It was our final Members’ Evening before 2024’s Rowell Fair and tonight’s annual event was arranged for our Showmen and their families together with our RFS Members.

As last year, the evening was well-supported with just under 60 people eager to test their ‘film bingo skills’ and also try their luck with the RFS raffle.

With Committee members assigned their duties – Frank York (Bailiff) on raffle ticket sales; Paul Cottell and Lloyd Mills manning the ‘sales desk’; Volunteer, Val Messinger handling membership renewals and new sign-ups; Paul Johnson (President) and Sue Johnson (Secretary) as our MCs, it looked to be a busy and fun evening from the start!

Equalling the anticipation of the evening ahead was the arrival of this year’s RFS limited edition t-shirts – their navy-blue colour contrasted by the slogan: “It’s Only Proc ‘n’ Rowell, But I like it” across the front and complemented by the RFS logo on the back. To say they ‘sold like hot cakes’ would be a massive understatement, with the XXL size the first to sell out! Alongside the t-shirts were the new RFS tote bags which also sold well.

After a slightly later start, with t-shirts, bags and raffle tickets put to one side for later scrutiny, just before 8.15pm the evening’s events began. It was a convivial atmosphere from the start and we somehow knew the evening would go well.

Our President, Paul Johnson, formally introduced Showmen’s Night, welcoming everyone and thanking them for coming. He then handed over to Sue Johnson (RFS Secretary) to explain how the evening would unfold, including ‘Film Bingo’, ‘Guess the Year’, ‘Life Membership Awards’, and finally, the ‘Raffle Draw’.

Eyes down! Trialled last year, and based on the feedback received by the RFS, Sue explained that we would be again using archive footage of past Fairs to play Film Bingo! This involved spotting specific scenes in the films and marking their ‘bingo card’ accordingly. It sounded weird, but it was to work well!

Film Bingo (Parts 1 & 2)

After everyone was suitably watered following a quick trip to the Bar, it was ‘eyes down’ for the first (of three) trips down memory lane…

The first film in this two-parter was from the 60s, and aside from the anticipation of winning, it was good to be reliving the sights and sounds of ‘Fairs past’.

The second part was also from the 60s -1967 to be precise – and it was clear that the numerous scenes had brought back plenty of memories, with our audience often spotting younger versions of fellow Rowellians! All-in-all, great fun!

Thirty minutes later and we heard the familiar shout of ‘House!’ In fact, a few lucky people called it in quick succession, and it was down to Linda Holland to draw the winner. ‘Andrew C’ claimed his prize and with the echoes of Fairs of yesteryear still reverberating around the room, Sue J announced a short break for another visit to the Bar (plus other essential activities) whilst the Committee cued up the next challenge.

Guess the Year

After the break, it was ‘Guess the Year’. Our thanks go to Rothwell Arts & Heritage Centre for the loan of the original vinyl record, featuring a past Proclamation. After some grappling with the record-player technology, the familiar(ish) words of the King James’ Proclamation echoed around the room.

It was a tough one! The voice sounded very familiar, but then again, somehow different! The big question was: WHEN was this first heard? With answers scribbled on a single sheet of paper, they were collected in and checked by the Committee. To give us time to check everyone’s answers, Sue Johnson announced that the answer would be revealed later in the evening.

Lifetime Membership Awards

Time to hand back proceedings to Frank York, our Bailiff, who explained the workings of the Lifetime Memberships Awards.

This year’s award was given to Clifford Clarke, who has been part of Rowell Fair for many years. Unfortunately, Clifford wasn’t able to join us tonight, but happily, his award was received on his behalf by Johnny and Margaret Woods – his brother and sister-in-law. Congratulations Clifford!

At just before 9.30pm, and after a healthy round of applause for Clifford, it was back to our final film of the evening.

Film Bingo (Part 3)

This time, we left the 60s behind, arriving in 1998.

This 30-minute film had been professionally edited where it explained the history of the Fair in some great detail, including interviewing Rowellians, young and old, about their recollections. The film even featured our President extolling the virtues of the Fair – and sporting a nifty ‘tache!

At just before 10pm, the call of ‘House’ was heard once again around Tresham Hall – in fact, we had four calls almost simultaneously. Paul Johnson, our President, stepped-in, after putting all the names in one of the new RFS tote bags and drawing an answer sheet at random.

Lucky Jane Gowen’s was duly declared the winner.

Sue then announced the results of the ‘Guess the Year’ quiz from earlier. The year turned out to be… 1949… and as a bonus, Sue asked who the Bailiff was that we’d heard. After some serious head-scratching around the room, Sue revealed it was… Reg(inald) Hall who had been Bailiff from 1922 to 1957 – an amazing length of service! Again, there were more than one of our guests with the correct answer, and on this occasion, rather than pop the names in a hat, we declared Linda Marsh and Neil Chambers as joint winners. Well done both, that was a challenging, but an enjoyable stimulation of the ‘little grey cells’!

The Raffle

The raffle sales had gone well, and now it was time to share the prizes. With over a dozen on offer, Frank cranked up the technology to display the winning numbers.

At just after 10.15pm, with all the prizes duly claimed, it was all over, and with Members clutching their winnings, Frank concluded the evening with a few words. He thanked everyone for coming along and encouraged us all to make this year’s Fair ‘the best ever’ and was looking forward to ‘seeing as many of us as possible’.

It had been a very enjoyable occasion. Everyone felt that this year’s Showmen’s Night had a great atmosphere and watching films of previous Fairs had again, been well received.

Now all we had to do was clear up! See you at the Fair!

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