a most pleasant experience The June 2023 meeting was, once again, the most pleasant of experiences and was appreciated by all those who managed to get to sunny Blackpool on a weekend where we all had to compete with a national rail strike, the cup final and glorious sunny weather. In these post-pandemic days, the weather is keeping people more within their back gardens which is quite acceptable given all the scares we have all had to suffer this last year or two. We still managed to have a decent attendance which improved even more throughout the day and into the Saturday night concert. Talented Members As usual, the entertainment was of the highest value with players of all skill levels giving their utmost to deliver their chosen songs. Mostly George Formby numbers but plenty of choice as well with some of the most popular entertainers able to perform Formby and non- Formby numbers with equal enjoyment. The GFS Uke Raffle After the usual GFS Thrash to get the weekend started, President Andy Poppleton officially opened the convention and played "Chinese Laundry Blues" on this year's GFS Uke Raffle instrument, a lovely Eddie Uttley 'Dreamer.' One member will be delighted when they discover that they have won this highly valued instrument at the next convention on 9th September. Eddie Uttley is without a doubt, the foremost restorer of instruments in the GFS world and has also produced many beautiful and highly valued electric guitars. Eddie's reputation with the GFS and the music world is of the highest standard. Happy Birthday Cathy Jonathan Baddeley was the first compere of the weekend, and his first task was to get everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" to Cathy Staniland, sitting at the audio mixing desk working with her husband Kevin. This couple are brilliant entertainers but spent the whole weekend at the audio desk, constantly monitoring the sound quality. Of all the officials (both committee and members) who sit at desks throughout the two-day convention, they all are relieved at some point and only work selected hours. Kevin and Cathy are at that desk all weekend (assisted by Francesca Davies) and I can tell you that they do constantly monitor the sound, perhaps lifting an audio level for a uke solo or a vocal that might be delivered from a quieter voice. For the second time, Cathy Staniland ran her Ukulele Workshop and it proved to be another successful occasion. One new member travelled all the way from West Sussex mainly to meet Cathy and take part in her workshop. Returning Members It is always nice to see members back at the Blackpool meetings and two welcome faces were those of Simon Cunliffe and Martin Selman who travelled from their far-away homes for the weekend. Both are excellent entertainers and fine banjo-uke players in the style of Formby. Another returning couple were Gerry and Vivien Mawdsley who missed the April meeting owing to Covid but were here for the full weekend with Gerry making himself useful with his camera and then offering to bring his far superior projector for Sunday evening's film (Get Cracking) and improving the enjoyment of the cinema audience immensely. Another long-term member is Kevin Bridgewater who I have known for over thirty years but to the best of my knowledge, I have never filmed from the Blackpool stage. Kevin changed that this weekend when he mounted the stage to deliver "Happy Go Lucky Me." Kevin is a good entertainer and also has a nice playing technique - don't make it so long before the next performance Kevin! New Comperes Two new comperes joined the usual team for the weekend. Angie Parker and Andrew Higham both added value to the weekend with their contribution and are to be congratulated for stepping forward to volunteer. Other numerous volunteers are also to be congratulated for offering to sell weekend raffle tickets and tickets for the annual GFS Uke Raffle. The GFS Band Another group whose presence is all over the weekend are the GFS band. The band consists of leader Matthew Richards with Steve Thomes on bass and Dale Norman and Geoff Shone sharing drumming duties. They all have great knowledge not only of the vast Formby song collection but seem able to come up with whatever is asked of them and make the weekend's entertainment so much more professional. Famous Instruments One activity which received great interest was the talk on famous ukes and banjo-ukes which took place in a side room but perhaps the convention organisers might consider re-running it in the main concert room. No one can be in two places at once and many in the concert room would I feel sure, appreciate the interest that the famous ukes provided from the presenters, Jon Baddeley, John Walley, Andy Poppleton and Lewis Clifton. GFS Shop The next convention should also see the GFS Shop managers back with us. For the last two conventions Steve and Sue Langford could not be with us but Kathryn Pollard, shop manager for nine years, volunteered to manage the shop and assisted by her friend and loyal assistant Dolwyn Shone, the two ladies managed to persuade the members to part with over £1800 in two conventions. Without their support and loyalty, this would have been zero! summing up the weekend To sum the weekend up, a GFS convention is much more than the people who turn up and play on stage or sit in the audience to be entertained. Any Blackpool GFS weekend is special because of the wonderful atmosphere that the weekend can generate. The special friendships amongst long-established members and those who have found the GFS perhaps only this last weekend. No matter that the journey may be tiresome or prove to be so difficult owing to strikes or the economy or any other of the numerous failings that we all have to put up with these days, we usually find ourselves in the Imperial Hotel for the regular Blackpool weekend just to be a part of what has been going on since 1961. Sixty-two years celebrating the words, and music of George Formby. Watching his films, singing his vast amount of songs and just chatting in general about the man and his music. Nothing is perfect in this life but the GFS is not that far off. Managed by a group of committee members for the benefit of all the members. It seems that no matter who is in charge, the same result is delivered every time. Total satisfaction for a weekend well spent in the company of the best of people listening to the best of music from a range of talented people who no matter what they sing, have a special love for the man this is all about - George Formby O.B.E PP 11/06/2023