Dads Birthday

January 4th was my Dad's birthday. I wanted this to be a light hearted rememberance to him, as there was so much sadness in 2005. I hope he is somewhere where it brings him a smile as well as you.

This reminds me of the story when the time came one year for nominating Committee members. One individual clearly had opposition to his nomination, as everytime the name was filled in on the nomination sheet, someone would cross it off. To the degree that a new sheet had to be found!

He much enjoyed his weekly snooker game with the late Joe Dean. Joe was a leg amputee and Dad had his arthritis problems. They had this unique rule to assist them both that if a ball was unreachable they could move it into a "better" position, much like a free drop at golf!

Then there was the Tuesday night quiz. This started in circa 1993 when Dad, Joe Dean, and I were getting bored with the evening and I suggested that they name nine Stoke City footballers who went on to play for England. They enjoyed this cerebral challenge and more topics developed before within a few months it was a prepared quiz. Harry Clowes (still a participant) heard about it and asked to join in. Well it sort of snowballed from there. Membership went up, down, and around but it still survives today. Dad, of course was famous for his lack of Pop knowledge and so he learned that there was 100-1 shot that the answer was the Aussie Band "Men at Work". In that sense he achieved a victory as I occasionally designed a question so Men at Work would be a correct answer!

This is a 1967 picture of the Red Lion pub in Goldenhill, still standing but much refurbished. The building opposite was demolished a long time ago to make way for a wider road. This is where I learnt how Dad liked his son to learn his lesson in practice. One of the football team was having his 18th birthday there and we had a fancy dress theme. I told Dad as I couldn't afford to hire a costume I would make one of my own. I tied a table tennis bat to one leg, a toy panda to the other and announced I was a bamboo shoot. This was BEFORE I had a drink. Dad, shaking his head, advised me not to mix my drinks. I wished I'd listened after a combo of cheap gassy beer, wine, and shorts. I got home around Midnight. My first comment was that I was not well and proceeded for a "huey" session in the toilet. I came out and Dad did not bawl, no anger, just the statement, "aye, let that be a lesson to you, lad"!