Taking the Chairman by surprise (and to the Cotswolds)

Lovingly baked for the Chairman with the supervision of the Treasurer, who has almost baked me as many cakes as my dear Mama over the years.

Richard sharpening the knives on Friday. Luckily the knives weren't out for the Chairman over the weekend



Margaret, The Vice Captain of Boats and Bomber on Friday afternoon


The Chairman and his favourite Treasurer

Like Father like Chairman. One day, I too could look like this.

The Cox, Mother and the Bishop of Burton, who wanted to fillet the Chairman after a weekend of protracted eclesiastical joshing.

The Chairman & First Lady with the Vice Captain of Boats and the Secrtetary in the pub on Saturday lunchtime

The Chairman & Captain relaxing with the papers on Sunday morning

The Chairman on the Wii, as created by the Vice Captain of Boats

As everyone in the WRC except the Chairman was already aware, a party to celebrate 40 inglorious years of the Chairman's existance had been arranged in the Cotswolds for 33 of his closest family & friends in the Cotswolds, much to his delight. The weekend included 6 of the Bunkers Hill Mafia and seven of the WRC (the Cox of whom is a member of both – put that in your venn diagram and smoke it), and was a resounding sucsess due in no small part to the work of my dear Mama and the First Lady, not to mention the contributions of the Cox and Margaret Campion.

I have included a selection of the photograophs here for your amusement, but if you wish to see sixty of the 151 I took, a visit here will satisfy even the most curious. No group photos of the WRC (it wasn’t that sort of weekend), but it was a wonderful occasion, during which a toast to absent friends was drunk as custom dictates.

40 glorious years

HRH The Prince of Wales at 60

Matthew J. Howard WRC, Chairman of the Witham Rowing Club, at 40

Your Chairman has been overwhelmed with requests for a formal photographic portrait to commemorate his 40th birthday last week to compliment the splendid portraits drawn and painted for him by the Secretary and the Vice Captain of Boats. In short, the request seem to indicate that something along the lines of the portrait taken of HRH The Prince of Wales to commemorate his sixtieth birthday earlier this week.

So, ever willing to oblige, your Chairman donned his club fig earlier today and this is what he came up with. Even if I say so myself, a diet of port, game and puffin seems to have kept the ravages of time from having taken too much of a toll thus far. And an undemanding club membership, of course.

DAN!

Following on from the monumental events of my 40th birthday weekend of which I shall endeavour to justice to when I have written all of my thank-you’s, I thought I might like to share with you where the reference to the phrase “DAN!” came from, as shouted round the back lanes of the Cotswolds by Sober Dave and me on Friday evening whilst looking for my brother, who had been callously abandoned in the mist by his taxi driver. Who would have thought that there would be two churches and only one pub in the village? Had they not heard that representatives of the WRC and the Bunkers Hill Mafia were coming for the weekend?

40 not out

With my parents and the First Lady at Claridges

In the Star Tavern with my brother Dan & The Captain

The Chairman is delighted to report that he has survived entering the 5th decade of his life in one piece, fortified by the finest ales, Champagnes, gins and Gordon Ramsey fayre known to man. Apart from the prohibitively expensive nature thereof, I could almost advocate the WRC holding their AGM’s under Mr Ramsey’s instruction. It was almost as good as eating at my parental table – I can laud no higher praise than that.

The Captain kindly joined the throng for the evening, and thoughtfully hosted half time refreshments at his club, much to the amusement of my Father, who one donned Airforce Blue in much the same way as Richard Carter and Bomber “Bomber” Campion did in their pomp. However, despite the advancing years of your Chairman, you can be reassured that the same level of autocratic inactivity that has characterised his last 17 years of Chairmanship will very much be the order of the day in the forthcoming years. Rest assured, there’s life in the old Chairman yet!