A Wonderyears singers 90th Birthday

Bert cutting his birthday cake with our hostess Barbara while Jim our host looks on.

Bert opening one of his birthday cards.

Bert with a birthday gift of a new car.

The delicious cakes Barbara had baked.

Jim being followed by Bert.

John, Ken, Lionel, Bob and Colin.

Ken, Bert and Lionel.

Jim, Jean, Mary and Ellen.

Lionel, Dave C, Ken, Keith, Angela and Bob.

Tom, Mariane, Heather, Marie, Christine, Carole, Frances and Vera.

Tom, Marianne, Heather, Marie, Christine, Carole, Barbara and Vera.

The Wonderyears celebrated one of their singers 90th birthday on Friday afternoon.  Barbara and Jim Marsh, a fellow singer and his wife, wanted to make this very special birthday of their friend Bert Ely by giving him a surprise birthday party. 

Bert joined us soon after seeing us perform at The Riverside Club in Staines, we were there to perform at the Annual Burma Star Reunion. Bert had served with the RAF as an Engineer Mechanic during the war. He slotted into our group with ease and soon became a firm favourite, he has great character full of warmth and his joy for singing shines through, he really knows how to please our audiences.  Dave Thomas, our MD, likes to give him songs he knows Bert will put his own stamp on.  We are a senior chorus and band based in Virginia Water, who have in our repertoire rock, punk and contemporary pop. 

We all really enjoy being together, either performing or socially.  Barbara and Jim invited us into their home to mark this special occasion and what a wonderful time we all had.  How we'd kept quiet while waiting at the end of their pretty garden for him to come through the house to find us I do not know.  The Pimms and sparkling wine were enjoyed in the warm afternoon sunshine and the cakes Barbara had made were absolutely divine, I'm afraid I showed myself up by not being able to resist piling my plate up. 

Our Chairperson Ken Smith presented Bert with vouchers to be spent at a garden centre and a photo of The Wonderyears as a keepsake of the day.

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A Visit to a Brewery

I visited the Windsor & Eton Brewerey yesterday with fellow members of The Wonderyears.
We were welcomed by Paddy, one of five business men who decided that it was time they set up business for themselves istead of working for others.  This was in 2009.
Having decided on having a brewery they needed to make a further decision on where it should be, there were already so many in existance.  Then very early one morning Paddy had a call from one of his partners, very excitedly telling him of a building that had become available in Windsor.  Checking they found this would be the only one in that district.  So after gaining planning permission things started to move rapidly.  They had decided that they would fund everything themselves and would go for a year without any pay.  Paddy drew details of the equipment needed and their engineer had it all made and installed in record time.  In 2010 with their first batch brewing the started phoning around for customers.  Not so easy with so much competition, they struck lucky as someone offered to use their beer if it was ready by St George's Day, which they managed to do.  They were on their way.
They still have to spend a lot of time phoning because of the competition, but now have five very popular beers and business is expanding.  This is, I'm sure, due to their enthusiasm and knowledge. The flavors are distinctive and some a bit out of the ordinary.While Paddy explained this we were drinking our first beer this was the Knight of the Garter. Launched to coincide with the annual Cermony of the Garter held at St George's Chapel, an easy drinking golden ale.
Then we were taken on a tour where the process was explained to us in detail, starting with the extracting of sugar from barley and finishing with the different sizes of casks, which is the main vessel for selling their beer in, they do sometimes bottle.  I was amazed with the different ingredients, even jasmin is used.  Also the fact that they obtain these ingredients from all over the world and need to know from which country any one of of their ingredients gives them the best flavour that they could possibly have to be added to their brews, even the barley has to be sourced with care as the best crop differs each year as according to weather conditions in the appropriate countries.  Luckily the water in the Windsor area is pure, purer than spring water, it is felt that this is due to it coming from bore holes; though it still has to be 'Bourtoned'.  Even hops are brought from abroad and they are dried and come in sacks of foil which are then refridgerated until required.During the tour we sampled the remaining four beers and were asked which two we liked best.  My first choice was Guardsman, this was their first beer, inspired by the famous bearskin hats worn by the Guard regiments based in Windsor, its a classic best bitter.  My second choice was Conqueror, a powerful black beer, which Paddy described as tasting like bitter chocolate.  Named after William the Conqueror, this beer keeps getting awards.  In fact all the beers were exceedingly good and Conqueror isn't the only one to get awards.  I suggest you give them all a try, I'm positive you'll agree me they are really good.
Thanks to Paddy for giving as an interesting and enjoyable evening.

