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guest speaker. Unfortunately there was not time for any speeches from other current and
ex-members, and Michael forgot to award the Member of the Year tankard . However everyone seemed to be quite happy chatting to their fellow table companions, and assaulting the bar, causing some frustration to the harassed barman.
A 40th cake had been delivered earlier in the day, made by a friend of Doreen's, and an excellent cake too, with crags and climbers around the edges, and skiers on top. During the evening it fell to Dave Nicholson, having been a continuous member since 1970, to cut the cake.
As usual, it was left to Doreen and some of the committee members to clean up the hall, take down the PA system, slide projector, photo displays, table clothes, etc., etc..
From discussions on the Tuesday after the dinner, it seems that the evening was enjoyed by everyone, and there was even a follow up meeting arranged for Wales at the P-Y-G, over the weekend of the 16th May.
All of this was a far cry from that eventful weekend 14 months ago, when on the 1st of February 1997, Duncan & Helen Wilson were married at the Merewood Hotel near Windermere in the Lake District. On the Sunday Michael Baldwin, Tony Edwards and myself (Albert Sillwood), were walking in the Snow towards High Street, when Balders calculated that our combined ages were 146 years. This lead on to a discussion of how long we had been in the HMC, who was the longest serving member, and that it would probably be the HMC's 40th Anniversary in 1998.
So with great aplomb, Balders & Tony agreed that it would be a good idea to have a 40th Anniversary dinner. Balders then went off to become a ski rep in Courcheval, and Tony retired to Birmingham. Guess who was left to organise the event (with a lot of assistance from the rest of the committee, and Doreen Goodey). Many thanks to everyone for all their help.
For posterity, there follows a list of the current and ex-members who attended the 40th Anniversary dinner on 18th April, 1998.
Albert Sillwood,
HMC member from 1969, but with a 10 year break in Baghdad and South Africa.
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