Watton Family Show

By Tim Thompson

People say to members of the East Coast Truckers' Charity, "We think the work you all do is excellent." To this we usually reply, "When we see the children's faces, that makes it all worthwhile".

But it's not always the children that have all the fun. So do the members. Take the Watton Family Show for instance. A group of us decided to travel over to Watton on the Sunday, after our monthly club meeting. Once there, we set up the marquees and got the barbecue ready, and so on, and so forth. Well, we worked steady until about 9.00 pm and then we decided that we had done enough. It was then that we set up our own little BBQ and proceeded to cook ourselves something to eat. Needless to say this was going to be washed down with a few drinks. Honest, just a few. The weather was pretty good and so we thought it would be a good idea if we put our food and drinks into Andy Tait's fridge, which he had kindly let us borrow for the weekend. Well there is always the one person that knows all there is to know about everything. This person, who will remain nameless, decided to set the fridge unit to the "correct" setting. After about an hour we were ready for a few more beers. On retrieving them from the trailer we were horrified to find that everything was frozen solid, including the milk and the lemonade. They were the biggest iced-lollies I had ever seen. That's just one of the events that had us all laughing that evening.

I would just like to thank a gentleman who has only recently become a member of the ECTC. He had come along, with his works pick-up truck to help us with anything, which might need to be done. He also brought along not only a generator, but a whole load of lights as well.

So our little picnic was lit up like a Christmas tree. This man's name is Mike Gaffer. On the morning of the show, thanks to David and Barbara Land, we started the day with the biggest breakfast you can imagine. Many thanks to you both.

We were a bit apprehensive about the weather, as we had been rained off the year before. But we needn't have worried, because the weather was kind to us. All the children that came along and had rides in the lorries really enjoyed themselves. Many thanks are due to all the drivers, and their companies, who allow us to use of their vehicles.

Many thanks also to the drivers who helped with the self-drive articulated vehicles. I know from past experience that it is fun to watch peoples faces when they find out just how easy it is to drive one of today's large HGVs. But it can be a little bit frightening as well.

All in all, we all had a great couple of great days, raising much needed funds so we can continue to give disabled and disadvantaged children of Norfolk & North Suffolk the fun days which the East Coast Truckers' Charity are so good at.

This year, I am sad to say, was the last Watton Family Show. This is a great blow for us, as the event usually brings in over £1000.

We would all just like to say, a very big thank you to the organisers of this special show, and we are sorry that you had to give it up due to administration costs, we wish you all well for the future.

The event coordinator for this event was to be Mr. Peter Longman, but due to ill health he had to step down, and so I stood in and did the best I could.

I hope Peter gets better soon.

Tim Thompson