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A Performance aid of Parity for Disabled by The Wonderyears for The Fleet Rotary Club

Last year's cheque being handed to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice from The Rotary Club in Fleet.

The Headmistress, Beverley and the Organiser Barbara.

Chatting to the MC Tim Freeman are members of our band, Keith, Jeff, and Paul.

The above photographs were taken by Rotarian Ross Mitchell which are part of the collection on The Rotary Club of Fleets website.

Getting ready for our traditional group hug which we ritually have before a performance. 
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Ray singing his solo 'You Are Always On My Mind'.
This photograph was taken by Val Smith.

Yesterday evening The Wonderyears had the privilege of being invited, for the second year running, to perform a concert in aid of Parity for the Disabled.  This organised by Barbara Bellmore for The Rotary Club of Fleet at the Moor Court School at Fleet. 

I'm pleased to say that like last year, the concert was a great success.  We were pleasantly surprised at how many were in the audience, given that the weather was extremely cold.  All enjoyed the performance, the audience joining in and dancing along with us.  We are very pleased that not only did the audience have a great time but feel sure that there will be another cheque for a substantial amount raised going to another good cause.  Well done Fleet.

Should you wish to see more photos of this event please check out The Rotary Club at Fleet's website the link is: - http://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=332950&ClubID=879.

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The Wonderyears on BBC Surrey's Breakfast Show

Keith, Jim, Colin, Bert, Marie and myself in one the BBC Surrey's studio's/

Six of us representing The Wonderyears were on BBC Surrey (Southern Counties) Radio's Breakfast Show with Nigel Williams on Friday the 8th March. 
Nigel interviewed Colin, one of our singers and myself then we rushed into another studio joining the others ot perform Blitzcrieg Bop, five of us singing with Keith, our Band Manager and Lead Guitarist accompanying us.  You can hear the results on our website www.wonderyearsrock.com. 

The Wonderyears belated Christmas Dinner at The Wheetsheaf





Alan, John C, Vera with Fiona in the background relaxing before going into dinner.

Two wives, Fiona and Barbara catching up after their last meet at The Laleham Golf Club concert.





Christine & Barbara enjoying their chat and before dinner.



Bob, Mary, Val, Christine and Barbara enjoying their get together before dinner.

The Wonderyears Christmas Dinner was late this year due to our first date being cancelled due to bad weather.
We usually have two social gatherings a year, one in the summer and a winter one.  We enjoy any get togethers but these socials are special as we can involve our wives and partners.  Having a drink and chat before our meal is served enables us to mix more before being seated.  As you can see by the photos full advantage is taken of this precious time.

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Table 1

Table 2

Maggie, Keith's wife, Keith and Pam.

Joan and Dave T having a serious chat.

Table 3

Table 4

The meal, as usual, was delicious, all enjoyed their personal selection and wines.

Colin, singing 'Roll Over Beethoven' accompanied by Keith on guitar

Dave T singing 'End of the Line' accompanied by Keith

We just can't help ourselves, even on a relaxing night out we entertain ourselves, there were others who graced the floor but I got carried away with everything so only managed to capture Dave and Colin who were both ably accompanied by Keith, who had earlier sang a lovely song called 'Flowers for Kitty Jay'; which he'd composed himself.

All went home feeling very content and happy, looking forward to our next rehearsal.

  

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Did Glen Miller Die in Ohio?

Tony Eaton giving his talk at our local library

Our local library was recently given a very interesting talk given by Tony Eaton, whose mentor was Wilbur Smith.  It followed a trial started by Helen Miller when, along with a lot of Glenn’s fans,  she questioned the story of her husband’s disappearance when  the plane he was flying in supposedly went down in the  English Channel with the false reason that it was lost due to fog.

What started the trail was a document showing that the plane had been lost at sea showing that it and had two passengers on board, plus the pilot, but after careful examination it was proved that Glenn’s name had been typed in with a different typewriter, also the 15^th December, the day the plane supposedly went down, was a fine day.  It was his friend and manager Don Haynes who gave out the story that he was on that particular plane, though it was purported he had a diary that gave a different story but this is missing.  This was the ending given to the film ‘The Glenn Miller Story’ from information gleaned from official sources.

