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The auditorium was decked out to celebrate Christmas and Ridgie Didge, our backing band, set the scene for our end-of-year party with a special opening featuring musical director Brian Ridge on keyboards, Alan Ford on guitar, George Siedelecki on bass, Nick O’Neill on pedal steel and Darryl Hennessy on drums. Brian kicked it off with San Antonio Rose, Alan did a couple of Slim specials, George did Six Days and Good-Hearted Woman and everyone, including Peter Eliot, sang verses of The Pub With No Beer, with compere Geoff Williams adding verses from the Answer and the Sequel. This great show was underway – thanks fellas!

Rosalie Mackay took over for her line-dance lesson with a terrific response from all the line-dancers. This segment included Baby NIMBY. There was a lot of dancing during the afternoon, both during the breaks and while the artists were performing. It isn’t easy working out quickly which dance will fit to a particular song, but Rosalie does this well.

The dancers were excited to keep their dancing going when Carl Sullivan got up for his turn. Carl’s songs included Hal Ketchum’s Small Town Saturday Night, Travis Tritt’s Country Club, Zac Brown’s Toes, Elvis’s Follow That Dream and for the party, he concluded the set with Jingle Bell Rock. Another beaut performance from the ever-reliable Carl.

Next we enjoyed a “Happy/Sad” occasion as Hank Mitchell had decided to retire from performing and selected Belrose CMC to say goodbye and hang up his guitar. It was an honour for us and sad too, but Hank made it a happy time as he sang better than ever. We did enjoy his versions of I Don’t Remember Loving You, What Are We Gonna Do About Me?, Paradise, Ave Maria Morales, Do You Believe Me Now, with an appropriate finish, Christmas In Dixie, all favourites of Hank, for his very enjoyable swansong. Well done Hank, thanks for all the great memories and good luck!

It was time for a “Christmas at Belrose” segment. Geoff began it with a specially-requested encore of How Great Thou Art as promised. He was ably assisted by Peter Eliot’s harmonies and Brian’s special organ solo, and everyone joined in. Then as Geoff sang Aussie Jingle Bells we were visited by Father Christmas who did the rounds and handed out cheer. We are most grateful for Bob Gray who arranged for his special mate, Santa, to join us. Then the most scrumptious Christmas cake, prepared by Terie Gray, was wheeled out for Santa and our Patron, Ian B. McLeod to cut and wish one and all a “Merry Christmas”. Mick Gallagher, looking for all the world like one of Santa’s helpers, sang Santa Never Made It Into Darwin and delighted the children present with Six White Boomers.

Then, for their first time at Belrose, The Harrisons, Kaylee and Glen, showed us what an outstanding brother-and-sister duo they are. Kaylee’s fine vocals, supported by the close harmony and solos of Glen, as well as his virtuoso guitar picking, are a class act who will go on to great things in country music. With a very attractive stage presence and a superb sound, The Harrisons presented a set of contemporary country that held the crowd from the start. Their songs included Famous In A Small Town, Breakdown Here, Taylor Swift’s Love Story and the Dixie Chicks’ Somedays You Gotta Dance. After a terrific rendition of Kasey Chambers’and Shane Nicholson’s Monkey On A Wire, they had such a strong call from the audience for more, they obliged with Lookin’ For A Good Time by Lady Antebellum. Glen’s guitar leads combined well with the band to make this well-anticipated duo a very memorable performance.

Everyone was enjoying the afterglow of The Harrisons when Craig Morrison Little Cowboys arrived on the scene, opening with their version of the ever-popular King Of The Road. We immediately warmed to Craig (lead vocals and guitar), Terry Mandryk (harmonies and rhythm), Greg Peters (bass and vocals) and Rory Mackenzie (drums). Their songs included Heaven Knows, Miss You, Whiskey, Beyond Control, Losin’ It and Turn Back. Everyone loved their lively presentation of Ball And Chain. These blokes really rocked and we could have enjoyed them all day and night – what a great group, certainly destined for the heights in country music. WOW!!!

And how do you follow an act like that?! Well, we had the answer in our patron, the inimitable Ian B. McLeod, whose professionalism always helps him to stand out, right from his first clear vocal notes and his amazing guitar work. Ian mixed his own classics like the ever-popular Rose Marie and Love Song Of The Waterfall with other country standards like Behind Closed Doors and Blue Moon Of Kentucky. Ian concluded his performance with the very appropriate White Christmas, with Geoff Williams doing his Bing Crosby impression. Ian is always keen to do his best to support BCMC and never fails to thrill our crowds. We are very fortunate to have such a club patron, Thanks Ian.

Probably the best finale for some time suddenly exploded to finish the show. Everyone who had been part of the concert joined in and did their respective solos after a personalised intro by MC Geoff. Despite some real standouts by the stars, the drummers stole the show again!! Yes, the two drummers, Rory and our very own Darryl did their solo together!! “Is this possible?” you may well ask! Well, yes they did it together, at the same time, simultaneously, in sync!! Truly! Great finish, great show – thanks to all, Merry Christmas, and good night.

