2020

No Activity Due to Covid-19

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2019

Over 80 residents gathered in the Centre this year to welcome Spring and enjoy a delicious two course dinner.
The Social Committee and a few extra helpers once again put in a lot of hard work to ensure that a great night was enjoyed by all.

Catering was by FORKS FINE CATERING who presented a main course of ;

Tarragon roasted  chicken with herb & white wine gravy
or
Rosemary & minted lamb with mint yoghurt

Followed by;

Caramelised  white chocolate mousse with malt crumb
or
Coconut panna cotta with blueberry compote

Our lead organiser, Rosemary, welcomed everyone and Wes said Grace for us… then it was time to ”eat, drink and be merry”

During dinner SIMON BUSMANN entertained us with some subdued  background music

but after dinner he stepped up the pace and things started to rock!!!

A few of our more outgoing residents led the charge to the dance floor..

And the dance floor was soon crowded as we danced into the night and the wee small hours…(well, our version of the wee small hours anyway) 😂😂.

Another great night in our Centre thanks to our wonderful Social Committee..

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2018

It is that time of year again when “Spring has Sprung” and we prepare for the annual village Spring Dinner. The Social Committee and their helpers were over at the Centre bright and early and hard at work.

There is never any problem getting people up to dance at our functions so plenty of room was left on the dance floor.

Wes had put his creative talents to work and produced custom place mats for each resident.

Here is the menu..

 

And here are our table waiters for the night, just a part of the catering team that looked after us…

At the appointed time, over ninety eager diners began to arrive and all had to go through Bobs archway to then be guided to their assigned tables by our greeters.

Of course, a popular stop along the way is always the bar..

 

Here are just a few of those who partied with us on the night…

Simon provided suitable quiet background music during dinner but then stepped up the pace once we had finished eating and were “ready to rock”.

The dance floor space was quickly filled and stayed that way for most of the night.

Hetty entertained us once again with her famous “Walker Waltz”, she just hates to miss out on the fun..

On behalf of all of the diners, Colin thanked the Social Committee and all who had contributed to another enjoyable night in our village..

That was our 2018 Spring Dinner. And we will do it all again in 2019.

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2017

It would seem that our Spring Dinners have become an annual event because on Saturday evening the 30th September 2017 over 100 residents gathered in our Centre again for our Spring Dinner event.

A great time was had by all, so much so that our resident “free verse” poet, Bobby, went home and wrote the following  poem about the night she had just had…

— What a Night —

As we, the guests entered the door,
we became aware of the presence of magic.
Walking into what looked like an exquisitely decorated palace,
we knew that tonight would be memorable,
as indeed it proved to be,
Delightful dinners began the evening,
then came the wonderful musicians,
a son and his Dad,
who played and sang their hearts out.
How could anyone remain seated,
as such music insisted that we dance?
A poet named Wordsworth, a long time ago,
wrote of daffodils “fluttering and dancing in the breeze”.
Of course, there were no daffodils here,
but I saw a great deal of fluttering.
And the dancing? Well, you probably had to be there to believe it.

To all the wonderful people who gave us such a wonderful night,
a thousand thank yous.
                                                                                               Bobby Barclay

And thank you Bobby, you summed up the night nicely.
Now to my report……This time we had an outside caterer who arrived, prepared and served up a great dinner for us complete with table waiting service, then totally cleaned up and departed taking all of their dirty dishes and cutlery with them.. MAGIC.. it certainly saved our Social Committee from the usual big cleanup job afterwards.

MENU
Beef Rendang with Caramelised Pineapple
or
Miso Poached Chicken with a Mango and Ginger Sauce
both served with seasonal vegetables
followed by
Hot Berry Pie with Creme Anglaise and Ginger Icecream
or
Ricotta & Raspberry Tiramisu with Sherry Icecream

The Social Committee dressed the tables and all was looking great by late afternoon. (Cutlery and crockery were provided and set by the catering crew)

The handsome fellas (with bow ties) who waited on our tables certainly impressed the ladies.

Right on 6pm it was time for the first arrivals.

Of course the bar was in full swing….

Before long everyone was settled at their tables and enjoying a tasty meal

Here are just a few enjoying the evening….

After dinner it was time for us to work off the yummy deserts with a bit of dance floor exercise…

The entertainers were really excellent and received much applause and acclaim. The selection of music suited us just fine and it must be reported that never has the dance floor at Alloura been so full so quickly and for so long. It was thought that an adequate dance floor space had been left between tables but before we knew it we were jostling to find room to squeeze in and this continued for most of the rest of the night. It was great to see everyone really enjoying themselves. But some of the singalong was a bit dodgy…

Even Hettie joined in with a bit of chair dancing

Towards the end of the evening the RC President gave a special vote of thanks to the Social Committee for arranging such a successful night.

A great night out, sure to be repeated again next year. 

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2016

Once again the coming of spring gave us all a boost after a rather chilly winter and we were ready to celebrate. The Social Committee decided that we should repeat last years successful Spring Dinner format and September 24th saw over 100 residents gathering in our Community Centre for another great night out.

The Social Committee did a marvellous  job setting up the tables during the day.  They occupied almost the entire lounge area because it was decided to introduce something new this year and leave part of the auditorium clear to be used as a dance floor.

In the meantime, outside caterers hired for the event were hard at work cooking a spit roast of three meats out in the courtyard, while inside in our kitchen they were cooking a wide range of veggies and preparing some awesome sweets for “afters”..

After a bit of general socialising it was time to take our seats for the meal..

After the meal Carol invited the  caterers out so that we could thank them for all of their hard work….

And then it was time for the second part of the evening, which had not been announced previously… Carol introduced Tony who would entertain us with some great music from the 60’s and 70’s.

Dawn, seen here in the centre, was one of the first to take to the dance floor… But she was soon joined by others..

And finally, here are some of the better dance moves seen on the night, some of them quite surprising indeed..

And  I can only agree with you Pat.. A great fun way to end the night… Lets do it all again next year…

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2015

With the coming of Spring, the Residents Social Committee decided that we should hold a “Spring Dinner” on Friday 18 September 2015 to celebrate. Residents were asked to wear something bright and put a “spring into their step”….

The idea resulted in a tremendous response with around 114 residents asking for places at the dinner. This was well above the attendance at most village activities and had the Social Committee scrambling to work out how they were going to cope with such a huge crowd. But cope they did, and very well indeed….

Extra tables that had not been used for ages were pressed into service and the dinner setup encroached well out into the general lounge area.

A big thanks must go to one resident couple who donated the basket of goodies for the raffle.

But of course the main reason for being there was the promise of a spit roast dinner. This was slow cooked just outside in the courtyard and tempting aromas had been wafting over the village all day. By that evening the diners were more than ready for a great meal and they were not disappointed.

A choice of six vegetable dishes and two meats had several of the Committee volunteering to help with the serving. There was no lack of food which saw many diners backing up for “seconds”. Even so, there was still food left over. The mains were followed by a dessert choice of Mango Torte or Strawberry Cheesecake.
And it all tasted as delicious as the aromas had suggested earlier in the day.

Of course our bar staff coped well in their usual efficient manner…

Many photographs were taken and here is but a selection of the happy diners..

Are they really twins above??? Or just two of our residents that happened to visit the same cheap dollar store?? But wait, that cant be right, that means that they would have actually PAID for those shirts..

And here are some more….

And yet even more

And more……

Phew!!!! Thats just a few.. but this report would not be complete without a photo also of our hard working caterers..

Thanks guys… a great meal… well done….