Sunday last found the members of the North Lancashire District Association of the Cyclists’ Touring Clab gathered in Ellis' tea rooms at Gisburn for the purpese holding their annual general meeting and much more important, of course—their annual dinner and concert.
I will not bore the long-suffering readers of this column with a lengthy account of the meeting, but will briefly mention the officials elected for the coming year. President : The Bishop of Burnley; Vice-Presidents : Messrs. J. Atkinson, T. Hargreaves, W. TLord, and J. Smith ; hon. secretary : Mr. G. A. Hudson (7, Pine Street, Nelson) ; hon. treasurer : Mr. W. Lord ; hon. auditor Mr. H. Leaver; hon. Press secretary : Mr W. R. Mitchell. The committee comprises four delegates from each section, viz. : Mrs Hudson, Messrs. H. Blezard, H. Bowdin, and J. Nuttall (Nelson section), and Messrs: W. Waddington, R. Livesey, W. Briggs and H. Holding (Blackburn section). The meeting closed at 4-30.
The annual dinner began at 5-15, and over 70 members sat down to an excellent repast under the chairmanship of Mr. J. Atkinsons The District Association dinner, as supplied by Miss Ellis, is always eagerly anticipated by our appreciative members. To hear them talk about the dinner, any listener would be led to suppose that our members fasted for several weeks in preparation for the event. After looking at their plump faces the listener would doubtlessly refuse to believe these exaggerated declarations but had he been at Gisburn on Sunday and seen, how easily our members disposed of four-course dinner he could have been pardonably excused for believing that there was some truth in their statements, But it has aaways been one of the advantages of cycling that it creates a healthy appetite particularly in winter. To all who suffer from any inability to dispose of food. I have no hesitation whatever in recommending thebicycle as a cure for their complaint.
The dinner eventually came to a satisfactory conclusion and the tables wene cleared away. Then came the concert. Our chairman, who is a personal friend of Mr. "Willie" Taylor, had been fortunate enough to secure for our entertainment the services of four members of the Savoy Opera Singer, namely : Miss F. Greenwood (contralto); Mr. T. Hartley (tenor); Mr. W. A. Taylor (baritone), and Mr. H. Skirrow (pianist), who, together with Miss Illingworth (violinist) of Colne, rendered an excellent programme. Their programme was verv varied and comprised of vocal solos, duets and trios (operatic, sentimental and humorous), violin solos and humorous sketches. Several of the items brought the house down; one of them, "The Rivals." a humorous duet by Messrs. Taylor and Hartley, had an unrehearsed culmination added to it. The singers, with ecstatic gestures, were pleading with a maiden seated near the door ‘to be their’s,' when the door slowly opened and the head of one of our members emerged from behind the door-jamb and popped into the room. This unexpected denouement, together with the bewildered expression that appeared on the face of the member at apparently being almost frantically implored by two gentlemen "to be their's." caused a general collapse amongst the audience. Another item "The Leader of the Town Brass Band" by Miss Greenwood with the help of Messrs. Taylor and Hartley (who were the band in question) raised such vociferous applause that the band (sic) was compelled to give a special item, "Sonny Boy,” which brought mock tears to the eyes of the performers and real tears (of laughter) to the eyes of the audience. Our campers, who have a so-called band composed of an unconventional mixture of musical instruments, were loud in their praise of this item, and they have, I believe, decided to make Messrs. Taylor and Hartley honorary members of their band. The humorous sketches were very well acted and kept the audience rocking with merriment, and the songs and violin solos which were admirably accompanied by Mr. Skirrow, received loud applause. The concert came to an end all too soon, at 8-30, Mr. G. Hudson moving a vote of thanks to the artistes, to which Mr. Taylor suitablyresponded.
The journey home over Coldweather hill was a damp and misty one, but no grumbling was heard about the weather; we were too busy laughing about the concert to trouble about a trifle like the weather.
“SARKIKUS.”