member "Stainless" Steve Batchelor and local artist Michael Turner, who sculptured the fish on the sign. Alec congratulated them both for doing such a magnificent job, remarking that it would give the clubhouse an identity which it had lacked since it was build nearly twenty years ago. "What better occasion to correct this than our seventy-fifth anniversary?" he remarked.

He thanked everyone who had helped towards the cost of it by sponsoring a letter on the emblem; a list of contributors is to be displayed in the clubhouse. He added that there were still a few letters remaining....!

He then introduced their president, Derek Smith, who again thanked everybody for coming along and trusted that they had enjoyed them selves. He paid tribute to all the past and present members who had worked hard in building up the club from its humble origins; in particular he paid tribute to former club treasurer, Ray Davies, for his part in securing the completion of the clubhouse. The president drew everyone's attention to two events taking place to raise money for the Macmillan Cancer Support. Firstly, the club's newsletter editor, Carol Moody, was attempting to raise £3,400 for her "Great Wall of China" trek, in aid of the charity. "She would appreciate any donations of cash, car boot items, tombola or raffle items," said Derek. Secondly, Hannah Powell would be running a charity open shore competition along Lymington sea wall on the twenty-first of August, with the club freely lending their support and facilities. "It promises to be a great fun event, so please come along and support such a worthy cause," he added. Then, together with the assistance of the club's youngest member, nine-year old Jade Monckton, whose family has for so long been associated with the club, the emblem was unveiled, although not without some difficulty - much to everyone's amusement. The slight delay was worth the wait and Steve's and Michael's craftsmanship was much admired and warmly applauded. The evening raised around £375 towards club funds, from which £25 each went to Carol and Hannah for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Report sent in by Club Chairman Alec S. Harmer.