Above : Bob receives a card to commemorate the 50th time he has told the story about the donkey and the well at flagbreak this year.
Well, what a busy weekend that last one was. Not only the were the usual groups and activities to be looked after, but there was also a top-secret mission to carry out, along with a huge amount of work on site.
Bob, as you might be aware, is having an enforced 'holiday' after having an operation on his dodgy knee - so it's now up to Claire and Stevie along with the volunteer staff to look after things for the next few weeks. Last weekend also happened to be Bob's 50th birthday so secret plans had already been made up to have a surprise party on site on saturday evening. Despite a few problems caused by his appointment being moved forward by a week (meaning he wouldn't be around on site on his birthday), things were swiftly sorted out on saturday morning. Most of the staff headed outside (despite the horrendous weather) to continue moving the mountain of tyres from the old quad track and carry out a few more pre-winter jobs including dismantling the gazebo on top of the new stage. Meanwhile Chef Ramsay (aka Ginga) and a small but talented team of cooks were busy buying and preparing food for the party.
Above : Trying to hoopla Calum
Above : Stevie practising his fancy dancing before the party.
Above : Auditioning for a part in Still Game.
Everything ready, all that remained to be done was to come up with a cunning ruse to lure Bob out of his house (where he was sitting watching 'Zulu' for the umpteenth time that day) and up to the conference room where everyone else was waiting. A quick phonecall from Claire informing him that there was a water leak in the conference room roof did the trick surprisingly easily, and he was driven round by Morag to see what the problem was. Despite the Scout rule that 'A Scout is to be trusted', it was soon revealed that Claire hadn't been telling the truth at all and instead of finding water gushing from the roof there was instead a rabble of hungry staff members waiting for him to arrive so that they could get on with the buffet.
Above : Bob's old shrapnel wound from the Boer war starts to play up.
After a great/embarrassing slideshow featuring old photos of Mr Bob, it was time to open his presents which included...a huge framed photo, a hat and pipe, a Leatherman multitool (so that he doesn't have to keep borrowing Ali's) and lots of Tiso vouchers (so that he can buy another Leatherman when he loses the first one). A fun night was had by all with a great attendance from staff - and a good rehearsal for the Christmas night out which is not too far away at all.
This weekend's again a really busy one - both GNAS archery course and First Aid course running as well as a few groups - more news about them soon.
