----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Haywood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:22 AM Subject: Re: [canals-list] Little Venice
> As one of the organisers of this year's Cavalcade, I feel I have to > respond > to Barry's criticism; and I'm afraid in doing so I am going to be critical > of Barry. Why? Because although he's been to at least two, he doesn't seem > to have got the hang of it yet. You see Barry, it's not like the National. > Or going to the pictures. You don't just pay your money and get > entertained. > Cavalcade is a unique event where the participants are the audience. It's > just a little neighbourhood festival that's got big with thousands of > people > from London and elsewhere visiting; but essentially, at heart, it's a boat > festival which (thank God) hasn't yet been taken over by commercial > interests. > > OK, there were only 6 boats in the Saturday procession. So was yours one > of > them? Or were you in the illuminated procession Sunday evening instead? > Did > you enter the boat handling competition? Or at the least put a bit of > bunting on your boat? Did you in fact do anything to help the event except > turn up at it and expect the rest of us to entertain you? > > I'm sorry to be so harsh, Barry; but after dozens of us have spent the > best > part of a year to put on this event in a climate that sometimes seems to > be > like trudging through treacle, it makes me cross that someone like you can > be so... well, selfish about the whole thing. If you want a better > Cavalcade, then roll up your sleeves and help make it one; I'm sure > someone, > somewhere, can find a job for you. But just don't stand on the sidelines > sniping. That isn't the way of Cavalcade. And incidentally, because I know > you haven't been boating very long, it isn't the way of the cut either. > > Steve I'm still catching up on mail after Cavalcade* but thought Steve's post would be a good one to which to add my comments. Steve's points about a) the audience and participants being the same, and b) a few people putting in a lot of hard work to make it all happen, sum up Cavalcade rather neatly. I am pleased that Steve has joined the team, he is already a great asset and no doubt will contribute a lot in the future. There is no way I would ever participate in the boat handling competition, but I admire the brave people who do. After all, except for Cleveland, most boats just have to catch the wind at the wrong place or time and they can be pushed off line. Or the trip boats come along when you are trying to manoeuvre, and they take precedence. So well done to everyone who entered, especially Alan on Pengalanty - if you don't take part you have no chance of winning! Alan put in the effort and it paid off. Of course, he will have to come back next year to defend his many titles. It was lovely to put some more names to faces - I met Barry Holland, as he has already mentioned, and we had a long chat at Tesco, then I accosted Alan on Pengalanty as he was tootling off somewhere, and on Monday evenng spotted Graham on Jannock and said hello. Unfortunately Brenda was elsewhere at the time, so I didn't see her. Of course, it was good to see the familiar faces as well - too many to mention here! Cavalcade is also a great opportunity to catch up with people one only sees once or twice a year. As Barry said, the view of the pool from the Horse Bridge is uplifting. During my various periods of involvement with the organisation of Cavalcade, that was always the bit that made the hard work seem worthwhile. 'Working' (or more accurately, lurking) in the Waterspace Office gives me the opportunity to hear what boaters think of the event, and there is still a huge amount of enthusiasm - more than 50 boats booked in for next year by the end of the weekend. The Saturday pageant was a little disappointing, but the days when 100 boats took part are long gone (if that ever happened!), as are the days of commercial sponsorship for the boats. Persuading companies to sponsor the boats was always an uphill struggle, achievable only by someone who could talk the hind legs off a rabbit - and he is long gone. The phone bill was horrendous, too! Anyway it was a lovely event. Congratulations and thanks to all those who worked hard to make it happen. Dorothy * but I have now found out how to get wireless broadband on the boat, so catching up should be a thing of the past!
