Well, Mother Nature tried her best on Sunday, but she did not stop the show from going ahead. This was the view outside my front door at 06:15 Sunday morning, about four inches of snow in the area and the driveway blocked by ploughed snow. I love a challenge.
So off I went, slipping and sliding on the side streets until I hit the main roads and motorway up to Milton Keynes to pick up Richard Thomas and then onto the show. When we got to the venue, a few of the other club members were already there, along with some traders and exhibitors unloading their vehicles. Soon we started to get the news that some of the visiting clubs and SIG's were cancelling, along with a couple of traders. So some changing around of the show layout was being done as the morning set up progressed and more cancellations came through.
The first visitors turned up just after 08:00, even though the opening time for the show was 10:00. But we allowed them in to save them from freezing outside in the cold, it did not seem to bother them that clubs, SIG's and traders were still arriving and setting up their stand and displays. More visitors turned up early, so in they came as well to keep warm and have a hot drink. By the opening time of the show, we had a few traders cancel and about a quarter to a third of the clubs and SIG's cancel. But there was also quite a few visitors already in the show having a look around too.
The morning progressed and a couple of late arrivals turned up to set up and the show was on. There was a slow, but steady stream of people turning up to visit. We knew from the start that because of the weather, there was not going to be the usual amount of visitors to the show. But they just kept coming and they were pleased that we did not cancel the show. One gentleman travelled all the way from Wales, just to visit the show and enter two models into the competition. Through out the day, I was chatting to visitors, traders and exhibitors. They were praising us for going ahead with the show and even with there being the cancellations from other clubs/SIG's, the show was still very enjoyable.
I would like to finish off on this final note. For you who are reading this blog of mine and were able to make it to our show though the difficult driving conditions, thank you very much. We love to put on this show to entertain you, allow fellow modellers to catch up with friends from other parts of the country. It was also great that we had two friends of the club from IPMS Brno in the Czech Republic travel over to do some demonstrations on their modelling techniques. And finally, to Mother Nature, you tried your best and it didn't work. The lure of plastic, paint and glue was greater then your snow to stop ModelKraft.
So onto next year. We hope to see you all at our show. For those who have never visited it, keep an eye out for future announcements for next years show and put the date in your diary.
Mother Nature, give up now!
No comments:
Post a Comment