The full assessment has yet to be made of our joint show with the Waltham Forest Fuchsia and Pelargonium Society, but my first impressions are that it was a success. There were some good entries from both societies in the competitive fuchsia section of the show although, as usual, we could have done with some more, and the display of pelargoniums made an attractive and colourful contribution to the event.
There was a steady arrival of visitors throughout the afternoon which kept up a steady demand for refreshments, and kept all the stallholders busy.
The weather was not too kind, for after a bright morning it started to rain just as the doors were open to visitors a 2 o'clock. This meant that refreshments on the lawn - usually a pleasant feature of our shows - had to be abandoned.
Once again, Brian Clark was our most successful fuchsia exhibitor, claiming nearly half of our trophies, and providing us with the best plant, second best plant, best exhibit, and best bush plant in the show. Our congratulations go to Brian who regularly travels from Canvey with his plants to enter our show.
We were delighted to see Terry Coggins and his wife - also from Canvey. Terry for several years, until he moved to Canvey, was our most successful showman.
We were also delighted to see Bill and Sylvia Johns at the show. Bill has been involved for some time now in a battle to achieve good health, which has kept him out of circulation, and it was great to see him back in such good spirits.
Our thanks go to all of those, from both societies, who supported the show in various ways, and in particular to Mike O'Sullivan, our Show Secretary for the day, and Mick Allsop, who together spearheaded the efforts of both societies to make it an enjoyable day.