Many thanks again to all who helped make it another beaut day.
Thanks to all concerned – what fun it was!! Thanks heaps!!!

COMING UP IN FUTURE SHOWS

(SUBJECT TO CHANGE – CHECK THE WEBSITE)

FEBRUARY 28, 2010

MARGIE-MAY HOCKEY

THE WANTIN'

JOHN LOVERIDGE

PETER ELIOT

ZOE ELIOTT

TREVOR HOUSLEY

CARL SULLIVAN

MARCH 28, 2010

MERILYN STEELE

LESTER V. COOMBS

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

SEE YOU ALL AGAIN IN FEBRUARY

THE SIDE SHOW

Congratulations to Margaret Brown who won our special raffle prize of a stay at Jenolan Caves. We hope you have a very happy time. Thanks to Ian McLeod for drawing the first prize and to Carolynne Pitt for arranging it. We also had a CD donated by each of the performers in the show and we are most grateful for their generosity. All the CD’s were eagerly sought-after and we had some very happy winners. Thanks to all who supported this special Christmas Party raffle.

The Christmas atmosphere was very much in evidence with the decorations and refreshments, and everyone jumped in with a great effort in the clobber stakes. There was so much green and red, it looked like a Rabbitoh’s convention. Congratulations to everyone who wore their Christmas hats, sparkles, shirts, badges and streamers. It looked wonderful and was good fun – good on you. As it was so good we would need pages to mention everyone who took part but it was hard to miss Danny whose tangerine shirt with the shiny stars was something else, but it was his matching white hat and boots that really took the cake.

Speaking of cakes – wasn’t ours delicious!? Contrary to all the stories Terie didn’t cook it but she did buy it at Woolies in Mona Vale, so if you want more, you know where to go.

Santa did his job well, but he wasn’t there for long. He’s very busy at this time of year, you know, and his very good friend, Bob Gray, said the boomers whisked him away as soon as Santa had left the building.

Hank Mitchell decided to call it a day at Belrose because he loves playing here. He said he’s retiring not because he feels too old, but he hasn’t been very well of late, with his emphysema causing him serious breathing problems. We will certainly see Hank around at our shows next year.

Craig Morrison not only had those big Little Cowboys with him, his wife was there with their six-week-old son, Ashton, in her arms as she sang along. We’d love to have little Ashton’s grandfather along to Belrose – it would be a really Lucky Starr for all of us. Craig and the boys have lots of gigs at Tamworth, as you’d expect, including Wests Leagues. The Harrisons are also booked for some night performances there too.

BCMC will have several other reps at Tamworth including Trevor Housley outside Ridgie Didge Bakery, Bryen Willems Honky Tonk at the Family Hotel, Alan Tomkins and Gary Brown at the Tomkins Showcase in Blazes auditorium (Wests) and Geoff Williams at the Hands of Fame Park and LBS Studios. We will also be performing at the Christmas Carols in Lionel Watts Oval (8pm, Dec 23) and at Forestville on Australia Day (8am).

Geoff had copies of his son’s recently-released album at this show. It was produced by Gary Brown and is entitled Paul Scott-Williams – “Son of a Singer”. It has a mix of originals and some country standards. You can obtain a copy from Geoff and you won’t be disappointed.

Everyone was pleased to hear that the beloved camera of regular audience member, Keith Higgins, and which went missing during the concert, was found after the show was over. Keith is smiling again after being reunited with his orange picture-taker. Good news!

There was a good mix of regulars and newcomers in the big crowd at this show. The newcomers made a point of saying how much they enjoyed the day and will definitely come again. The children there enjoyed it too, especially Santa and the lollies.

It’s congratulations to our local MP, Mr Tony Abbott, who was elected Leader of the Opposition in Federal Parliament before Christmas. In the big opening show of BCMC in 2000, Mr Abbott was present and actually sang and played the lagerphone with Geoff Williams as they performed together, Home Among The Gum Trees. Who knows, one day we might even be able to say the Prime Minister has sung at Belrose!

There were several enquiries for membership of our club. It’s very easy really: 1. just join Belrose Bowling Club ($10 social member); 2.see BCMC secretary for a name badge. Both BBC and BCMC need you!

We aThe Bowling Club is always happy to see good crowds at our shows which they generously support with the venue, equipment, vouchers for the artists and a close link with our committee. The BCMC is a sub-club of the Bowling Club and a prerequisite of BCMC membership is membership of the Bowlo – so join up folks! They need you, and we need them!

BCMC receives brochures, news and details of other country music clubs, like Bathurst, Central and South Coast, Macarthur – it’s good to see how they operate. Both the Parkes and Canberra CM Associations are conducting big festivals in October. For details and information, talk to Geoff.

