Young farmers' chairman is the right 'type'
As a typical farmer I've always managed to get out of typing letters and things on the computer, until this year within Young Farmers, where I've found myself typing more than I have every other year of my life put together, writes Rhys Jones.
This has its advantages though – I've gone from being painfully slow at typing to just below average which I've been quite proud of. However now, as I sit here jabbing at the keyboard with a broken hand in plaster, I'm straight back to square one.
This bust hand is (quite thankfully) one of the very few negative outcomes from that epic, epic night we had at the end of August, the Swinging Sixties Shropshire YFC Chairman's Ball.
From 9pm all the way through until 4am the event flowed brilliantly. We had a bit of rain early evening which made for no more than a few good handbrake turns – and then a dry clear night which saw the partygoers roll in. A packed tent, top tunes, dirty dancing, raging rides and a little bit of beer –and no doubt a bit of gossip too, made for one of the most successful chairman's balls we've ever had.
A massive thank you goes out to everyone who came, helped set up, contributed, and most importantly helped tidy up. It was a quality do that I'm very proud to say was a Shropshire one.
Preceding the ball of course was the charity concert – "The Shocking Savage Scandal!" on Thursday 21st. Nearly every YFC club played a part in solving the mystery of our county president Richard Savage's –"kidnapping" and we discovered in the end that. . . it was me. Sorry Richard! My motive? To get my hands on the YFC charity proceeds to fund my embarrassing hair dying fetish.
A properly great night once again which was incredibly well attended and which raised well over £5,000 all for The Brain Tumour Charity. Thanks immensely to everyone for doing their bit.
And then just like that September's here and still busy but for all different reasons – club annual general meetings. The time of year when the retiring chair and secretary breathe a sigh of relief and the new chair and secretary gulp and dive in. And the treasurer toils to get the books balanced and audited. If you know anyone that's just retiring from one of these posts give them a pat on the back, it's a heck of an achievement.
Along with the AGMs of course comes our annual batch of new members' evenings across the county. If you or anyone you know is thinking of getting into Young Farmers - this is the time! Every club will be hosting a new members' night sometime between the start of October and mid November. Each evening is a very casual job, entailing a few games to show just what YFC is all about. To find your nearest club please call me on 07792 723207, or our county office on (01743) 442880.
And now, all mixed up in the mayhem returns once again our old favourite, the dinner and dance season. It's an annual event for pretty much every club to celebrate their year in style with members, with past members and friends all invited. I'll be putting a big effort in to get around a few myself before I finish my own post as county chairman in November. I'm holding back the tears now.
* Rhys Jones is Shropshire YFC chairman
