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• Garrigues Camposol Report, Produced for The Camposol Residents Association
• Camposol Residents Association , Minutes/ Activities- end Oct 09
• Camposol, Sector D Community Group, Information and updates.
• Joining the Pensionistas, invaluable for integration
• Best Beach Guide
• Camposol Residents Association, CRA, minutes, Nov 2009 onwards
• The Camposol Fiesta review 2009

The Camposol Fiesta review 2009

What a fantastic weekend.

All nationalities turned out in their thousands to enjoy the festivities, and the sun shone endlessly as they watched the musical entertainment on offer, visited the charity and craft stands and tucked into the giant paella.

A year of hard work by the Fiesta Committee and all the supporters who worked behind the scenes for months prior to the fiesta, selling tickets for the car draw, running the fundraising events, and organizing the dozens of tiny little details that go into creating an event of this size paid off as the whole event ran smoothly and efficiently, and everyone had a fantastic time.

A big thank you to the committee members, Alan Meyern, Brian Jermayn, Peter Rhodes, Bruce Furness, Geoff Dore and Colin Cain and especial thanks to their long suffering wives, who have been married to the fiesta for the whole of the last year, and have supported the whole effort in a multitude of unseen ways but without whom, the whole thing would undoubtedly not have happened.

For more General Photos CLICK HERE

 

So what actually happened?

Well, the week before, volunteers ( mainly the wives of, and members of, the committee) raked and prepared the ground, before shedloads of gravel arrived and the construction of the site could begin.

Several lorry loads of equipment, staging, lighting, barriers, bars, chairs , tables and marquees were delivered by the Mazarron Town Hall and volunteers worked hard for 2 days to organise the area and prepare for the event. There was a slight panic as the realisation dawned that the council workers had departed without delivering the promised chemical loos, but fortunately, most of the bars had stocked up with extra rolls of paper in anticipation of a busy weekend, so a crisis was averted.

 

The fiesta was opened by the Mayor, accompanied by a selection of local councillors, who were fascinated by the attractions found in an English fiesta. The press release that came out afterwards spoke in glowing terms of the originality of the entertainments, and the council group spent a lot of time trying out the hook a duck, coconut shy, Aunt sally and tin can alley, stands built lovingly by The Silly Old Sods society who raised many hundreds of euros for the fiesta in a staggering feat of beer drinking during the months leading up to the event.

By 2pm the fiesta grounds were packed with visitors enjoying the craft fair, organized by Sue Furness, and the bands just kept on coming all afternoon, The Little Rock Band, The Rumble, the S factor finalists, The Blues Brothers, The Liverpool Band and Scorpio Sound and light Disco show put on a fantastic show, with entertainment from The Sundance Line Dancers who gave their last public performance after many years of local community involvement.

 

Eager onlookers waited patiently as the Paella simmered away slowly, and the moment the word went out that the food was ready, a queue formed that trailed off into the middle of the commercial centre. The paelleros, Jose and Luis, explained that their company makes paellas to suit all appetites. Apparently the Camposol fiesta paella used 60 kilos of rice, 220 litres of water, 20 kilos of meat, 70 kilos of peppers  and 35 kilos of tomatoes and took 3.5 hours to cook in a 2.7metre dish, which is just a drop in the ocean for these boys. Jose said that the biggest paella he'd cooked this year was in Madrid for 9000 people and the company had used the biggest paellera (that's pan to us)they've got , which measures a staggering 9metres in diameter. Maybe next year......

 

 

Local charities turned out in force with entertaining games to raise money for their individual causes.

The Lions and PALS had a treasure hunt and splat the rat on the go, the MABS ladies were doing their best to tempt us with a range of delicious cakes and the Amigos de Mazarron, the Mazarron football supporters club, were busy traumatizing small children with disgraceful refereeing decisions, which came at us quicker than in an England - Germany game. Fortunately the players had the final say, with many referees receiving a wet sponge in the face, which we're sure they fully deserved.

