Tuesday 8 September 2015

In praise of Show Organisers.

Over the past few weeks I have been organising three clubs to come together,in a local church hall,to re-fight the battle of Ramilles 1706,and the problems and difficulties I have encountered,makes me full of praise for the organisers of big shows,like Border Reiver etc.-their problems and difficulties must be enormous compared to mine.
Because I'm retired(have I mentioned that before?) I have more time,apparently(!) than my working club members,so I took it upon myself to do all the work involved,and I must admit that I have enjoyed the challenge,but now appreciate the work needed to organise a big show.
The first thing I had to do was pick a battle that would involve a few commanders-it started off with approximately 10 people taking part,it has now risen to 15 people!-Paul suggested that Ramilles would be the ideal battle,so that's the one we are doing.
The next step was hiring a hall big enough to accommodate us all,and that would have a kitchen and enough tables and chairs.I approached the local Methodist Church who initially said yes,but then came back and said they weren't happy about the word War in Wargames!!
I had to pacify them by explaining what wargaming was all about,and guided them to my blog site,they mentioned that a church committee would have to decide finally,but then after looking at our blog site they said a big fat Yes!!-one problem solved,now for the rest.
I produced a "precis" of our rules,location maps and itinerary for the day,but I then had to have two more visits to the church to get a look at their facilities for making tea/coffee etc. and to measure the tables we could use.
The church was very professional in it's hiring policy,and have a form to be filled in detailing the regulations and rules we have to abide by,then there was the cost of course!
With the hall problem out of the way,it was deciding who would be on what side when we played the game-so I had to have numbers of people who would be turning up-easy,I hear you say,not so says I!! at the moment it is a possible of 15,with a probable of 13(dependent on whether or not Manchester United is playing on the day we are playing!!)
Then there was the problem of food-a cold buffet or bacon sandwiches will have to be decided on-we need to keep the cost as low as possible,however I had not taken into account diabetics,vegetarians or any other special dietary needs!!-help!!!
The three clubs involved,ie. our club,Charlie Wesencraft's and Robbie Roddis' have all shown a great degree of enthusiasm,and I am sure will "throw" themselves into the game,and make it a great day-roll on 10th October!!
So to summarize,God bless the Organisers,they will surely find a place in Wargames heaven.

2 comments:

  1. I expect Bacon sandwiches with ice cold beer.
    Cant wait.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Robbie-In a Methodist Chapel?-you are on something!!!
      johnc(william)

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