To be a proud member of our Belrose Country Music Club, all you have to do is join the Bowling Club who still support BCMC in many greatly-appreciated ways, then if you want a name badge, see our secretary Barbara Dunstan. Barbara prints this newsletter which is available at each show for a gold coin donation to cancer research. Thank you for your support.

If you know any prospective performers, please refer them to Geoff Williams who arranges the concert each month. There are some vacancies later in the year.

We also appreciate any comments you might have, or ideas to enhance and improve the shows or keep up audience numbers. You can hear our concerts promoted on the following radio stations:

Jenni Vee on 2RRR (Ryde)
Barbara Morrison 2SERFM (Sat 5-8am)
Today’s Country 94.1FM
Saturday Night Country ABC (10pm-2am Saturdays)
Radio Northern Beaches (see story above)

The concerts are also in the Diary of the Manly Daily and sometimes an article as well. Plus, the details are always posted on the noticeboard of the Bowling Club.

HELP PLEASE. Before each show can go ahead, the auditorium, stage and P.A. system have to be set up. If you are able to help with this, it would be greatly appreciated and shouldn’t take a few volunteers very much time. Please let Geoff or John Clement know if you can help. Thanks members.

SSSSHHHH. It’s great to have such a happy atmosphere at our shows, but sometimes people like to sit and just listen to the music. Loud talking is a worry and if you really need to have a conversation, please consider others and move outside or somewhere that doesn’t stop others from enjoying the show. It’s discourteous to the performers who all do their best without any payment. Many thanks.

If you need to check out when our shows are on, here’s a list for you to look for. The programme is on our website at belrosecountrymusicclub.org.au, and is also on the noticeboard at the Bowling Club. Various media outlets also give us good coverage. These include:

Radio Northern Beaches 88.7 and 90.3FM (11am Saturdays with Geoff Williams and 4pm Sunday with Des Simmonds)
2SER 107.3FM (Barbara Morrison Saturdays 7am)
ABC Saturday Night Radio with John Nutting 10pm to 1am
Manly Daily – in The Diary the Saturday before each concert
Ring the Bowlo or one of our committee.

It’s always the LAST Sunday of the month from 2pm to 6pm.

Gentle reminders (once again):

* Thanks for thinking of others in the audience who want to listen to the performers. If you need to talk, please keep it low or move to somewhere that won’t spoil the enjoyment of others.

* The club’s policy is not to reserve tables in advance. If you get there early, please leave a bag or jacket on your table, not just a coaster with ‘reserved’ scribbled on it, if you go to the restaurant or pokies, etc until the show starts.

* Please sign in at the door if you are not a member and members should ensure that all your guests do so too. Membership application forms are always available at the front desk, so if you come regularly, join up – it’s only $5.50.

* For the sake of all concerned, it is important that we keep up the good crowds. If you can bring others to enjoy the afternoon, everyone stands to gain.

HOW IS THE RAFFLE MONEY USED?

Good question, and we have a good answer: Sponsorship of artists.

The Belrose Country Music Club aims to foster talent as well as enjoy country music and helping artists attend music festivals and travel to perform is one way to promote their performance expertise.

Two applications for sponsorship were received by the committee in August and September: Dean Johnston asked if BCMC could help with some expenses for his tour of Western Australia next February and Geoff Williams sought part-sponsorship of his trip to compete in the Parkes Music Festival. Each of these artists has been awarded the sum of $300.00.

In the past the BCMC has provided similar amounts to John Loveridge (twice) to offset some costs of his participation in country music festivals and to Danielle Blakey for her tour to Europe with the Australian jazz band. We agonized over this one because it wasn’t strictly country, but we felt her talent was so great that any help we could give would be to the advantage of her overall career, country music included.

So, if you’re a member of the Belrose CMC and have sung, played or danced at our concerts, you may qualify for some of our funds to further your career. You need to address your application to The Secretary, BCMC, c/- Belrose Bowling Club. Please include your itinerary, estimated costs, then throw yourself on our mercy!

The Bowling Club are very generous in allowing the BCMC to photocopy this newsletter on their equipment. However, it was originally stipulated that a donation of a gold coin be given for the newsletter, with the proceeds going to cancer research. We used to raise quite a few dollars in this way but newer audience members may not realize that this is the case and not many coins are being donated now.

It’s an honour system, so no-one will know if you do or not, but you’ll feel so much better if you do….

That’s All Folks - - - See Y'all Next Month !

To become a member of BCMC, you just need to join the Bowling Club, then register with Barbara as a member of our country music club. There are name badges available at a small cost – most members have one but they are optional. It is essential that you have membership ID with you at our concerts or sign in at the foyer desk. The club is always under close scrutiny and penalties are severe. Thanks all!

See You All Again Next Month !!