IT’S ALL HAPPENING THIS SEASON by George Hayter

THERE will be something unusual about the next time the club holds its big three annual events 

Instead of being spread across the year as usual, they are all being squeezed together. 

Traditionally club gatherings are months apart, as if members need half a year to recover from each gregarious get-together. Traditionally there is one big event in spring, then nothing till November. 

It’s not like that this year. All three 2023 gatherings will take place in the autumn, and in quick succession yum amen cheers – lunch, church service and drinks party! 

How did the feast in Sidmouth, the remembrance service in Honiton and the AGM/drinks party in London get snuggled up close? 

It looks as though the committee was keen to get the London drinks party off the meteorologically mischievous Thames, where it has been for two years, and back indoors at the elegant RAC in London’s clubland. Organisers managed to secure an RAC booking in autumn. 

Is the resulting OH season a good thing? Will this latest calendar change provide too much to enjoy all in one go? 

Club hon sec David Woollatt acknowledges the risk. “I can see how having a lot of events in quick succession can be overwhelming for some OHs, particularly those with busy schedules,” David told me. 

Moving events backwards and forwards may look like an attempt to confuse members but personally I’m all for it. Keeping events at the same old time and place could be seen as too routine. 

The biggest bonus of an OH season for absent-minded old boys like me is that it’s easier to remember when everything’s happening 

And David Woollatt points out that the OH season will not leave the rest of the year bereft of OH activity: “We also have several ‘pop-up’ events, coffees, and lunches throughout the year,” he said. “Keep an eye on the internet for those.” 

Is the OH season permanent? Probably not, according to club treasurer David Richardson, “It looks as if we will have to go back to having the West Country lunch in May,” he forecast cautiously. 

Whether you put the three major 2023 events in your diary or just in your head, you will need the dates: 

Lunch Saturday 16th September 

Remembrance service Saturday 28th October 

AGM and cocktail party Thursday 16th November 

The website will tell you more, on its Events page. 

 

l Next website offering by monthly contributor George Hayter OH: 1st June