The Annual Reunion Dinner, 2011 | Home | Index | Guestbook | | Home (Aston) | Index (Aston) |

Despite superhuman efforts by several members of the Dinner Task Force, the numbers for this year's dinner, the seventy ninth, suggested that it would be a much smaller event than last year. That had been the first back at the school in 22 years, so perhaps the novelty had worn off, albeit rather quickly. As it turned out the final number was 79, which seemed quite appropriate!

Lots of feedback from last year's diners meant that several major changes were made: the anagram competition had been consigned to history, the raffle (still a bit controversial) simplified and the number of speeches reduced. The changes were intended to allow much more time for people to circulate and chat after the formalities were over. Some said it was so that the old 'uns could get home earlier!

Though the number of speeches was reduced, their length was not! One of the speakers, who had best remain anonymous, chose to base his comments on the letters of the alphabet, prompting someone on my table to say "It's at times like this that I wish we had a shorter alphabet"! (He should be glad we don't use the Armenian alphabet: that has 39 letters!)

Despite this there was an hour left after the formal proceedings concluded with the school song, played with gusto by Harry Grove and matched with similar energy by the diners, before the bar closed.

The other unchanging feature of these dinners,"The Immortal Memory", had been observed with a minute's silence earlier in the evening. Earlier still interested AOEs had been shown round the school by the Headmaster and his deputy. One of the younger AOEs commented on how moving it was, on reaching the War Memorial, to see one of the older ones point to three names and say "I was at school with them".

It was heartening to see a good contingent of younger AOEs, one of whom had escorted the oldest - 88 year old Jimmy Duff - from his home in central London. Jimmy had been a boy at the school when Joseph Manton retired and L G Brandon took over. The youngsters were fascinated to hear him talk of them as living people: to many they are simply the names of houses!

For a few photographs of this year's dinner, please click here.

As I drove home, shortly before midnight, my mind was already turning to next year's dinner, the eightieth, and the many improvements I would like to see made. I have a year's hard graft ahead of me to get these accepted by the friends with whom I work on what we call the 'Dinner Task Force'. But there is even harder work to be done persuading the younger generations of Aston Old Edwardians to join us, and thereby secure the continuation of these dinners to their century and beyond.