| Awards Evening 2008 |
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Another successful year for 1st Haslington as we did our 34th Awards Evening which we hold every year. Again, like last year, there was a lot to get through and I think the parents, boys and leaders would agree with me that it was an enjoyable night with a variety of presentations and displays to keep the night running for a good two hours.
The night started off with inspection by Captain Rob Welch and the Guest of Honour, Reverand David Westhead, who was attending the Awards Evening for the final time before retiring as Reverand. All the boys were smartly dressed and were on top form for inspection.
After Inspection, the annual Drill Display was next and despite not knowing the routine two weeks previous, the lads put on a great performance with very few mistakes made and a termendous effort by all the boys on the night getting it right even though all were not 100% comfortable with the routine. Practicing the display in the little time we had just showed that all the boys were commited to getting this display right and to get it looking good even in stressed time limit. For the amount of time we did it in, it was a great performance and well done to all the Company Section who took part in it. Also thank you to John Quigley who put it all together and helped us to get it right.
Next up, the Junior Section took to the stage with a play based on the story, 'Who is my Neighbour?'. The Play was read out by Ryan Mellor and Dominic Mellor with most of the Junior Section taking part in it and even appearances by David Westhead, Rob Welch and Wendy.
Next up was the BB Quiz 2008, which was the part of the Awards Evening when the events of the BB year were shared with the audience in the form of a quiz where it was a battle of the Company Section against the Junior Section. Due to being a last minute event, the Quiz didn't go as well as last year's but still did test the knowledge of the boys about what they knew on fine details of the BB year. More laughs came from the audience due to mistakes by Ryan Mellor and Ian Parrish but overall good questions from the Quiz and with a bit more practice could of gone on to be a successful event. Apologies personally from me.
The Final display of the night was the Bahamas Presentation by the Five Seniors who went on the trip. This was the part that most were waiting to see. The Presentation began with a DVD put together by Ryan Mellor that included photos of the trip and very moving music by Icelandic Rock Band, Sigur Rós called Hoppipolla that gave the audience a real insight into the fun that was had on the trip and some of the things that we got up to. This was of course followed by a Presentation put together by Phil Wright that explained in a lot more detail about what the trip was about, what we achieved on the trip and accounts of each day read out by each of the seniors. With humour included, we really felt we got our message across that we managed to achieve what we set out to achieve and at the same time we managed to show the good time everyone had and John's significent amount of sleeping.
Then straight after, we had the awards presentation. Again we had a range of winners and this year saw a new winner of the Company Section Attendance Award after Joe Dixon winning it for the last four years. This year also saw a new award in memory of Stuart Balfour who unfortunately lost his battle to Leukaemia in September 2007. Of course though nobody left empty handed as each boy was awarded with badges and levels as part of their progression through the BB. There was even a promotion for Ryan Mellor as a Lance Corporal.
Junior Section Awards
Best Boy - Anthony Winnett
Attendence - Lewis Smith / Anthony Winnett
Jeanette Leigh Trophy - James Morris
Best Squad - Jordan / Anthony / James / Ben C
Company Section Awards
Attendance - Dominic Mellor
Dedication - Ryan Mellor
Leadership - Joe Dixon
The Stuart Balfour Most helpful Young Person Award - Simon Wright
Well Done Lads for an excellent evening and congratulations to all Boys who won awards and took part in the Displays on the night.
Ryan Mellor