Words by Kevin – Pictures by Christine .
A summer Barbecue used to be a regular event for St Edwards, however circumstances over the last few years had prevented this happening. This all changed on the 18th August this year when the first of what is hoped to be a regular yearly event again was held .
Preparations Started on the Saturday when yours truly tended to the Barbecue itself by repacing the gas and checking it over ,having previously been thoroughly cleaned by Fr Prem, who with help from his family ( Amrutha did the shopping and Deborah had started the food preparation) and myself then set out the chairs ,tables and the gazebos. It was at this point that I was “persuaded” that I was to be the barbecue chef on the day !
Unfortunately overnight the rain started. The next morning Christine ( who attended the 8.30 service) joined myself ,Deborah and Amrutha and set to work with more setting up, lighting the Barbecue , more food preperation and the “indoor” food cooking, closely followed by frantic drying and mopping up of the wet chairs and tables . Thankfully by midday the rain had stopped and the sun came out .
At that time Fr Prem and the congregation joined us after the morning services,Fr James and Jacqueline dealt with a Christening and then event started in earnest . The afternoon started with a blessing ,some traditional Indian Christian worship with Prayer sticks and went on with a demonstration of some traditional Indian dance by Amrutha and Deborah .
By then the Hot Food was ready and eveyone tucked in .As well as the normal barbecue fayre of sausages,burgers and chicken ,hot indian dishes and salad was also available ( thanks to the efforts of Deborah and aided by Christine and Karen ) and all those attending brought along either a savoury or sweet dish and soft drinks .All those who attended said how much they enjoyed themselves and were looking forward to repeating the event next summer .
At the end of the day most people took home a “doggy bag” so nothing was wasted .
Below there is a gallery of the days Photographs ( click on the picture for a full size version)
