'SADCASE PIT STOP PARTY'

YES IT'S BEEN AND GONE AND WHAT A GREAT NIGHT IT WAS.

On Saturday 21st of January 2012 Sadcase held the second SADCASE PIT STOP PARTY. This years venue was the Avisford Hilton near Arundel and what a good choice it was. The main organisers of the event where Chrissie and Jamie Brown and of course Mr. involved himself Meredith Hutchins along with a bit of help from others and they done a sterling job. Some chose to make their way the the venue themselves but the wise choice I think was to get the old 35 seater Bristol coach (supplied by member Nick Pope) from Storrington and back again enabling everyone on board to forget about drinking and driving and have a few Bucks Fizz on the way. The party room looked fantastic on arrival with the tables laid out with a black and white theme and a fantastic Jaguar Mk2 3.4 on display. The party got under way with some amazing outfits on display. See incriminating pictures below. The Christmas menu food (turkey) was very tasty, hot and plentiful and the drinks seemed to flow nicely all night. After dinner our guest speaker Steve from the Sahara Force India formula one team gave a great talk on some of the complexities of running a modern F1 team. Apparently it was the first time he had done such a presentation but you would never have guessed it. He brought some F1 car bits as props and allowed everyone to have a good look at them afterwards. Steve will get details for the club of a guided tour around the Force India factory at Silverstone later this year. He also assures me that the Sadcase window sticker I gave him will go in one of their F1 cars this year at a GP. Steve also donated a signed F1 team shirt that we auctioned for charity and raised £100. This was followed by our very own Sadcase Jamie Cripps and his Jive dancing friends who gave the most fantastic demonstration of jive and jazz dancing and then encouraged the crowd on to the floor for an informal dance lesson. Judging by the applause and the packed dance floor I think its safe to say that it was enjoyed by all. After the cabaret the DJ continued with the 60's dance theme and kept the dance floor busy until 1am. Some had rooms booked and others back on to the coach for the ride back to Storrington. Our Guest of Honour was Arundel MP Nick Herbert who enjoyed the evening and presented the Sadcase of the Year Award to Meredith Hutchins for all the hard work he does for the club. The bottle raffle was a great success with about 20 bottles of booze donated (never did find out who donated the sanatogen) plus a Tassimo coffee machine from member Robert Carter (Carters domestic appliances plug, plug) and a fuel can from Richard at Storrington Car Parts. The raffle raised £320 in total and we split it 50/50 between the first ticket drawn out favourite charity and Nick Herberts chosen charity. So St. Barnabas and The Mary How Trust will each receive £160. Finally the fancy dress theme was well supported and the DJ chose the best dressed couple Mike and Jean who happen to own the Fancy Dress Emporium in Worthing.

A great evening was had by all as several e-mails since have confirmed.