A BONANZA GATHERING ON THE SHORES OF THE RIVER MERSEY
After the huge success of the Bonanza 50th anniversary celebrations at Lake Tahoe, it was decided to have a similar gathering in the UK, to mark the 50th anniversary of the show being premiered over here.
Mitch Vogel and his lovely wife, Chrissy, who have given up their time to attend every convention held in the USA, were rewarded with a thank you gift, in the form of a holiday in Liverpool, by the directors of the conventions (Mitch is a huge Beatles fan).
So, it was suggested that Mitch and Chrissy coincided their visit with our anniversary week end, and Mitch agreed to give us a little of his time while in the UK, to meet up with fans, some who were already friends, plus some whom had never had the chance to meet him before.
I live just over an hour away from Liverpool, so Jackie Kay and I travelled to the hotel first thing on Saturday morning. The weather was absolutely glorious, brilliant sunshine and bright blue skies; as in Tahoe, the sun had come to join in with our celebrations.
We met up with some other fans, amongst them Vicki, Pat, Maggie and Aycee and just had time to grab a bite to eat before the festivities began.
We were all given a name badge and a goodie bag, and then had to take two puzzle pieces out of a bag. The pieces went together to form a picture of each of the Cartwrights. We were instructed to put our names on the back of our puzzle pieces and then place them in the puzzles. The first puzzle to be completed (it was the picture of Hoss) was then broken up and three pieces were drawn out of a bag and those three people received a prize. Apologies to the winners, but I do not have the names to hand, but I do know that all the winners were German.
In one of the rooms available to us, there was a vast array of goodies to buy and all the money was going to the two charities that had been nominated. Most of the goods had a Western theme, or were Bonanza related.
There were also a couple of stalls on which fans were selling off some of their collection of Bonanza memorabilia, so lots of money was changing hands.
We watched several episodes of our favourite show, most of them featuring Jamie, seeing as how Mitch was there, and we also had a short visual quiz, with clips etc., plus a film about the year 1960, the year Bonanza premiered here. This included some photos of those of us who were old enough to have been born, then, so was a bit of fun to see.
On Saturday evening, many of us dressed up, either in dresses of the period, or in character clothes, to attend the party in aid of the show’s 50th birthday.
The food was delicious, the wine flowed and some of us were even foolhardy enough to get up and try some line dancing! Mitch and Chrissy were enticed onto the dance floor and enjoyed it so much that they also took part in the okey cokey and Mitch led a line of people in the conga.
A charity raffle was held and there was a table positively groaning with prizes.
Pat Hirst had decorated a cake in honour of the occasion, using decorations that had graced her parents’ golden wedding cake.
The next day we watched another DVD, and then most of us took part in a special game of Taboo, made up by Heike, with all the words that had to be guessed having a Bonanza connection. We were divided into two teams, A and B, and I am pleased to report that team A, of which I was a part, were the winners. It was a fun game and everyone really threw themselves into it, especially the ones whom English was not their first language.
There was an auction of a beautiful quilt, made by Lynda Kemp, and Hilary Traveller was the highest bidder. Richenda was the winner of the silent auction.
After watching another DVD, we had a quiz, set by none other than yours truly, and Lyn Robinson was the winner. A booby prize was given to the contestant with the lowest score. Three people tied for this illustrious position
After the quiz there were two more episodes to watch and a compilation of clips to see, featuring the Bonanza stars.
All too soon, it was the end of the week end and all that was left was for Vicki to host the closing ceremony, where the prizes were awarded for best costumes and best look alike – Richenda, Sandra, Arlene and John were the winners.
Vicki closed the proceedings by presenting a special tribute to Pernell Roberts, who sadly died at the beginning of this year.
We were all thanked for coming and wished a safe journey home.
My thanks to Vicki and Maggie for all their hard work in putting the week end together, and a big thank you to Pat Hirst and her team for all the lovely decorations.
Our two charities, Claire’s Hospice and Great Ormond St. Hospital, benefitted from the week end to the tune of £165 each, so well done to all who attended.
Little Joe forever
Lynne
June 2nd 2010