24th June 2002 - Yvette Asscher

Above: the guests at Yvette's President's Night (Past President Dick Roberts is behind the camera)

The 2002 President’s night was held on a lovely June evening at the Warren Lodge Hotel Shepperton.

After drinks on the terrace overlooking the river at Shepperton Reach, we enjoyed an American-style barbeque, which had plenty for the carnivores with steak, chicken, pork, jacket potatoes and a selection of salads, followed by strawberries and cream. The group picture above shows just about everyone who attended.

It was warm enough to stay out for the entire meal, which was eaten on the terrace overlooking the River Thames. At about 9.30 p.m. it started to cool down, so we adjourned to the Garden Room for drinks, coffee and speeches. Vice President Susan had decorated the tables, which were very welcoming. The bottles of bubble mixture were put to good use by the Dethicks, Peter managed to blow an enormous bubble; I must ask him how he did it! Susan welcomed everyone to the event, presented Yvette with a bouquet of flowers and introduced the proceedings.
	It has become something of a tradition for Past President Bob Boyle to prepare some appropriate (witty) words to describe the outgoing President at President’s Night. This time, having used all his technology terms for Dick last year, Bob opted for a new style. Emulating the success of his Quiz earlier this year, Bob looked out unusual words that he felt described President Yvette. All the words are in the dictionary; some are even recognised by Microsoft Word’s spell checker! Bob read his description of the President and presented her with a framed (courtesy of Stuart Carpenter) copy of the words.
President Yvette thanked Bob and reflected that it had been an interesting year. She recalled how shocked we all were following the attacks of 11th September. It seemed as though nothing would be the same again. But how quickly things returned to normal. Yvette thanked Susan for working hard organising and preparing for President’s night, saying that Susan had tried to plan it last September, much too far ahead for Yvette to comprehend! Yvette went on to thank all members of the Club for their hard work during the year, which had been a good year and we had achieved a great deal. She wished the new team the best of luck for the coming year. After the raffle, which Sylvia Theaker and the Mansells seemed to dominate, this year, the event finished at about 10.30 p.m.

June 1st 2001 - Dick Roberts

Club Service Chairman Yvette Asscher had arranged an evening at the Warren Lodge

Above: Brian McQuade checked out the vintages and we had time for a drink and a chat before dinner was served.

The Warren Lodge had arranged a splendid barbeque on their lawn under the old Mulberry tree planted at the time of Henry the eighth.

We sat on the terrace overlooking the Thames on the Shepperton bend, one of the loveliest spots for a hotel close to London that you could imagine

The barbeque was delicious.

We went indoors for our dessert and coffee. The Garden Room was an ideal location for the party element of the evening.

Creme Brulee, coffee, drinks and conversation.

The club had had a very enjoyable year and had achieved a great deal

There was lots to talk aboutvand this year's event was more informal than previously.

Bob Boyle (standing) presented a splendid plaque as a memento to President Dick Roberts who then gave a brief illustrated talk featuring the remarkable achievements and the fun the club had had during the year. Dick thanked the Club for giving him the honour of being President.

The evening concluded with some hearty laughter and some amazing perceptiveness from the audience in a round of charades.

6th May 2000 - Bryant Kettle

		Bryant Kettle was the Club's first Lady President, so we pushed the boat out for an evening at Brooklands, which is near Weybridge in Surrey. It was a lovely evening and we were able to enjoy drinks on the balcony before the meal.
President Bryant gave a speech that explained how women were expected to behave towards their husbands in the 1950's		After dinner there was an opportunity to enjoy spontaneous musical experiences.