2011-06-25 PBC Winter Bash

I think I'll start off by saying that this event can also be known as: "The most successful event which was not organised as far in advance as it could have been".

The only reason we have not actually named it as such...is because it doesn't fit on a badge that easily! :-)

Anyway...Got there early to find Shambles preparing for the selling of Curry & Rice and Jaffles.

Ever since this jol, Duncan (my son) always wants to know whether Shambles will be making Jaffles before he decides whether he'll go along, or not. Generally, if there aren't going to be Shambles Jaffles, he'll think hard and long before he decides to go along.

The venue chosen for the event was the Flying Dutchman Pub, also known as the place where the PBC Meetings were held...Until it got closed down for some unknown reason towards the end of the year.

Anyway...The fellowship was great, the sunshine was even nicer and the games were even more fun to be had on the day.

The entire parking lot, at the front of the pub, was reserved for bikes. The area at the back of the bar was the place where the fellowship, entertainment and the fun and games would be held.

The Bar itself was, of course, a nice "in-between" area where people could find the necessary refreshments while moving between the parking lot and the entertainment arena.

The visiting in the entertainment area was occasionally interrupted by "Skin and Bone", the band. The interruption was tolerable, however, seeing as it was quite...uhmmmm...interesting to watch Skin and Bone on stage.

For one thing, it was quite evident that the band's name is a very accurate description of most of the band members. The lead singer/rythm guitarist/harmonica player/bad dancer probably weighs around 35kg, as does the drummer. The Bass guitarist weighed more than both of them together, so he looked quite normal in the end.

But they could entertain! They played quite well and they played a mixture of songs that were right up most biker's alley.

The lead singer's grandson was also something worth watching, because he was running around with a small guitar and pulling all kinds of AC/DC moves, like jumping off the stage and doing the Angus Young duckwalk, amongst others.

There were other interruptions to the fellowship, but these interruptions were more physical in nature, like tyre throwing and tug-of-war. 

The tug-of-war left some of the older generation a "little" tired, but they enjoyed themselves nonetheless.

The crowd from Cougars won in the end, but as you can see from the pic on the left, there was dogged resistance from some of the other teams.

Tyre throw was an interesting challenge, seeing as it was held on an incline on what used to be the shooting range wall and there was not a lot of room to move after the throw.

If you lost your balance after the throw, you may just end up sliding down and lying with the tyre at the bottom of the wall.

Prize-giving turned out to be a bit of a challenge with numbers apparently being duplicated and so on, but everything seemed to be sorted out in the end. I may even say it was amicable, but then I don't know how to spell the word!

Thanks to all those that got involved in the day and sponsored prizes, there were nearly enough prizes for everyone who stayed for the prize-giving! CMA Brooklyn sold raffle tickets for a couple of months and the winning ticket was drawn at this bash and Bongani (ex-Emperors) "walked" away with a lazy loader style trailer.

In the end, however nice the prizes and how ever many prizes there may have been, everyone at the jol had a great time and rumour has it that a lot of people are looking forward to winter with the PBC again this year.