By Margaret Sheard

What a brilliant evening and thanks to Mike & Brenda Plant, Jenny Tyler and all of the other volunteers for organising such a spectacular event.   This was at the Mountain View Hotel in Karaoĝlanoĝlu where we entered the foyer which was decked with Christmas trees and there were stalls selling seasonal items, cards, jewellery etc. so a very Christmassy welcome.  Then we entered the dining room and again there were decorations, Christmas trees and lights which gave the room such a warm glow.   

Only just in time, we settled ourselves down in comfortable chairs and the sing-along began with a group of 4 singers – Anthony McCartney, Jan Parkinson, Dawn Büyükertas, and Ian Chennell, who were excellent.  We all had our song sheets but many of the songs and carols were well known favourites and soon everyone was joining in with the singing and really enjoying it.

Next there came a dance troupe, the Tip Top Tappers who showed us how to tap dance and they were very good.

Part way through the evening Santa Claus arrived in his huge sleigh, much to the delight of the audience and one little girl who looked a bit in awe of this strange figure.    Santa then started drawing the raffle tickets for some lovely prizes and after this was all done he got back in his sleigh and was on his way to do other good deeds.

The staff were suddenly buzzing around with plates of festive nibbles for each of the audience which was really nice and we had a break to have a chat to the other guests and give the singers a much deserved rest.

We had 2 performances of line dancing during the evening by the Friends Line Dancers. They had all made special costumes and came on as elves with pointy ears and they did their routines to popular well-known songs.   Again they were very good and it was great entertainment.   One of the group, Janet, often sends me news of the Friends Line Dancers and what they are doing so it was nice to catch up with her and husband Stephen.

The singing progressed through the evening and near the end we were all given our numbers for the 12 Days of Christmas.  This is always very funny and gives everyone a chance to join in.   Our part of the audience was No. 6 so we were 6 geese a-laying, and there we were jumping up every time our number came up. Brenda Plant had her 12 cards ready and she was prompting all of the areas to jump up when their number came up.   By this time everyone was laughing and really enjoying it.  Mike decided once was not enough and we were persuaded that we should do it all over again, which we did.

There was then some music for dancing and many people took to the floor to rock and roll and dance the rest of the evening away.

This was a real fun night and having not been to one of the sing-along events before I am so glad I went because I really enjoyed the whole of the evening and will be sure to be there next year.   There was to be a second sing-along the next evening and I am sure everyone going on that night would have enjoyed it as much as we did on the first.   Well done Mike & Brenda – another huge success.

All of the singing throughout the evening was recorded and we are hoping to share this with you a little nearer to Christmas as “The Sounds of Christmas”.

To see video of Friends Line Dancers click here

See slideshow below

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