Date: Saturday, 5th April, 2003
Place: The Rattlesnake Grill, 130-132 Military Rd, Neutral Bay
Guest Speaker: Roger Fletcher, Comic writer and illustrator
Having attended all Dinners, I rate this one of the top two or three after the Flavour of Tibet.
It was a happy, lively Dinner.
So what if the Shepherds, who live just down the road from the restaurant, had to be rescued by Good Samaritan Steve Panozzo after the taxi they ordered for 6.30 failed to arrive by 7.45!
So what if the wine sent by Richard Lindner arrived smashed two weeks before and the Sydney couriers never told anyone. Some quick phone calls to Richard Lindner en route to Adelaide airport and thence to the winery in the Barossa and thence to Sydney ensured the safe arrival of another dozen at 4.30 on Saturday afternoon.
So what if Dietmar arrived from his stall at Supanova Comicfest in need of twelve hours sleep and subsequently remembered very little of anything at all!
So what if the integrity of the Raffle draw was put into question by the fact that Judith Shepherd drew the winning ticket … her own!
So what if a sombre pall was cast over the Dinner by the unfortunate but necessary exposure of Stephen Baggs for the traitorous so-called Phantom fan that he is … or rather, isn't! (See my tragic Speech of Welcome.)
So what if Steve Panozzo's gorgeous date Tam was stuck in Newcastle and had to be replaced by his not so gorgeous but certainly charming and intelligent father Joe.
It was a great night.
From my point of view it was wonderful to see so many interstate Members making the effort to come. Combining some Dinners with the Comicfests is justified by their attendance. Flying to Sydney from Adelaide, Darwin or Rockhampton and then paying for accommodation is not a cheap exercise and we appreciated the presence of the Lindners, the Gillies, the Baggs (who drove from Victoria) and Jon Cookson.
Also appreciated was the intelligent and humorous after dinner speech by our Guest, Torkan and Staria comics writer and illustrator, Roger Fletcher. He was excellent value!
Best of all was the number of contributions to the auction kitty by Glenn Ford, Richard Lindner and Steve Panozzo, not to mention the donation of a legendary 2 Litre Stubby of Darwin beer by Anthony Gillies.
We also raised over $1 000 for the Children's Hospital.
The Lee Falk Memorial Bengali Explorers Club goes from strength to strength.
Roll on # 12!