manroy's blog No 7.

Posted by manroy | 2007-11-25 | Comments: (2) | Hits: 349

Hi Folks.
My apologies to those of you who expected a blog off me last week.
It's been one of those weeks, or one of those "two weeks" to be precise.
The week before last was a big week in the life of our Camera Club. On the Saturday we had the "Stanley Chell" competition. This comp is open to all the Camera Clubs in south wales of which there are 50, and being the Chairman of the organising club, Aberdare Camera Club, it was down to me to sort it out. This entailed accepting 4 prints, mounted on 20 by 16 inch boards off each of the 23 clubs that entered this year. Then numbering each print in the order that the judge was to show them, then making out score sheets to be handed out to the people attending. A venue has to be organised, a buffet laid on and the 92 prints taken to the Judge, who has to be fron outside our federation. Needless to say, I didn't do all this on my own, members of the camera club helped and my greatest help was from my good friend and Vice Chairman Les, who you may know as "davles" on MyShots. Les will be Chairman next year and he will, as he should, expect my help. Have I got news for him!!!
On the Monday, I had to drive 230 miles round trip to deliver the prints to the Judge. You may think, as indeed I would, 230 miles in a day is nothing, but it entailed driving East into a very low winters sun, through villages and towns congested with traffic, and signs that I nor my wife could read because of the sun in our eyes. The return trip was just as bad driving into the very early sunset.
When we got back home there was a message on our answer-phone telling me to contact the local hospital. My kid sister, 71 yrs old, but will always be my kid sister, who had been suffering from cancer had taken a turn for the worse, and a few days later she passed away and was at last out of her pain. Please believe me when I say, I am not looking for sympathy, but having written this paragraph has helped tremendously.
So, the competition went off without a hitch. Les sorted the hall out, while I took the Judge to lunch and explained the virtues of my particular picture. It did no good, Les still scored one more point than me, and Aberdare Camera Club came somewhere about half way out of the 23 clubs, I must add at this point that our club is by far the smallest in the federation, in fact if I tell you that Les and I are among the 3 best workers in the club, it should give you some idea. Anyway, as Les and I always say at times like this, "It's not the winning, it's the taking part" Honest!!!!!!
Ah, heres my lovely wife now with my medication and a mug of cocoa.
Speak to you all next week. Roy.