 

Before the public had chance to get anywhere near the cakes, the judges had a marvelous time tasting and re-tasting, and mmmm not sure about this one , I think I'd better have another slice.......to find the winners of the MABS cakemaking competition. Each class was fiercely contested, the mens, "So you girls think you can cook" class, sponsored by Ken Sherwood mechanic, being the most difficult decision to make. At last, a stunning whiskey and orange spectacular took first prize for Geoff Addison, Liz McDonald, who entered everything with a succession of mouth watering cakes received a fabulous hamper of Italian goodies from Rainbow Satellites when she snatched victory in the softest sponge category, and Lyndsey Sherwood deservedly triumphed in the best family cake category with a melt in your mouth cherry and coconut spectacular, scooping an enormous hamper of cake making goodies  donated by Quicksave. MABS raised over 400 euros from the sale of the cakes afterwards, so everyone was delighted with the outcome.

For more Photos of the Cakes CLICK HERE

 

Embarrassingly, we have to confess that the wind, which later claimed a large portion of the craft marquees, blew away the name of the winner of the best decorated cake, sponsored by Simply Networking, so although we have a photo of the lady herself, with her beautiful floating dress creation, which we felt moved to name as best in show, we have lost her name, so if its you, please get in touch as about 3 people are trying to find you to commission a copy!

 

Once the paella had gone down a treat, visitors were treated to a beautiful display of horsemanship and dancing, from local riders, who perform regularly on a Sunday at the Meson El Saladillo restaurant near Camposol.

El Noble, the noble one is an apt name for the magnificent horse who danced and skipped around the performance area, ears up, totally unfazed by the hundreds who lined the area to watch him perform.He looked as though he loved every second of the performance, and only a few could ever really understand just what extraordinary skill and dedication it takes to bring a horse to this level of perfection and make it all look so effortless. Let's hope they come back next year.

 

 

As the evening cooled a bit, excitement mounted, and those who had drifted home for a shower reappeared in their droves, waiting to see who would be the lucky winner of the most amazing prize the area has seen on offer for a very long time, a brand new Citroen car.

The suspense was unbearable, groans from the crowd signaling hopes shattered as each draw eliminated the majority, just a few clutching tickets hopefully until the ball came out and the winner was announced as number 939,a  Mr Kirby who was actually over here for a holiday at the time - it'll be interesting to see how much Ryanair try to charge him to put that amount of excess baggage in the hold on the way home!!

Many thanks to the army of volunteers who spent months sitting in the foyer of Consum selling the tickets, and to all the bars and restaurants who hosted events and helped to raise the large sum of money from this prize draw, which made this fiesta possible.

 

The evening continued with great musical entertainment and the most spectacular firework display, which exceeded the expectations of many and ended the first day of this fantastic fiesta.

 

 

Sunday morning was firmly about families and fun, the day beginning with the much heralded Camposol Crazy Olympics .

Accusations of underhand tactics to attract the beefiest blokes were hurled around as Kennellys walked off yet again with both the mens and womens titles. Surely there must be someone out there who can do something about the situation next year!!!!

The McCormack family trounced the Stapletons to walk away with the title of Team Champions, with young Cullen McCormack snatching victory in the fun run.

Throughout the fiesta, the youngsters were of paramount importance, enjoying the games, entertainments and family time that made this a fiesta for all, even though some of us may have had bigger toys to play with than others.

For more Photos of the Olympics CLICK HERE

 

Talking of big toys, how about these magnificent vehicles which arrived on the Sunday morning, courtesy of the Ruta del Sol Classic car club, the biggest and most prestigious in the Murcia Region, together with the ACC Levante club from Aguilas and several independent owners who brought their pride and joys down for our pleasure.

Joaquin, the owner of the magnificent 1928 red and cream car which led the parade, proudly showed the photographs of the wreck he had bought to a crowd of interested onlookers, explaining the process of the 7 year restoration he had undertaken himself to bring the car to its current glory. His was just one of several amazing restoration projects which were on display, and all too soon the cars departed for a tour of Camposol with drinks at the Sensol and lunch in the Trevi Bar, sponsored by CHM heating, The English Butcher and The Trevi Bar themselves.

For More Photos of these Fantastic Cars CLICK HERE

 

During the afternoon, the family entertainment continued with displays by the children from the Murcia Dance Academy, choreographed by Louise Bremner, a Karate display by Lloyds karate kids and Pilates from Taras Retreat, but before that, one of the undoubted highlights of the weekend, the Scruffs Dog Show, sponsored by CAFÉ, took place, with the dogs stealing the show.

