Good day to all on cold and chilly autumn evening..…

The leaves are changing colour… the days are shortening…. autumn is arriving at speed….this morning was a jersey and thoughts of wearing long pants day….so that is great news for the winter sport players and lovers….. AND…..

On Sunday night we received a bit more positive news, as the President announced that we have now moved to level one of the lockdown regulations….which of course means that we have less of a curfew….our operating hours for the bars are relaxed…whilst there are still no spectators allowed….we are able to practice and play our winter sports….in addition our summer sport, cricket, which is going to have an extended season of T20 excitement…. So we can finally look forward to some team sports again at the North….although we will have to look the “other way” whilst standing in the beer garden to ensure that we do not actually “watch” any sport in compliance with the regulations….

We will also still have our running and hockey 5 which are the two sports that have been able to support us over the last few months, for which we have been most appreciative… but with the addition our “family” of players and supporters of sports now allowed….hopefully we will be able to see a lot more of our friends in the pub in the future…

I am quickly going to deal with some sad news we have had….we had a wake last week for one popular friend and member and another wake later this week for another sports campaigner and legend…. Last week bade fond farewells to Ralph Cook…our pizza man, who stepped into the role of pizza chef with enthusiasm….I am sure that almost all our Members have enjoyed one of Ralph’s scrumptious pizza’s…..your presence will be sorely missed Ralph….and this week we bid farewell to one of our hockey legends, Graham Bolton….who was already here in the 70’s representing the North at Hockey with distinction, 1st side, 2nd side, 3rd side, Bears and Mammoths….there will be plenty of team mates and friends that will fondly remember Bolts, whether it was on the field, in the pub, playing darts or discussing the merits of many current affairs….sincere condolences and deepest sympathy on behalf of the entire cub to their families and loved ones of these two amazing humans….they will be sorely missed….

Now onto some good news… the joker draw is still running and we have still not found anyone able to extract the joker from his hiding place….the current jackpot stands at R24893….and we are into week fifteen of this tenth draw….Members must also please not forget that they have two bites of the “cherry”….. if they are unable to find the joker, but do find the card displayed above the joker cabinet (this week it is the eight of spades) they will receive 10% of the Jackpot onto their Membership cards immediately….so don’t forget to join us this week at the joker draw….ticket sales are in the Hall and close at about 19h15 with the draw taking place at 19h30….

This week we have some more news….as our Night market makes a welcome return….with the relaxation of regulations, we will have the market this Friday from 17h00 to about 21h00…singer, new stalls, come along….

A new addition from this week is that young men that have been serving cocktails to us over the last year or two…are in a new home!!! They will be now located in the Ladies bar, with a new improved variety of available cocktails…and in addition we will be offering Craft beers that will also be served from this bar….the menu selection offered by this bar will be altered over time as more lines become available and others that aren’t as popular will be replaced…. Please join us in supporting this new venture and show your support for the new innovations available…

On Sunday we welcome back the evergreen band Omega….who have come along to offer us a live gig in return for meals and drinks….in the current economic climate it has been impossible to pay for musicians….but Omega have some along to support us….a gesture that is greatly appreciated…..thank you Bruce and his crew of merry making musicians making up Omega….

That is about all for this week….please remember that subs are due…the new membership cards are already out and the new pricing will kick in as the suppliers start to compensate for the shutdown and new “sin-taxes”….I promise that I will limit our increases to the minimum possible….but there will always be that inevitable increase in selling prices…initial thoughts from suppliers are in the region of 8% to 10%…..so please so not complain when it does come through….and say you were not aware….

Take care and stay safe Rod