This was one of the occasions where you could honestly say “it could have been worse”
- and given the amount of rain we experienced the day before, it could have been
an absolute disaster. Thankfully, it wasn’t and everyone managed to have a super
day out - as they always do at the Gala.
With awful downpours forecast for the whole weekend, we took an executive decision
to have all the trade and charity stalls inside the marquees and this certainly proved
to be the right choice. The heavens opened on Saturday morning and it was still hammering
down when we left at 8.00 that evening. At one point, thee were seven of us sitting
in one marquee debating whether any of us was brave enough to sprint to the other
marquee (all of 20 yards away!) to take the trophies and rosettes across! The whole
place was waterlogged, we couldn’t see more than a few yards through the marquee
windows and I, for one, was ready to cancel the whole thing. However…….we are made
of sterner stuff here atNGR; the show must go on and all that nonsense, so on it
went. After almost seven months of organising, it would still have gone ahead had
we been sent a plague of frogs!
Things just seemed to pile up - several trade stands dropped out at almost the last
minute, we struggled with sponsorship (yet again!), but our lovely friends who sponsored
the show in 2007, all stepped in to save the day (yet again!!). We also had an extremely
generous donation from one of our owners, who wishes to remain anonymous. But she
knows who she is and I know who she is, and I am very, very grateful for her kindness.
I am also indebted to Carolyn and Nigel Dent, Keith and Louise at Instant Business
and Andrew Nicholls for their support for the second year in a row. Where would we
be if we had to rely on the racing fraternity for our sponsorship? You know them
- they’re the people who constantly heap dogs onto us without a second thought about
how their future care and rehoming is financed. Still, we’ve proved that we can manage
without them in the past (in spite of numerous requests for donations, however small)
and will continue to do so in the future.
Gala morning was dreadful - pouring rain putting a damper on everything - but by
just after midday, the weather finally broke and it actually got quite sunny at one
point! We shouldn’t complain - this was Gala number six, and the first that was wet,
so we were about due a bit of a shower! Fingers crossed for this year. Of course,
the gate was down, but I was just pleased that ANYONE bothered to turn up! The stalls
were very busy - our cake stall once again doing a roaring trade and taking £800!!!
Unbelievable.
Given that people were trying to shelter from the rain early on, this definitely
helped the stands in the marquees and turned out to be a very successful strategy.
We had all the usual die-hards running our various tombola, raffle, bottle stalls
etc and they all did a wonderful job in persuading our visitors to part with their
hard earned cash.
For the very first year, Annettee Crosbie had to pull out of attending. Work commitments
in Scotland had to take priority and she sent her apologies saying, “I know where
I’d rather be”. We keep or fingers crossed that she will be able to come along this
year. Our good friend, Jaye Griffiths spent the day with us once again and, as always,
it was lovely to see her. Our judges had their work cut out, given the weather. Due
to the early rain, we were behind on putting rosettes, trophies out in the rings
and Wendy, Theresa and Alison all got stuck in and got all of their own bits and
pieces ready themselves. It was kind of them….but we made sure they got a good lunch!
Special thanks too to our vet, John Robinson who was in attendance again for his
sixth Gala. Vets don’t get much free time so it’s always appreciated that he takes
time to spend the whole day with us each year. (He got a good lunch too!)
We decided that it was time to take some of our older kennel dogs along once again
for the lunchtime parade, and this was a big hit. But it has to be said that Puppy
Wispa, at just 11 weeks, stole the show. Carried around by “Uncle Kriss”, she milked
the crowd for all it was worth. It worked too - she was in a home just two days later.
We were also offered homes for some of the dogs taken along, not to mention other
homing enquiries, and that is always the icing on the cake.
The most enjoyment I get from the show each year - and I think it’s the same for
all the regular NGR volunteers - is seeing our former charges coming along with their
families. Dogs who were on the industry scrap heap, now valued and much loved companions.
It’s what we are all about and never fails to move me - especially when they don’t
forget us and are so pleased to see their old friends. None more so than our beloved
Luca, who left us quite recently after eight years in the kennels. To see this stroppy
old baggage sedately doing the rounds with Mum Alison, was just fabulous and made
the whole weekend for me…and, I suspect, a lot of other people.
So - given the diminished gate, lousy weather, problems raising the show sponsorship,
stands dropping out, I was more than a little stunned to find that we raised £4900,
after all expenses were paid out! When working out the figures, I was absolutely
convinced that I had added everything up incorrectly or left out something that needed
to be paid for, but no…..almost £5000 raised on a day almost unfit for the hardiest
of ducks! God bless you all, ‘cos you’re the ones who make it all possible each year.
Without your support, attendance and, it has to be said, MONEY, there would be no
Gala. So to all those of you who came along and got soaked, you can sit around feeling
awfully smug for the rest of the year. And for those of you who didn’t…..get off
your bums and come and join us on Sunday 6th September this year. It’s been proved
that here at NGR, owners and volunteers alike, we know how to have fun and raise
money…even drenched to the skin!
Finally, my sincere thanks to all my lot for their hard work once again. They put
in a lot of effort all year round - it just gets noticed more on Gala day. I’m very,
very grateful to them all..
See you all on 6th September (and remember to bring your brollies....(just in case!)
Mandy.
Click here to go to Gala 2008 Picture Gallery
