Last night we went along to the next of the fund raising events for the St James Conservation Appeal, a Black and White Evening.
Unlike the majority of the events, this one wasn’t organised by our social committee. With all the extra events being organised this one was headed by our Baptism Visitors, and consisted of a live band, a hot supper, plus some special appearances.
It has to be said that coming as it did on a Friday night at the end of the half-term, Beth especially wasn’t feeling at her best, especially considering that she’d been chaperoning the sixth-form boat party the night before! However, there was a good mix of people, including quite a few faces from the village community as opposed to the Church. The band though were excellent, with a pretty broad repertoire that included some Beatles numbers, some old rock and roll, some blues, and even some Country and Western numbers that gave Beth flashbacks to Canada. The food also was excellent, with a choice of Chicken Curry or Chilli-con-carne – both definitely on the spicy side.
As with anything like this, the live band needed a break part way through the evening, so then was an opportunity for some other people to provide entertainment. First up Cathie and Denise sang a song, then Cathie did a solo herself. Although Cathie is generally pretty modest about her singing, she certainly showed what a great singing voice she has with these two numbers.
After that we had the customary raffle, with a genuine movie star to draw prizes. It has to be said that a number of us didn’t actually recognise the genuine movie star, as he is somewhat older, and a lot taller than the movie most people will know him from… About a Boy, but anyway we had Nick Hoult drawing the prizes. Incidentally, somewhat unrelated, but the reason we remember About a Boy is that thanks to her daughter Nicky Kentish Barnes being a producer, Beth’s landlady at the time Julie turns up in a walk on part too…
Anyway, back to the Black and White evening – if you hadn’t have heard the two numbers earlier on, the next two probably would have left you rather doubtful over Cathie’s singing, as for a special, one night only event, we had the return of the self-titled “Old Spice’sâ€?… At Christmas, one of the memorable contributions alongside the Tuesday Working Party, has often been from the Baptism Visitors. However a couple of years ago, at Cathie and Steve’s Birthday party, they also did a Spice Girls ‘tribute’, which since it was at a private party, hasn’t had quite so wide a viewing. As a result, and since it got so many comments the first time around, they decided to repeat last night for the Conservation Appeal. I had a special request from people who couldn’t get tickets for last night to record it, so here for your viewing pleasure is ‘Old Spice – The Return’. They’re not doing this only for fun, so feel free to show your appreciation by donating to the conservation appeal. 🙂
Since by this point Beth was feeling decidedly tired, we didn’t stay for the second performance from the band and the dancing and headed for home. However I do have a few more pictures from the night, which you can find in our photo gallery.