Riverday 2009 Report - by Emily Lane

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Another fantastic day at the Swinbrook and Asthall River Day

On Saturday 27^th June, Swinbrook and Asthall’s River Day took place and, despite the current economic climate, it was very much bigger and better than previous years! Again the monies generated are donated to Helen and Douglas hospice for children.

The humid weather brought a vast number of people, old and young from the local villages to the river bank, while Swinbrook’s 1^st XI played in the blazing sun on the pitch opposite. This year’s 'Movie' themed rafts were as impressive and humorous as ever, among them were: the colourful ‘High School Musical’, the sophisticated ‘Cocktail’, which had an array of fancy bar snacks including olives and peanuts and we were also lucky enough to have our own Tom Hanks lookalikes on ‘Castaway’!  While the crew perfected their rafts (Dorothy and Tin Man looked especially comical), local MP David Cameron joined the excitement by judging the contest for the best looking raft and crew which was won by ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’. Despite the crowds, I was able to catch Mr Cameron who described the day as ‘Fantastic’ despite being worried about ‘Cocktail’ which ‘seemed to be 'blue-tacked' down’!  Prior to the race the local MP told me about his family’s experience with Helen and Douglas house and thanked everyone for their support of such a ‘worthwhile and fantastic’ charity. He was also ‘impressed by the number of people’ who attended the event as ‘Swinbrook and Asthall are such small villages’. The raft race began promptly at 2:00pm and despite, ‘Black beauty’ tragically capsizing, most safely set off down the river!  From then on, it was the usual rush as the observers tried to catch their favourites in action. Despite the St Trinian’s girls going head first in the weir, the loss of a mischievous inflatable dolphin and rather ironically, ‘The Hopeful’s having to swim much of the way, the rafts were lifted to safety by Robert Lane onto Asthall’s grass banks!

While the fun was being had on the water (Vaughan Lewis on ‘Das Boot’ seemed especially to enjoy his raft’s endless supply of water bombs!) There was a variety of food and games to keep all ages entertained with many going back for thirds from Sue Meech’s cake stand and Andy Trevaskis’ BBQ, which carried on till the sun went down. The well organised games ranged from an imaginative canvas treasure hunt, to the traditional (albeit rather dangerous) Welly-wanging! Among the tents  there were also craft stalls, including textile artist Jane Hanks who produces exquisite ’vintage feel’ decorative pieces  inspired by children’s old nursery books. Later on the popular Duck Race took off, which in the end was won by a Mr Riley, of the 400 plastic ducks, there were 17 non starters! After a much needed change of clothes, the raft race participants gathered for the results of the fastest raft, and although taking four 4 days to build, The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’  raft won with a mere 8 minutes and 33 seconds! There were endless prize giving throughout the afternoon ranging from beer tokens to dinners for two at The Swan Inn and The Angel in Burford.

Although the crowds thinned out around 6:00pm and the black clouds hovered in the distance, the sun continued to shine and preparations went ahead for the evening entertainment. The well ran River Day bar’s ancient tent provided shade and liquids for the over 18 through to the early hours of the morning and a special thank you must be mentioned to the team who were endlessly busy. For the first time, three bands took to the stage and DJ Gary ensured smooth half an hour change over periods. The young and diverse ‘Midnight drive’ began the live music with a short set of their own songs. Another young and up and coming band ‘Stereo Asylum’ followed who had many on their feet with impressive covers such as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet home Alabama’ and  they definitely encouraged the audience to ‘Fight for their right’ (to party) with a Beastie Boy’s classic! The ‘Bangalore Torpedo’s were well received when they ended the live music as the audience were familiar with them from their regular slots at the Swan Inn.

As I am sure others will agree, the River Day was a great success and will have raised a tremendous amount of money for Helen and Douglas house that emphasise living life to the full. Of course the event could not have taken place without such a dedicated and enthusiastic committee. There are too many to mention individually but I would like to extend thanks to all the committee members for their incredible work to ensure everyone had an enjoyable and memorable day. With consistent meetings which ran from early February into the summer, it is safe to say all their hard work paid off and it will be especially difficult to top this year’s event in the future!

Emily Lane

29 June 2009

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