Laying Up Supper - 2022
This year's Lay Up Supper broke from the tradition of being held at the club and instead a local venue, well known to some, Marsh Farm Tea Room was selected by the Commodore after a surreptitious scouting mission one Sunday afternoon.
The venue can seat 50 guests, but it was decided to restrict the numbers to 40 for comfort and space in the car park.
The evening started at 17:55 with a 5-4-1-0 countdown followed by a prompt serving of vintage non-alcoholic Dom Perignon 56 by the Commodore and his lady leaving the lucky ticket holders to mingle with colleagues.
Dinner was called at 18.30 sharp and the guests were treated to a sumptuous spread prepared by the manager Sarah and her team.
The traditional after dinner auction sale of club paraphernalia was replaced this year by a raffle and a themed quiz. The raffle prizes a selection of chocolates a vintage Napolean brandy from the club's wine cellar and a 22-year-old single malt whiskey from the Isle of Skye that was generously donated by Roy Jones.
By a stroke of luck, it was promptly won back by Roy by drawing the winning ticket. However, he chose a bottle of wine as a replacement. Noelle, drawing her own ticket, won the next prize but she declined to accept it.
Table 2 seemed to be drawing many winning tickets probably due to the number of tickets purchased and it was good to see Bill Bryson with a winning ticket.
The evening concluded with coffee and a short historical and sailing quiz devised by the Commodore. The finish was a close thing between tables 2 and 5 with table 5 comprising the Rankin and Reid families finally triumphant.
The prize, as promised by the Commodore in his pre competition rules summary, was a bottle of specially selected wines for every member of the winning team, however he omitted to mention the size of the actual bottles!
A great evening was had by all, the club treasurer was most happy with the money raised from the raffle, which easily covered the cost of the evening. So, if you missed your opportunity this year, make sure that you get in early next year, venue and date to be finalised.
Alternatively, why not go check out this little gem yourselves. It's on the way to the club , for most of us, on the Uttoxeter road out of Abbots Bromley, offering a selection of menus from afternoon teas to a full course celebration meal.
It's open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (1st Sunday of the month) from 10am till 4pm, plug this postcode into your SatNav .. WS15 3EJ, and look for the large green welcome sign, and dont forget to mention you are from Blithfield Sailing Club.