Page 17 - November December 2006

Kegworth Super Chief Report
Nobby Clarke
The convention really started on Thursday night with just over 30 members staying, among them SPV, LSWR, and Mac’s Models, so we got a good start on setting up. I do not think any other hotel would allow us to start set­up on Thursday afternoon; mind you, that’s one of the many reasons Kegworth is such a good hotel for us to use.
By midday Friday nearly all of the 15 layouts were up and running, from the Poole group’s large N­Trak modular right down to the smaller layouts like John Cox’s N scale ‘Tanasket’.
John Hey and myself planned to have at least one trader and at least two layouts in each of the smaller rooms, which on the whole we managed to do, and in the larger rooms we would have a couple of traders and in some cases a couple of the larger layouts. There was still plenty of room for everyone to walk about freely. Tony Dunbar kindly took charge of the bring & buy room, which had over 40 tables; Tony had a third of them sold by Friday afternoon. I have never seen so much second­hand stock in one place – talk about credit card burnout!
We tried something new for Friday night’s dinner; instead of two sittings we had an open door policy, so you could take your place any time from 7 pm until 8.50 pm. I think it worked well. At 9.30 we held the annual AGM which was well attended and, as normal, lively (read the full minutes in RH and the region’s website).
Also, two lucky members went away with a new loco to play with. In hindsight I would suggest the AGM is held on the Saturday afternoon so that more members can attend, and a larger room could be used. The ladies had a night of pampering planned by Carol Webb, with some of the ladies even enjoying a facial and macaques. Who said this is just about trains.
We woke to a bright and sunny Saturday; so after a nice breakfast we got ready for what we hoped would be the busiest day of the weekend. It’s always a worry to any convention team that the weekend won’t go as planned. To say we were more than happy with the way things went is an understatement. I mean none of us could have foreseen all the raffle tickets being sold by 12.10 pm on the Saturday. That’s four books in two and a half hours; even the Penguin brought a couple.
Then John Firth had to go and print off more day tickets. We were fast running out because of the sheer number of people coming through the door. We took the decision early on to allow non­ members to come to this convention, which paid us back big time as we signed up 15 new members. This takes the total membership of the Region to over 700 for the first time in a very long time; let’s hope we continue to grow.
The clinics started off at 10 am with a Q&A by Ted Smale on DCC, followed by four more throughout the day, finishing off with the verypopularbackscenepaintingwithTomWinlow;notforgetting the non­rail clinics run by Susan Wynne on both days, where you could make a beautiful personalised Christmas or birthday card. The bus trip got off on time at 10 am going to Denby Pottery, which was planned to return by 4 pm.
One thing that did strike me halfway through Saturday was that, even with the large numbers coming through the doors, the convention at no time seemed overcrowded. By the time we held the raffle at 4.30 pm we had well over 50 good prizes, so it took about half an hour to get through them all. On offer were such things as a large colour TV as first prize and a fantastic weekend for two at the hotel worth over £250. We would like to thank all the dealers and the hotel for donating such great prizes.
The modelling competition awards took place right after the raffle (again see full report). With the competition now closed for the day it was time to have a rest, and put our feet up before the banquet in the evening. Just before the banquet I am proud to have taken part, along with several past Presidents, in a group photo which was to honour Steve Park for over 30 years of service to the British region and the NMRA.
Chris Hobbs started the banquet off by thanking everyone involved with the running of the region, and I was very honoured when Chris awarded me the President’s Golden Spike award for service to the region.
We had a very nice four­course meal, with Steve Park finishing the evening off with the Achievement Program awards being handed out to a bigger than normal number of members. Sunday started off with much more of a lazy feel to it, maybe because of the extra hour in bed. We had a couple of clinics planned for the morning and there was plenty of last­minute buying of those must­have items taking place. The convention started to break up for yet another year just after 1 pm, with nearly everyone on their way home by 3 pm. So on to Ipswich in 2007.
I must thank my co­organiser John Hey, who did a great job on layouts and gave us a great selection to look at, and without whom I would been lost. I must also say a big thank you to John Firth, Registrar, and Carol Webb, Treasurer and Non Rail, who both worked tirelessly.
And everyone else who helped in any way to make sure everyone had a good time. Thank you, everyone.
PS We are pleased to have presented the Manager, Heather, with
a large bouquet of flowers, and £200 for all the staff, as a small thank you for all their hard work.
Kegworth SuperChief 2006 Non Rail Section
I would like to say how pleased I was to see so many family members attending the convention this year. There was a day trip to Denby, a facial session, information to enable group local walks, and card­making clinics; each was successful and sup­ ported well, but unfortunately the attendance of these was very minimal by comparison to the numbers attending the convention. Please let the convention organising committees and myself know what you would like to see; we are doing this for you and we want to ensure you have a fun weekend. Several years ago we put out a questionnaire of what was wanted, and now some things are happening; however, the membership has changed, and therefore the requirements of the family members may well have changed, so please let me know and I can do my best to make the upcoming Ipswich and the following Kegworth conventions enjoyable in a way you want.
NMRA Convention “Super Chief” 2006 at Kegworth
Marietta Menzies and Sue Collins
Whilst the gentlemen were dealing with the formalities of the AGM, some of the women were having a really interesting session on “Forever Living Products” given by Gill Heatherington.
These products all contain pure, organic “Aloe Vera” which is a plant with miraculous properties for nourishing and healing the skin. There is also a toothpaste, deodorant and even a drink that, taken daily, keeps you healthy on the inside!
Eileen Cross enjoyed being the “guinea pig” by having a facial to demonstrate the products, and she reported the next day that her skin did feel particularly soft. All the ladies that attended enjoyed sampling the products, but it was a pity more people didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to learn about and try out the creams etc and maybe get to know someone they hadn’t met before.
Thanks to Carol Webb for organising this Friday evening session and also the wonderful card-making workshops on Saturday and Sunday, brilliantly run by Sue Wynne, that kept us enthralled for hours! Sue has the good humour and patience of a saint!
Thank you. Carol Webb, Non Rail Co-ordinator
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