:: [ SVVS Summer Picnic, Horne - August 2011 ] ::

The Great SVVS Summer Picnic was supposed to have been held at the premises of Messrs Royce in Betchworth but the 2012 Olympic Organising Committee decided that this was to be the day they would hold the Olympic Cycling Trials from Whitehall to Boxhill and therefore shut off the roads in a large chunk of South East England.  This meant that Royce, and a large number of our Members, were "kettled" to the west of Dorking. Fortunately we had found this out just in time to put an urgent note in the SVVS Magazine that the Picnic was to have a new venue.

So the SVVS Picnic was held again this year at Church Farm, the home of Julie and Bozi Mohacek. The photos below are by Tony Oakes, Michel Gosset and Bozi Mohacek.  Please click on any thumbnail picture below to see the full size picture. To return to the thumbnails please click the Explorer "Back" arrow (top left of screen). 

As the weather was forecast to be iffy and as half of the Members were unlikely to be able to attend, it was decided that in view of the reduced numbers we would hold the Picnic round the farm pond rather than in the normal field. It turned out however that the weather was sunny and gorgeous and that members turned out in larger numbers than last year. The parking area round the pond soon filled up with Vintage cars so the Classics did end up in the field. In the event there were about 40 cars on show including a number seen for the first time.

Front-of-house duties of welcoming the guests and doing the barbecue were manfully handled by Chaiman Bozi resulting in largely overdone bangers. Hotdog sausages and burgers were available as usual on arrival to all visitors, as indeed was a glass of wine. This was supplemented by Pimms to enliven the occasion.  Our normal Wine Steward Bob Drew and Jean were away so Tony Oakes kindly managed to intersperse the arduous task of drinking with the pouring out. 

The space round the pond was more than adequate for all of the Members to spread themselves out and left space for about the same number again.  We were pleased that Members arranged themselves in larger groups and that older members welcomed newer members into their circles. This may well be the format for any other SVVS Picnics we may hold.

The Farm is beside the rather lovely St Mary's Church in Horne and after all the picnics were eaten Tony Oakes and Julie Mohacek organised a quiz/treasure hunt involving a walk round the farm and the next-door Church  looking for clues. Julie is a church warden of St Mary's, Horne, and the Quiz helped raise nearly £40 towards much needed church funds. Two couples tied for the first place and got the plonk, and one got the booby of Tony Oakes carefully fertilised courgette.

Many thanks to all who circumvented the 2012 Olympic Organising Committee and made the effort to come !!  Lovely to see you all and hope you had a nice afternoon.                             by BOZI MOHACEK

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