Black Tie - No Tie!
by John Devlin
The 40th annual Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race Dinner took place on the clear, mild spring evening of Friday, 5 May 2006. The venue was once again the University of King's College, in Halifax, with the saucer magnolias blooming outside Alexandra Hall. As in the past it was expertly organized by our Oxford friend, Dr Walter Kemp (Exeter) and Mrs Valda Kemp.
The 19 guests at this black tie event convened at 7:30 in the King's Senior Common Room for champagne. At 8:00 we proceeded to high table in Prince Hall.
We started with salad and rolls, and went on to prime rib of roast beef, and vegetables. This was finished off with a light lemon mousse. Dinner began and ended with a Latin grace. Then we retired to the Board Room for port, fruit, biscuits and cheese. We sang, we laughed, we talked, we listened to Neil Robertson (Queens') sing two Mozart arias. We drank some more port. The Queen was toasted. The victors were toasted, as were the vanquished; the ladies were toasted and the gentlemen, too. At last the video of the race was viewed, much to the delight of Oxford. An altogether enjoyable and harmonious evening.
***
No tie was definitely de rigeur at our third annual barbeque at the summer home of Kit & Gill Childs in the Annapolis Valley on Saturday, 5 August 2006. The Childs' graciously opened up their home and gardens to about 27 members and friends and guests on a beautiful summer afternoon. The wine flowed freely - much of it locally produced. It was a wine-taster's paradise, that high summer afternoon. It was potluck, too, with a variety of delicacies brought for the communal table.
Kit gave us a tour of the grapevines, which are both flourishing and suffering a bit this hot, rainy summer.
Facing south, at the foot of North Mountain near Canning, in the Annapolis Valley, the Childs' working vineyard was an ideal venue for our lavish repast.
So swiftly did the time go by from 4 pm to about 8 pm, it was with a sense of mild regret that many of us motored back to Halifax/Dartmouth.
We also welcomed the young fresher, Alyson Horne, of Halifax, who is going up to Wolfson this fall to pursue an M.Phil. in International Studies. And to round out the afternoon Elizabeth Ryan brought a surprise birthday cake to celebrate (a few days early) the 80th birthday of Joe MacDowall, our much-loved president. A fitting end to an idyllic afternoon in the country.
(this page updated 17 August, 2006)
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19 contented Oxbridgians dine on roast beef and all the trimmings at Dr Walter Kemp's annual Boat Race Dinner
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