Oh what a night! What a wonderful night!
Two whole years of Covid-cursed anticipation is a lot of anticipation to deliver on, and wow! did the ADCA Grand Dinner Dance deliver! Followed by three whole weeks of waiting to hear how it went... Sorry about that!
Picture the scene...
The Town Hall banqueting tables in snow white drapes, adorned with fresh spring flowers and glittery candle sconces, set around a gleaming dance floor.
Cheshire 20 Big Band tuning up their saxophones, trumpets, cornets, keyboards, drums, and so on and so forth up on the stage. Beech Tree Catering in full command in the kitchen. An enthusiastic bar team prepare to dispense liquid refreshment.
MC Ralph Warburton (the driving force behind it all) circulates purposefully, having a word here, a word there, calm and unflappable. Roger Millns, Chair of ADCA, gets a hand with a tricky bow tie.
A magnificent array of raffle prizes and auction lots are laid out below the stage to entice us to part with our cash.
The guests in their fancy finery (some even in fancy Scottish finery!) arrive and find their places.
Olive Stretch, Queen of raffles, will be sure to miss no one on her rounds.
And so it begins...
Roger Millns, on behalf of the Public Hall Committee and ADCA, welcomes everybody to this long delayed event, the first 'official occasion' to be held in the beautifully refurbished Town Hall. The band strike up, the vocalists sing, and oh, what a sound feast they give us ahead of dinner! Feet are tapping beneath every table, and who can resist joining in with that well-known chorus "... and then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like... 'I love you'!"?
A pair of twins attend. (Or are they clones???? We need to know!)
The lovely Beech Tree table staff serve a magnificent spread – mouth watering starters, a substantial offering of roast beef, or salmon fillet, or vegetarian pie, with all the trimmings, finishing up with a really tough choice between three equally luscious desserts (guests confirm equal lusciousness by testing from each other's plates – as you do...).
With the diners all happy and replete, Ralph kicks off the raffle draw (Olive flogs a few last last minute tickets) and then turns auctioneer, masterfully driving up the bids for the magnificent lots so generously donated by individuals and local businesses. Prize and bid winners carry off their booty, beaming from ear to ear, and chief bartender Laura has Prosecco at the ready to celebrate.
And at last it's time to dance!
Cheshire 20 give it their all, and so do the guests, whirling, twirling, spinning around the dance floor with joy and abandon on the waves of glorious rhythmic sound pouring down over us all.
On and on, till the carriages come!
Result!
And what has this wonderful event raised for ADCA? The amazing – and so very welcome – sum of £1,950!
You can catch 40 seconds of the atmosphere here.
(Pssst! Bet you didn't know we have a Facebook Page!)
THANK YOU to everyone who came to party, and everyone who contributed their time and skills to make it all happen so smoothly (you know who you are!) and a huge, heartfelt thank you, finally, to Ralph Warburton, without whom none of it would have happened at all!
Click on the photos to enlarge
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