The heatwave added to our ‘night to remember’ evening. Members even turned up with electric fans

which made the atmosphere almost bearable. The Kyiv Classic Duo were the guest artists and

this was to be a special fund raising evening for their pet charity. I had made an earlier appeal to

our long suffering supporters to make an even bigger effort to dig very deeply into their reserves

and bring along quality raffle prizes and goodies suitable for the auction and I am very pleased to say

that the response was magnificient in every way. Barry and myself cannot express our gratitude to

these supporters who are the backbone of the club.

The heatwave and holidays robbed us of several members on the night but even in their absence they

still supported us with donations and apologies. The hall looked very business like with the presentation

of raffle prizes and goods to be auctioned and the tables attracted immense interest as notes were

made on selected items to bid on. Many brand new boxed items were on offer and these included a

microwave oven, a toaster, heater etc. Roy, our drummer boy even baked and decorated a fruit cake

which was offered on raffle at £1 a go. The cake realized £60.

Harry Floyd opened the programme with a selection of tunes. We can always rely on Harry to have his

accordion available. Igor and Oleksiy began their programme and every person present was soon

mesmerized by their playing. The refreshing drinks went down well in the interval and the raffle and tote

was quickly drawn with a very happy visitor pocketing £18. The very amusing and very confusing auction

passed very quickly with every item being sold raising a creditable £228. The confusion was caused by

the auctioneer, (Barry) selling the same item to two bidders and also very generously bidding on behalf

of a bidder who did not know he was bidding. Confused, what??.

The pieces, played by the Dynamic Duo, which remain in our memories were their rendering of

‘Tocccata’ and the selection from the Peer Gynt suite.

To sum up; an amazingly ‘hot’ evening in every way. Guest artists, as usual, 10 out of 10. Club members

also 10 out of 10 for support and generosity. Kitchen staff, well done under trying circumstances of heat

and pressure from thirsty members. 10 out of 10 for everyone involved for raising the sum of £600 for a

very deserving cause. One only grumble, from me. a single jazz number blew a few fuses, I love this type

of music and so did the rest of the audience. Igor and Oleksiy, please swop some of the ‘heavy classics

for some jazz next time round, please.

Lou Ambrose