There was a huge turn-out for our annual dinner and bowling night last Saturday at Arena 7. Along with all the usual suspects, the chattering tables included newer members like Lisa Moore and Micháel McClafferty. These two alone are a wonderful example of the diversity of our membership. We come in all shapes and sizes, ages and sexes!!
As well as bona fide members we had several riding club widow(er)s showing up on the night in the hopes of showing that equestrian prowess is not the only measure of a man. Liam, Rick, Cecil and Mervyn, as well as former member Declan, ensured that the boys were twice as well represented as the girls for the big occasion.
As has been the case for the past couple of years, dinner was served first and everyone had plenty of time to relax, let down their guard and do some undercover reconnaissance on the ambitions of their soon-to-be adversaries in the bowling lanes. The meal was as alway very good, albeit slightly unusual in the proliferation of potatoes to the exclusion of any other evidence of a vegetable!
Fueled by spuds, the large party made its way to the VIP bowling suite for the grand challenge. As the session progressed it became clear that the tussle for the Bottom of Table honours was being as closely contested as that for the top. The McClafferty clan were in with a shout in nearly all divisions — male, female, bottom and top.
At the heel of the hunt they pulled off 50% of the prize money with Marina (despite a shaky, ankle-recovering start) topping the girls scoreboard and Micháel elbowing out the younger pretender, Enda, for the Paddy Last title on the mens side. Suzanne bowled with great character and humour to take the equivalent title on the girls role of honour while Rick proved that he has the game in his American blood when topping the overall scoreboard and taking the boys title.
A huge thank you to Marina for organising the evening once again. We look forward to the 2016 edition already.
Letterkenny Riding Club 