When Glenn first joined the AAF he formed a band of servicemen.  Their performances, in America, were exceedingly successful raising a substantial amount of money for war bonds.  But Glenn wasn’t satisfied, he wanted to play to American servicemen who were stationed abroad, it was decided to send him to England.  Tony pointed out that where he was sent drew suspicion. High Wycombe was very near to Bletchley Park Code Breakers and also two major officers, one of which was in charge of daytime raids the other night time.  David Niven who was, according to Tony, in the Secret Service, was his ‘boss’; I haven’t been able to find anything at all on the internet giving any information on the role David Niven played during the war.  The story went that the then Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower, along with other major military who decided not to accept a warning from the code breakers and had gone ahead with a plan which they reckoned would end the war.  Glenn Miller was to be part of the propaganda, chosen mainly as he was so well known.  Glenn’s band was to perform a concert in Paris, they had gone ahead of him.   Glenn, had flown to Paris via a different route to that reported using his rightful first name, Alton, which he hated.  He then met Eisenhower at a place Eisenhower owned.  According to Tony the Germans raided this and, although it was believed the main target was Eisenhower, it was Glenn who was shot.  Tony has photos, letters and documents go towards substantiating some of this story.

Helen Miller, had completed a lot of detective work, but strangely suddenly stopped, it was thought that she was bribed with being able to have Glenn’s body to bury to stop her informing the public of more of her findings and discovering more.  There is a family plot where, it is thought, Glenn is buried alongside his wife.

I have posted a photograph of a document taken from the internet, which Tony also has a copy of, showing that Alton G Miller died in a hospital in Ohio.  My copy comes from a site which claims that Glenn, Alton, died from gunshot wounds administered by a jealous husband when he was in Paris.

Herb Miller claimed his brother died of cancer, through smoking.  Certainly when you look at some of the photos Glenn looks as though he’s lost a lot of weight.  He reckoned that Glenn hadn’t wanted this fact known.

Another person claims that a bomb jettisoned from a plane returning home after a raid sent shock waves which bought the plane down.

The exact truth will only be known in 2044, when legal documents concerning this mystery are released.

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The fourth Community Partnered Library of Virginia Water is now open.

The Mayor of Runnymede cutting the ribbon and declaring the community library open

The three volunteers on duty for this day.

Gill Adourian pours a welcomed cup of tea, one of many that were served

Story time with Diana Seaman.

Two young girls enjoying the activies.

Essie Fox and Tessa Harvard Taylor having a friendly chat.

We are OPEN, on Saturday 12 January the Mayor of Runnymede cut the ribbon held by two local authors, Essie Fox and Tessa Harvard Taylor.  We had the local press there to record the event so look out for photos in the Villager and News & Herald. 

we volunteers are fully trained and gathering together a good working team.  Kym Bishop, a volunteer who is a graphic designer, worked on the winning entries from a competition for children from Magna Carta School and St Jude's School to design our logo.  The day was a resounding success with lots of folk signing up to become members; these included the baby sons of two of our Steering Group, Guy and Julie Charrison. The new babies behaved so well, despite all the chatter and laughter going on around them. 

Getting to this point hasn't been the easiest of journeys, for nearly a year we have had stalemate with legal wrangles and council decisions.  Our Steering Group have worked hard making sure everything is correct legally. The Team leaders, led by Tricia Owen, can take the main credit for ensuring we volunteers are fully trained and gathering together a good working team.  Kym Bishop, a volunteer who is a graphic designer, worked on the winning entries from a competition for children from Magna Carta School and St Jude's School to design our logo.   

We have had social gatherings and some of us have had the privilege of being taken behind the scenes of The Surrey History Centre and The Performing Arts Library, both open to the public if you fancy a visit.  

We now look forward to running a welcoming library which will both encourage reading and learning and become even more of a social place for our community.

WICKED



The curtain drop showing the map of The Land of Oz.

 



 



My daughter Katrina and I at the Victoria Apollo.



The Dragon above the stage.

 

The Orchestra Pit



As a Christmas treat for my youngest we went to London to see Wicked, a show she's wished to see for some time.  For those of you who don't know the story it's about the two witches who are in The Wizard of Oz.  It tells of how they came to know each other and came to compete against each other, the story dovetailing into the orginal tale. 

Although it wasn't my choice I did enjoy, it had beautiful costumes and amazing singers and dancers.  In other words a typical London polished performance.

The Christmas Reindeer still in Covent Garden



The London Eye with The Houses of Parliament in the background.



How proud I am to be English and how lucky am I to live near to this great city of ours and be able to enjoy all the delights it has to offer. Not only did we see a show but enjoyed a meal in The Crypt of St Martin's in the Field, coffee stops and teas at various cafes the last one at Trafalgar Square where we sat in a window seat, in the evening, and watch the fountains as their lights changed colour giving us a pretty scene.  We used the buses, which are better for sightseeing.  Pity the weather wasn't warmer as our walk through Admiralty Arch would have taken us further down The Mall.