Website Report for Mayday Roundup 2008

Hi there!

 To say that the Mayday Roundup was successful would be an understatement. It was great to see so many old friends and new friends arriving – amongst them the friends from the now closed Waterhouses (Hoss, Mo, Hillbilly etc), the Redditch Westerners and the Lichfielders.

 The caravans etc in the field were neatly laid out, as were the areas of the field sports, thanks to Dakota who was in charge and Rusty who came by to help. The Western flags fluttering in the breeze looked good, and the roadside sign helped everybody find the turning.

 The room was bursting by the time our good friend Arizona Wes took to the stage. He is a fantastic entertainer and arrives with all sorts of props, the washboard (which Raindancer had a go at playing), the Indian outfit and chopper, and the Mexican garb (which he wore to sing 'He Drinks Tequila' to Jane.) The Lichfield lot got hold of his percussion instruments which they wielded along with the coloured clappy hand and the sort of whirling coloured lollipop and the flashing tambourine. Arizona Wes has incredible staying power and would still be playing if we hadn't had the Trilogies.

 There were loads of Westerners in and there were about 15 in the Fast Draw each time. I think No Hope (I query the name!) won on Friday and Saturday, and Amber, his wife, won on Sunday – although I forgot to make a note!

 The Saturday group were the duo 'Campbells Country.' Campbell is a wonderful character who sings with great verve and his enthusiastic guitarist stances belie his Mr Pastry appearance. He has plenty of chat and isn't afraid to make fun of himself either. His guitar playing side-kick Tim Richards,(who also got to sing but not talk), went in for real good musical effects. 

 Every evening there was a raffle, arranged by Jenny, with the prizes (according to Preacher) going to all Jenny's relatives, and she sure has a lot! There are also the Trilogies, The American Trilogy, the Mexican Trilogy and 'The South Will Rise Again' with Rusty parading the Confederate flag – but what was No Hope doing parading the Stars And Stripes? Preacher is still our resident DJ, but Scarlet Pimpernel might be more appropriate as I seem to have to spend time making sure he's in the right place at vaguely the right time!

 On Saturday afternoon we held a Fast Draw and the Western games, and on Sunday afternoon just the Fast Draw because of the rain. Wild Bill had made some really super targets for the axe throwing and knife throwing that stood up really well, and Marion had sourced some archery targets which helped us add another dimension to the games. Certificates for the winners were given out during the Sunday evening proceedings. (See winners photographs.) No Hope was Top Gun and was presented with the Sundown Memorial Cup, with Frosty in Second Place, and Amber was Top Lady.

 The group on Sunday evening were the talented Interstate 509 with Anita Ray. Interstate 509 is a modern Country Music Band with Anita providing the lead vocals, Ron Ronson providing lead and backing vocals and playing the bottle neck slide guitar and rhythm guitar and Nick Cornall providing lead and backing vocals whilst playing the keyboards. The group had a really good sound and there was lots of songs suitable for line dancing. They also brought along their own sound man.

 On Saturday and Sunday evenings Hillbilly held a 'Poor Man's Raffle,' (you only pay the amount on the ticket), and raised over £90 for the Air Ambulance, to be put towards the amount raised for the Air Ambulance during the Charity Event at the beginning of September.

 On Monday morning I had my last breakfast from Mandy and her team who had been providing the food over the three days (breakfast and evening meals) – and excellent it was too! There was also a table top sale on the field where yety more money was raised for the Air ambulance.

 Then it was time to pack up and go, and so the caravans left the field and we were left to look forward to our next Roundup at the next Bank Holiday.

   See ya there!

    Mrs Rusty

N.B. Want to see some photos of the weekend on the Redditch Westerners website? Follow the link from this website or look up www.redditchwesterners.co.uk.