The final day started with a hearty cooked breakfast. Katie and Jane slaved over the cooker, supported by Steve, Charlotte and Julian. I even chipped in with the odd round of toast. This set us up nicely for a long day ahead.
We said our farewells to Brian as he set off early with Neil (Jane and Brian’s son) for his Hospital appointment.
Following a thorough cleanup, Jane and Katie always check our rooms to make sure it’s left to their very high standards, we set off home around 11am. Steve had now been promoted to van duty in Brian’s absence and to keep Derek on the straight and narrow.
Following a short stop off at Sandbach Park we made our way to the Bull’s Head where Jane and Katie had arranged for an end of tour roast dinner, there wasn’t much left on the plates as you can imagine.
It was here we said farewell to our great friends and coach drivers, Carol and Jose, as they couldn’t make the evening concert. Sophie Barwick presented them both with presents from the band.
It was now on to Sandbach High School for the evening concert organised by The Rotary Club of Sandbach.
This year there was a twist to the concert as I had given the choice of music to the six senior players that were leaving. In true Lions fashion they double twisted and I wasn’t allowed to know what we were playing until moments before the first note.
During the evening presentations were made to Sophie Barwick, Melissa Goodchild, Rhys Woollam, Emma Drew, Callum Hill and Natasha Brett as they had reached the ripe old age of 18 and now was the time for them to take one last bow.
There was a presentation made to Richard Gibson who had organised all the performances on tour and further presentations to Sophie and Rhys as retiring band reps.
The band kindly presented presents to myself, Jane and all the organising team for a great week.
One final presentation was for Sophie Barwick, who having given ten years of her life, and showed great dedication and leadership, was presented with Bandsperson of the Year.
The band was on great form all evening and finished traditionally with our special version of Can Can.
A great tour, with great memories. Thanks to everyone who made it a great success.
Nigel

One Comment

Leave a Reply to Allan Littlemore Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.