Welcome Evening 2009 in Nottingham

One of the highlights during the visit to Nottingham was the welcome evening. An important evening for both the Nottingham and Karlsruhe Friendship clubs. Not only do guests and hosts attend such an evening, also other hosts who did not host any guests this year or for those who could not. They came to be part of the evening, to see, greet and talk to old friends, maybe also to meet new guests as well as just enjoy the wonderful evening. A lot of people were there to fill up a large Church Hall. Once again, this year, we were in the St. Jude’s Hall from 6.30 – 10.30 p.m. A Church Hall with a large stage and sufficient room to dance. Like always, an enjoyable evening.

On the same day, (Thursday, 4 June) the European Election Day took place in the whole of England. The Church Hall was actually meant to be used on that particular day for these elections , but the polite English people moved the polling stations to a container, which was situated outside of the Church Hall. The container was not a very nice looking polling station, but what was of interest for us to observe, were the two police on horseback, who were dressed in green jackets marked “POLICE”, wearing their traditional helms. These policemen were there to make sure that the elections ran smoothly without problems.

The celebration was organised by the Nottingham-Karlsruhe Friendship Club (NKFC). Everyone in the club helped with the organisation in some way or other, with particular mention to the committee members Arnold Butler and Ray Darby. On the program, which Ray moderated, were welcome speeches, presentations and performances. The wonderful dance performed by a dancing school, organised by Mary Butler, was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, as well as the amusing sketches presented in German by John Hooley and Alma Shipman together with other members of the NKFC.

The DEF received for their 30th Anniversary, which they celebrated this year , a very representative birthday cake, which was just as delicious as it looked. The cake was cut, during flashlights and cheers, by both chairpersons of the clubs, Kurt Schweizer and Arnie Butler.

After the typical English buffet dinner which guests from Karlsruhe thoroughly enjoy every year, the dance floor was opened with a dance by Maureen Darby and Arnie Butler. Whoever wanted to could dance, which meant a lot could and did it real well.

Photos show the enjoyable evening better than words can describe, particularly they show the young students from Karlsruhe who attended the week in Nottingham for the first time, as well as scenes which showed how colourful the Hall was decorated. An enjoyable and wonderful evening. Now it is time to say thank you as well as welcome to our friends who will visit Karlsruhe next year. Then the hosts in Karlsruhe will do their best to welcome and entertain their friends. Remark: No one can imagine how much work is put into the organisation of such a week in order to make it successful. It begins with stress in its planning and ends with satisfaction when all goes well. Translated from German into English by RS