70th Anniversary Celebrations
With preparations for Ropsley & District’s 70th Anniversary almost complete, a nightmare scenario unfolded as unannounced roadworks closed the road outside Ropsley Hall, our meeting venue.
Clambering through the roadworks looked as if it was going to be the only option – so a quick change to the plans for the anniversary cake, keeping it as 2 separate cakes to avoid having to carry it as a tower through an obstacle course of tarmac and machinery. This still left the issue of our ladies with mobility issues, one of whom, Jeanne Tibbs, had been invited especially for the event. She came to meetings with her mother when she was 15 and joined as soon as she turned 16 – she was not quite a founder member, but she was not far from it! Sadly, in the last couple of years Jeanne’s health issues and the distance from the village have prevented her attending and it would have been heart-breaking to tell her we couldn’t get her to the front door.
Desperate for a way round the problem – both metaphorically and physically – we talked to the highways contractor. One of his workmen had already confirmed that the road would remain closed overnight, but catching the boss was a brilliant stroke of luck. He was delightful and incredibly helpful, agreeing to ensure the road closure left us access to the hall car park for the evening.
Disaster averted, faith in human nature restored! (And if we ever need a road repaired, we know where to go.)
Come the evening, most ladies arrived early to help set up and we had booked a group of 4 singers – The Four Tunes – to entertain us. They turned out to be a really good choice, singing a mix of well-known songs, many of which got an appreciative audience singing along. At the break, the fuddle (apparently a Lincolnshire term for an evening where everyone brings part of the meal) was opened and, as ever, there was more than we could ever eat so no-one went hungry – including the band and several husbands who were taken ‘doggy bags’ of leftovers. 
The issues of the morning meant that we now had 2 cakes to cut so Jeanne Tibbs cut one and Pat Lee, our oldest remaining member cut the other – it subsequently turned out that they had also cut our 60th Anniversary cake 10 years earlier – they say practice makes perfect and Jeanne and Pat seem to have got the hang of it.
The Four Tunes second set of the evening was livelier music that got many of us up dancing – some of us more extrovertly than others!
Sadly, all good things come to an end and eventually the band stopped and the clear up began - until all that was left of a really good night was Gez Samuel doing her impression of Cinderella!