Ken Batstone, who once again organised the lunch (thank you Ken), reports on a happy occasion….
On Wednesday 14th December 2016, the Association's 14th Christmas Lunch was held as usual in the YMCA Hawker Centre. Forty five Members and guests attended, which was slightly down on the fifty of 2015. The meal was excellent; all three courses being of high quality and large quantity. In fact, quite a few gentlemen were unable to clear their plates! The general consensus afterwards was that the Lunch had been one of the best, if not the best, to date. This news was later passed on to the YMCA Staff with our thanks and appreciation, along with a suitable gratuity.Ambrose noted that this would be his last Christmas Lunch as Chairman; next year there would be a new hand on the gavel.
Sir Colin then rose saying that his speech would also be short (polite applause again) and he would like to talk about Kingston, its people, their achievements and the projects he became involved in. He said how proud we should all be of the record of this small facility at Kingston which, together with Dunsfold, had done so much to help the town and its people, the country by its products and exports and the big part it had played in the defence of the realm.The Harrier and Hawk were world class and will continue in service and production for years to come. He finished by saying it had been a pleasure to work at Kingston with all the people there, represented by those present at the lunch.
The afternoon concluded with the now traditional Christmas raffle, accompanied by coffee and mince pies. It was observed that this was the third consecutive year that the weather had been warm and sunny. It must be true then that "the sun shines on the righteous". A fine thought to end on.