The End of Season Rally took place on 13th – 15th of October. Aidan and Mary Clear from Pacific M were Commodores for the event. The weekend kicked off in the Dog and Duck in Ballykeeran with a great turn out considering the wet night. The Athlone Branch Band entertained us for the night with some excellent guest artists.
On Saturday we travelled into Athlone Marina. The water levels were exceptionally high for the time of year but all boats made it through bar one. When all the boats were settled in the Commodores set up their afternoon games on the lawn. It was great to see all the children moving from station to station to try all the old style games like bobbing for apples and searching the pumpkin of ‘worms’ for sweets. As is the norm on an Athlone rally the adults played boules on the lawn while enjoying the Commodores beautiful spread of cheese and wine. There were plenty of puzzled children when it was time to play Pass the Parcel. I reckon this is one game that is no longer played at children’s parties. The dragon pinata was a great spectacle for the adults as Ian Craig turned all the blind folded children the wrong direction for their turn. Eventually it was decided to let them hit it without the blindfolds, we had a dinner to get to.
After the fun and games we enjoyed a fantastic buffet in The Quays pub across the road. There was dancing til late and a few diehards managed to continue the partying back in the Marina.
Sunday morning was warm and sunny but people were getting anxious about the impending Storm Ophelia that was approaching for Monday and most people wanted to get back to their berths and get their boats secured. It is sad to think that the season is finished for 2017 now but we are already hatching plans for 2018.