 

The Biggest disgrace in the dog show title was awarded  after the contestants had departed by the Judges, Steve Tucker from Costa Calida International Radio, Carol Hawkins of Please Sir and Carry on Fame, and Zoe Cooper from Simply Networking, who felt that the blatant attempts by the Chairman of PALS, Ken Payne, to first of all bribe the judges, then enter a toy dog into the show should become public knowledge for all.

35 dogs entered their owners into the show, and competition was intense, as was the heat.

Picking the winners was an almost impossible task for the judges, particularly the category for the dog that looked most like its owner. So many of them were perfectly suited to their owners- some of the dogs had even gone to the trouble of having their hair groomed, dyed and styled to look like the perfect couple, that it was impossible to separate out the best. Bruno nearly won every category, but in the end walked away with the title of the odd couple, and the younger contestants surpassed themselves not only by the quality of their entries, but also the good behaviour of all their dogs.

 

The dog with the waggiest tail- Lulu

The Odd Couple. Bruno

Saddest looking Dog, Jodie

Dog that looks most like its owner, Ellie

Take me home please - proved impossible to judge as all the judges wanted their own way in this one, so three winners were chosen, Ferris, Tue and Ami.

 

Prizes were donated by Quicksave, Happy Pets and Paco Sanchez Vera, the vet on Camposol and in the Puerto de Mazarron.

Special thanks to Brian and Gina Shakespeare for organizing the event.

For More Photos of Dog Show CLICK HERE

 

Soon after the dog show, Mervyn Booth made a presentation to CAFÉ for 1000 euros. This has been raised over a period of many months by the Calida Country Music Club who meet fortnightly at the La Molata Social Centre, sharing their enjoyment of Country and Western music.

 

The evening drew on, with the excitement of the grand prize draw pulling the crowds back yet again, as the huge list of prizes donated by local businesses went to the lucky winners.

Prizes donated as follows;

Santander Bank, Coffee set, laptop case and 2 memory fobs

Fred Elliots, meat voucher and menu del dia for two

Caixa bank, a wall clock and 2 steam irons

Fiestas Camposol, Basket and digital camera

Welcome Group, a hamper

Lilac lilies, a pedicure

Quick save, 2 hampers

Yorkshire Linen, a voucher for home furnishings

UK Supplies, Terracotta clock, thermometer, china tray with mugs

Mr Mechanic, full service and oil change

Rainbow satellites, photo frame

Lloyds removals, a cuddly toy

Daves Gym, 2 free tickets for a week

Trevis Bar, a meal voucher

Images, a cut and blow dry

Steves barbers for a gents hair cut

Kennellys Kitchen, breakfast for two.

Jardiniere Garden ctr, plant

Tonys Fishing trips, a half day fishing trip for 6 people

YPM A free sat digital box

Consum - Two trolleys of goods.

 

This sounds more like the generation game by the moment, don't forget the cuddly toy.......

 

Thanks to all the bands and performers who entertained us all so royally for the weekend, and AM/PM security who ensured that everything ran so smoothly.

 

Many thanks must also be expressed to Mazarron council for all the equipment they provided and the help given, in particular by Councillor Jacqui Galvez who co-ordinated the liaison required to make this event happen.

 

The closing act of this Camposol Fiesta is the selection of the official Camposol Photographer of the year, and exhibition of photographs taken during the event.

The official announcement of the winner will take place at the Camposol Business centre on Friday 24^th July between 7pm and 9pm, with the exhibition remaining open until Friday 18^th August. 

 

So,  when's the next one is what we all want to know.

 

Well, the fiesta is now officially entered in to the councils register for the last weekend in June, and has now received official charity status, which will make the financing considerably easier next time, as hopefully businesses will be able to write off their sponsorship, and more of the larger businesses may be willing to contribute more significantly to the overheads, making next year bigger and better and even more entertaining for all of us who had such a wonderful time this year.

 

Thank you again, to all of you who gave up so much time , effort and energy into making this happen, and even after an exhausting weekend making sure we all had a fantastic time, were out there by 8am on Monday morning cleaning up the carparks, taking down the stage and removing all traces of the fiesta until the following year.

 

On behalf of everyone, a massive THANK YOU for everything you've done, and we just can't wait to do it all again.

The Camposol Fiesta, Fantastic Family Fun.

 

If you want to read some of the text written pre-fiesta about the people involved in the fiesta, the groups who worked so hard to make this a great day and the Silly Old Sods who went to mind numbing levels of self-sacrifice to raise money for the fiesta , CLICK HERE

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