Park Orchards North Ringwood ParishThere’s no better feeling….. Than a once in a lifetime event that comes together. Saturday the 15th June will go down in the annuls of Sharks folklore. For anyone to ask “why?” then it’s an indication that they were not present on the night. I cannot commend the committee nor the Gala sub-committee with enough superlatives to thank them for their tremendous efforts. That is apart from a huge “THANK YOU” one and all. It’s not often I’m lost for words, and those present would give testimony to my discourse during the evening. I’m told that I even upstaged our wonderful MC Billy Brownless for the most jokes and anecdotes told on the night. Well, where to start. The organising committee had set up a wonderful room of red and black and white including huge ’50 Year’ numbers. The tables were spaced around the dance floor all focussed towards the stage. Separately, the silent auction tables went from 5 to 10 by the time all items were displayed. What I found fantastic was there were no reserves on any items. The price paid for most of the items was below cost, talk about cheap tickets/ entry when you could walk away with some fantastic gifts. Under two chairs at every table was a $50 Club Ringwood gift voucher with another gift voucher from various sponsors. We found winners whilst the night had only just began, talk about smiles galore and happy noise, I thought there must have been close to 10,000 people present on the noise alone. Imagine, when told we had an amazing 217 Sharks family in attendance. There were tables of past players (including a premiership table representative from the 80’s), past presidents and movers and shakers, Life Members, Sponsors and the ever reliable representatives of current players parents from every year level. The band played fantastic dance music with a full dancefloor and two encores. My only negative was that (I must be getting older) when thy played it was hard to communicate with others on the tables. Mind you, at one stage, I was one of only two there as the others were all up dancing. What a wowser. During the evening I came up with a new reality TV show. The Real Housewives of Park Orchards. The glitz and the glamour and the wonderful effort that everyone had gone to was excellent. The only thing missing were the arguments, there was too much laughter. To see mums all covered up with beanies, scarfs and jackets at the footy verses the effort and outfits on the night was fantastic. Everyone had certainly gone to the enth degree and the atmosphere created was in recognition of their efforts. I felt a bit underdressed without a bow tie to go with my 50 year Sharks warm up top!!! Our appreciation goes out to our major sponsors – Gala Evening, Elephant & Co. (A leadership, management and training organisation), Club Ringwood (Saturday Lunch in June/July – 3 Course for only $20) to Resi Ventures (Property land and town house developers – add to your portfolio now), to Warren Glen Nursery, Café and Giftware (Ideal place to browse, relax and enjoy a family outing), through to Bendigo Bank and Rebel. Without you and our other varied sponsors, we couldn’t put on the show each week for our kids. What a fabulous night had by all, before we knew it was time to pack up, head on home for a cuppa and monitor those wearing sunglasses on Sunday. I hope everyone enjoyed their Queens Birthday long week. Congratulations to all, we’ve made it to the half way mark of the season. Wow, 8 rounds behind us, a game next weekend (Round 9, 23rd June) then two weeks off. Watch out though, the rest of the season moves really fast from Round 10 in July 14th.
Team Photos – THIS WEEK 21st and 23rd
Team photos are scheduled for Friday evening, the 21st of June. First up will be the Under 8’s, 9’s, 10’s and 11’s. On Sunday 23rd June will be all other teams. Your team managers will now have confirmed dates and times for participation during the next week, if still unsure please make contact.
COLTS & LIFE MEMBERS DINNER – Tuesday 23rd July
The evening will take place on Tuesday 23rd of July at 6.30pm at Club Kilsyth, Corner Canterbury Road & Colchester Roads Bayswater North. This is the transition of our Senior Colts annual dinner and attended by all our Colts Players. We have a great guest speaker this year who will encourage and challenge the boys as they transition in life going forward. Confirming the Sharks will pay for all Players and Life Members; with parents contributing $29 for a 2-3 course dinner. Drinks at bar prices.
SPONSOR OF THE ROUND – Elephant & Co.
Elephant and Co is a leading Business School – Advisory – Think Tank, for small to medium business owners and leaders. The team at Elephant & Co. works with small to medium business owners, leaders and key staff in implementing the tools to establish an environment that allows for continued thinking, leadership, innovation and growth. Please contact Jeremy or Dennis for a complimentary interview on how they can help your business grow and succeed. Email info@elephantco.com.au
Summary
We look forward to seeing everyone for Round 9 on the 22nd of June.
If at any stage you have any queries then please don’t hesitate to contact myself.
Go Sharks!!
Ritchie Appleby
President, Sharks JFC
president@sharksjfc.org.au
0408 367 444