Farcet 2000

Well, after months of planning, we have been, and come back from Farcet!!!!!

A great time was had by all, and here are some of the 'highlights' of the weekend (in picture form) with a little report on the trip following on behind.

SOME OF THESE PHOTOS MAY BE A LITTLE HARD TO SEE. FEEL FREE TO COPY THEM TO YOUR OWN COMPUTER AND, USING MS WORD OR SIMILAR PACKAGE, RESIZE THEM SO THAT YOU CAN SEE THEM. THEY HAVE TO BE REDUCED BECAUSE OF DOWNLOAD TIMES.

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This is Lynn and Eiddwen Thomas who came along with us, at very short notice, to accompany the songsters and the soloists on the Sunday. They are both well known locally as they accompany many of the soloists in the Valley at concerts and different events throughout the year. The hall they are in is the village hall, where we all went on Saturday after arriving at Farcet, for a wonderful lunch of jacket potato and salad (for the dieters) before cake or gateaux for dessert (supposedly not for the dieters.......)

...but of course, that didn't stop the songsters from tucking in!!!!!!

This is the actual hall in Farcet. Quite a small building, especially when you try to fit in: 2 electric keyboards, a piano, 20 songsters, a band, a drum kit, an amplifier, a slide projector, a music stand and three pianists.

It's a logistical nightmare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this is what it looked like with all the people in.....

Towards the end of Saturday night's programme, Ron Edmunds sang 'Candle of the Lord' as a solo while Julie Joyce (my sister) did a mime of the words, after which they both lit candles and began to sing 'I'll Be a Light'. During this song, the rest of the songsters lit their own candles off Julie and Ron before spreading out around the hall and starting to sing. Actually, it's become a bit of a trademark for the songsters, but it is always, always appreciated.

Also on Saturday night, one of our adherants (that's what the Army calls people who want to belong to the Army but don't want to go into full soldiership) Marilyn Thomas, sang a solo, in Welsh. Her two daughters, Mari and Bethan, then sang a duet. Well, if you've got a fan club, you may as well make use of them!

Another solo from Saturday night was Sarah Back, daughter of the commanding officers here at Maesteg, sang 'Calon Lan' while wearing full Welsh costume, and they all enjoyed it so much that it was requested for Sunday night also. I'm really sorry that I haven't got a picture but I was sitting behind her so I couldn't get one.

When the Army goes away, the people are normally looked after by the people in the corps that they are going to. Karen, Julie and myself all stayed about 10 minutes from the hall Phillys and Cecil Whetstone, and we had a fab time. I don't think any of us could move after all that we eat!

Again, no one could move after all the food, so we sat down and didn't move for another hour: (pictured here are, from left, Bandmaster Alan Jones, Songster Leader Stephen Joyce and bandsman/songster/soloist/joke teller Ron Edmunds)

So that, basically, was our weekend.

But a trip like that doesn't come without practice. Here are a few shots of practices that I've taken over the last few weeks:

The people in Farcet were great. Thanks to everyone who helped with the tea when we got there on Saturday afternoon (there were many people in the kitchen washing dishes as well as the people who we could see, so I won't mention names. Thanks also to everyone who let us stay in their houses - everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Then there was the fantastic dinner we had on Sunday afternoon, it takes a lot of work to organise all that food for more than 40 people and it tasted great! Thanks for all the food (and there was loads of it) that was provided as a tea just before we started the journey home. It kept us all going until the service station 2 hours down the road.

And finally, for the people in Farcet, thanks for coming!

Of course, there are many people that need to be thanked for making this weekend possible. Firstly, there's all the songsters who agreed to go on the trip. Then there's Lynn and Eiddwen who stepped in at short notice. Not forgetting Glenda, our regular pianist who came up on Sunday to help out with the music. Then there's Marilyn and her family who willing took part (and took part in style too!). Of course, there was Ron who sang a solo, along with the other soloists, Jean, Wayne and Sarah. Peggy did a greeting in Welsh and also gave a recitation. There's Celia who did a bible reading and Derek who gave his testimony. Helene took slides of our valley for the song that went to the tune of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and that went down well. She also played drums. Thanks to Julie who did a mime and to Karen who did the children's story on Sunday morning. Thanks also to Captain and Mrs Back who took part in different ways throughout the weekend, along with Marion who gave a little talk on Saturday night. Thanks to the bandmaster and songsters leader who put this weekend together. Is that it? I hope so, my hands are hurting!