The crowd was rowdy, the enthusiasm was high, the competition was fierce and the skills were varied……
That about sums up the second annual Games Night hosted by Peter and Dorothy Klumpp last Saturday night (7 May) at the Paluma Community Hall.
More than 25 people attended the Games Night and we started the evening with a practice run of the various games set up by Peter Klumpp and his volunteers. There was carpet bowls, table tennis, mini-table tennis, darts, mini golf, throwing cans and the very popular table soccer. Before the main event, the crowd enjoyed a sausage sizzle cooked by Lynda, complete with her delicious coleslaw.
The competition began with the drawing of 10 teams of 2 people – 1 male and 1 female in each team. Peter’s roster for the rotation of the 10 teams through the various games had us all organised with a system to rival the best mathematical tables. The system worked (a bit like herding cats) and the games began. There was frenetic activity, sweating, cheering, shouting, laughing, swearing and a fair bit of cheating as the competition heated up, especially at the carpet bowls, table tennis and the table soccer. ‘Bend it like Beckham’ took on a whole new meaning at the soccer table!
Without any doubt the evening was a great success and a great deal of fun. The Grand Champions on the night were Big Mark and Ros taking out first prize as the overall winning team. There were four teams who came second as runners up – Jill and Neil, Jamie and Jodie, Michele and Mark and Dorothy and Les. The winners were presented with trophies, gold medals and chocolates.
Big Mark gets the award for the most athletic moves of the games whilst simultaneously playing table tennis and carpet bowls. We will call it the ‘A over T back flip in pike position, ending in a front tuck reverse commando roll’. The ground definitely moved for all those who witnessed this feat and who were in close proximity!. Come to think of it, Mark spent quite a bit of time rolling around on the carpet bowls mat on the night?!
Despite the thrills and spills of the night, fortunately no injuries were sustained (or none that we’ve heard about), but it’s possible that some participants were reaching for the Dencorub by Sunday morning…..?. My only complaint was a sore face from laughing and cheering (mostly for myself) on the night.
Barman Les reported a roaring trade for the evening. The takings for the bar and sausage sizzle were some $420.00, so the big winner from Games Night is the community with important funds being raised for the PDCA.
A very big thank you to Peter and Dorothy for the initiative and for running the Games Night and to Lynda for volunteering at the BBQ. It was great to see new residents Ros and Wayne from Lennox Crescent join in the fun and we welcome you to the village. We hope that we haven’t scared you away!
Well done Paluma. A great night, a lot of fun and a community spirit that shines. Check out the following photos from the night!
Text by Michele Bird, with photos by Michele Bird, Wendy Crisp and Les Hyland.
Great night and a lot of fun had by all. All level of skills made it an adventure and acrobatic moves that I have never seen before. Well done the Klumpps and Lynda and well done Michele for another interesting wrap up of the nights events.
Another excellent games night, thank you Dorothy & Peter – soooo much fun
It certainly was a great night. Looking forward to the next one. A big thank you to the Clumps.