THE YEAR CLOSES

So another year in The Society calendar officially closes with the fourth and final convention of 2019. The fourth issue of The Vellum reached our doors before the convention and now apart from a few branch meetings, the Society year comes to an end. I was quite encouraged with the Saturday attendance and although quite a few more empty seats on Sunday, it was, as usual, a very pleasurable meeting to attend.

THE GFS SHOP

Overall, the GFS shop ladies were kept busy. Just two more conventions in 2020 to go before Kathryn and I retire from shop management. We will have run the shop for over nine years and we feel that we need to take a breather now. Hopefully, someone will come forward to take over.

GOOD WEEKEND

The weekend was really good, I met up with some friends who I have known now for around thirty years. Coming from either end of the country was old pal Von Hoffman from the London area and travelling in the other direction from the highlands of Scotland, it was lovely to greet Nick Macivor and his handsome young son, Sebastian. Von, of course, is the one man who over this weekend, will remind us all of George Formby's equally famous father. If it wasn't for Von, James Booth would probably be forgotten as far as the convention stage is concerned and that would be a tragedy.

WELCOME VISIT

Another welcome visitor was Dickie Speake honorary member and former musical director of the GFS for many years and a member of the Society for over fifty years. I feel sure that Dickie will see a quite different Society when he makes his way to Blackpool these days, and perhaps there are many of the newer members who are unaware of Dickie and the contribution he made certainly in the 1990s and beyond. He does not get to every meeting these days but is always more than welcome. When I joined the Uke Circle and the GFS in 1991, Dickie’s performances were breathtaking, there was noone like him and he can still hold his own with the best! The weekend always produces special moments and we all enjoyed the performance of Bianca who comes with the London crowd and made a great impression on everyone in the room.

PERFORMANCES

All the performing members can entertain and throughout the two days, we had song after song featuring different styles of delivery. They all helped to make up what is always a great weekend. The band was good, the GFS Jazz Band is always a nice Sunday treat and makes for a nice interlude from out and out Formby material. The presenters did a good job and all the people involved behind the scenes helped to deliver the weekend in the manner we have come to expect. So the year comes to close once again and I feel sure that the GFS can look forward to 2020 and on to the 2021 60th anniversary with the greatest confidence.