As sad as it may initially seem, the time has come to say "au revoir" to a very good friend, and immense contributor to all that is Club Arnage.
As many of you know already know, "Doris", our Club Arnage Charity Organiser/Ambassador/President/"Miss" Bitch has decided to do the very sensible thing and desert these shores for a life of Vineyards, Wine, Space, Sun and Relaxation in her home country of New Zealand and who can blame her!
Doris has not only built a huge amount of respect and friendship in cyberspace through this forum for the work she has done for the CA Charities, but also in person with a lot of friends through her trips to Le Mans, Sebring, Le Mans Series races, GT Races, A1 GP Visits, supporting Tom Dunstan through his career and of course a series of social gatherings! There can't be many on CA that haven't experienced her charitable efforts or friendship over the years and I for one whilst wishing her the very best of luck in her new venture "back home" will certainly miss her when she has gone, and I'm sure I won't be the only one!
I hope that her return to New Zealand won't mean the end to her relationship with this forum, and I hope she still manages to visit Le Mans, Sebring, Petit Le Mans and other races to see us, and I equally hope we all have a chance to visit it in the Southern Hemisphere, whether it be a race at Bathurst or the Rugby World Cup
.
To Celebrate/Commiserate that she is leaving, we are planning a get together on Saturday the 31st October. The approximate itinerary of the day is as follows:
13:00 onwards: Drinks in Twickenham, probably the "Gary Owen/Previously Rugby Tavern" or "Barmy Arms" TBC
15:00: Harlequins versus London Irish at The Stoop. Doris, I and others have been regular supporters of London Irish for several years and it seems fitting that a match should be included in the day
20:00 onwards: A get together at "The Gateway" in Reading town centre. (Our usual haunt after a London Irish game). Martin the Landlord is going to arrange for an Irish Band for the night at his expense (shows how much Doris has contributed to his pub over the years!) I have suggested we will have some sort of "buffet" too, subject to contributions!
??:?? The bar will close at some time in the early hours. Martin will sort an extension accordingly!
I hope several people will come to the rugby tickets and even more come to the pub in the evening. I am happy to try to co-ordinate this (subject to numbers) and would apprecaite anyone wanting to participate in any part, particularly anyone wanting tickets to the Rugby, to let me know as soon as possible. Please let me know if you'd like to contribute towards the buffet!
I speak for myself, but I'm sure I am not alone, when I say I will really miss "Doris", I wish hell Health, Luck, Love, Friendship and Happiness in everything she does, and I know we stay in touch for years to come and will meet at a race track somewhere on the planet in the future!
Please indicate if you will attend as I need to let Martin know how many he can expect in the pub that night. I also need to need fairly soon how many rugby tickets i need to organise.
Estimated cost per ticket for the Rugby at this time is £25 TBC
Please RSVP by Friday 23rd October at the absolute latest to confirm if you'll attend the rugby and willing to contribute towards the buffet.
RSVP
Mark/JP Chenet
