The Chichester and Bognor Regis Branch of the MS society held a summer lunch on Sunday the 29th of June 2008, from 12:00 to 4:00 pm. One hundred and sixteen guests came and it was an absolutely wonderful day. Read on to find out more.

At the bottom of this page is a presentational video of the day.

The Venue

We were very lucky to have the use of the beautiful grounds of Lavant House for this event. This was the perfect venue for a Sunday lunch on a lovely summer afternoon. The lunch was held in the grounds inside a huge marquee. You can find out more about Lavant House here.

When the marquee was laid up it looked fabulous. You can see it in the video at the bottom of the page. Carol Linton created the most beautiful flower displays for the tables, which were auctioned off at the end of the day.

Lady Iris Stuart-Taylor, our long standing president, took her arrangement home and painted a lovely water colour of them.

 Painting of the Summer Rose Lunch flowers by Lady Iris Stuart-Taylor

The Food

Nik Westacott to produced an excellent meal for the Summer Rose Lunch.

Previous owner of the award winning Chichester Restaurant Platters for 14 years, Nik has sold this great establishment to concentrate on food, wine and people, outside of the constraints of a restaurant, and is now running from his new business "82 Fishbourne". You can find out more about Nik Westacott and "82 Fishbourne" here.

He is a Professional Chef with many years experience in catering and an expert in many areas of food and hospitality, including wild edible mushroom identification and gathering. Nik has also appeared on Sky and Channel 4 TV, hosted Fungi days for Chichester and Emsworth Food Festivals, West Dean Gardens and Weald and Downland Museum and he does an annual cookery demonstrations for Waitrose.

The menu for the day was as follows:

Main course

A choice of either:

Meat - Poached breast of chicken with chive and Chablis mayonnaise

or

Fish - Scottish salmon baked in an oat crust with sweet chilli jam

or

Vegetarian - Spinach and Chevre roulade

plus

Fresh cut French bread and butter

and

Self service salads:
Chiffonade of lettuce with fresh herbs
Tarragon potato salad
Tomatoes with balsamic glaze and red onions
Crunchy celery and vegetable vinaigrette

followed by

Dessert and Cheese

Fresh lemon tart or French apple flan

or

St Augur or Brie with grapes and crackers

My mouth is watering just remembering it. What a menu! Thanks for the excellent food and service Nik.

Entertainment

Music

The warm summer air was filled with effortless sounds of the very colourful George's Regis Jazz Band. These guys are consummate entertainers and delivered the perfect music for a the relaxed summer lunch. But boy, they turned up the heat later and got everyone dancing!

The band was founded in 1989 by George Bennett and comprises of a nucleus of seasoned local musicians with rhythm flowing through their veins:

Peter Leonard..........Trumpet
Eddie Brockwell.......Clarinet
Jim Heath................Banjo and Guitar
Eddie Cooper............Double Bass and Tuba
George Bennett.........Drums

They played a variety of styles with numbers ranging from Traditional New Orleans Jazz and Marches through conventional "Trad" numbers to 1920's tunes and Comedy Routines. There really was something for everyone in their repertoire.

I have seen uninitiated punters and Jazz fundies alike tap away to their vibrant delivery. Well done guys, thanks so much for the wonderful tunes.

Art produced for the LandMarkS project

Some wonderful paintings have already been produced for the LandMarkS project. These paintings made up a beautiful exhibition at the Summer Rose Lunch this year. Take a look at the rest of the paintings by visiting the View the work & Meet the Artists page or clicking on the links.

 WSCC Sign Post by Clive McBain

Guests at the Summer Rose Lunch were the first to see some of the spectacular work produced for the LandMarkS project on public display. If you like art, have an interest in West Sussex as an area of outstanding natural and manmade beauty, and would like to see the interpretation of this from an eclectic mix of talent, then make sure you attend the next event.

 The Spirit of Oving by Malvina Watson

If you wish to see some of this work you can View the work & Meet the Artists as the work becomes available.

 The Petworth Fair by George Reay

Classic Vehicles

There was a spectacular array of really unique vehicles that made a pit stop at the Summer Rose Lunch this year including a: 

• 1930 Austin 7 Ulster supercharged two-seater sports
• 1960 Mark I Turner
• Fully Race Prepared Jaguar XK 140 Coupe
• Green Goddess
• Model T Ford (Tin Lizzie) the first production car
• Ex Royal family Ford Grenada Estate (1984)
• Black Ford Econoline Custom Dayvan 6.6 ltr (1987)
• Red Corvette Stingray 6.6 ltr (1969)
• Yellow Ford Mustang 5.7 ltr ('1963 fast back')
• Burgandy Ford Mustang coupe 5.0 ltr (1967)
• Ford Crown N.Y.P.D. police car (1998)
• Black Chrysler Crossfire 4.2 ltr (2006)
• Noble
• and there were more.....!!

Thank you so much to everyone who brought their wonderful cars.

You can see some of the cars by visiting the Solent Renegades site at www.solent-renegades.co.uk. Thanks a lot Pete and the Solent Renegades.

Raffle Prizes

There were some great raffle prizes won on the day. These included: 

• A dream experience driving a Ferrari around Goodwood Motor Circuit courtesy of Mithril Racing
• Needless to say this was snapped up first.
• A meal for two at the newly refurbished Crab and Lobster in Sidlesham
• A hair design appointment with Cutting and Styling at Q Hair and Beauty
• A professional Manicure and Pedicure treatment at Q Hair and Beauty
• Meal for two at the Horse and Groom - Courtesy of the Horse and Groom East Ashling
• Watercolour painting of Ashness Bridge - Courtesy of the Michael Pratt, Midhurst
• Apple iPod shuffle (512MB)
• Two bottles of wine - Courtesy of the Majestic Wine Warehouse Chichester

Wow! There were some happy winners.

Thank you so much to all of our generous sponsors. Please think of visiting their websites and supporting their businesses.

I would also like to thank Bill, the Manager of Sainsbury's Chichester, for the two litres of Pimms. 

Pimms was extremely popular on the day. Great idea Caroline!

Thank you

Tickets cost £25; I think all that came agree it was value for money. Overall, the day was a huge success and we raised £1831.64!

However, much more important than how much money we raised, is the fact that there were so many new faces at the lunch, people who had not been involved with MS before.

I would like to thank all of the people that came to the event and supported the Chichester and Bognor Regis Branch of the MS Society. You have all contributed to a very worthwhile cause and I hope that you will continue to support us.

In particular I would like to thank Lavant House and Margot for the use of the Lavant House grounds, Carol Linton for the beautiful flowers, all the people who brought those amazing cars, and all the artists involved in the LandMarkS project for the spectacular art work. 

Thank you so very much to everyone.  Aidan Maxwell - Fundraiser

Upcoming Events

If you would like to attend the next event please email the Fundraiser Aidan Maxwell or telephone him on 07751526820 and I will keep you posted. Alternatively, keep checking the website. The next event is the Murder Mystery Dinner to be held in January, 2009. I will build a web page for this event shortly.

Links to the Summer Rose Lunch

Chichester Observer:

Sun, food and all that jazz...

Midhurst and Petworth Oberver

Sun, Food and all that Jazz....

Chichester Jazz Club:

http://www.chichesterjazzclub.co.uk/links.asp

http://www.chichesterjazzclub.co.uk/news.asp

Below is a presentational video of the Summer Rose Lunch. Enjoy.