November is a good time for parties – it is dark and rainy, we cannot fly much anyway… Every year, the gliding club in Gørløse (EKGL) celebrates the end of the season with a joyous bash on a Saturday in November.
The gliders were disassembled, waiting for the annual maintenance time during winter. Piper Pawnee, the towing aircraft that took me up hundreds of timers during the years in EKGL, was moved from its own hangar to another one in order to make room for the dancing floor:
Guests began to arrive, and were welcomed with a tasty aperitif or a glass of wine:
And soon Trine, who coordinated all preparations for the evening, got on stage and officially opened the event:
Trine did a great job, and we all applauded after her speech. Of course, she wasn’t alone with this task – many others members gave a hand and worked together for several weeks to make it happen. But Trine was the soul behind, and deserved a big thank you.
Before the dinner, there was time for socialising. Some played table tennis:
Others practised hammering very thick nails into the wood. Glenn mastered it very well:
Happy Flemming and Christian, getting viking-size portions of lamb roast:
We were around 60 people; pilots together with their spouses and friends:
With Flemming; I hope you noticed Flemming’s beautiful shirt with aeroplanes – a pilot couldn’t be dressed better!
The dinner was delicious! We had seared tuna for starter, with seaweed salad and peanut sauce. For main, grilled lamb culotte with potatoes, tzatziki, pomegranate salad, and truffle sauce. And several different deserts. All made by Torben, again with the practical help of others. Torben was in the kitchen for several days. And during the party, he was cooking and serving all the time, and got many applauds for his work. Torben with the pots and frying pans:
A couple of weeks or maybe even months earlier, Flemming told me about plans for this party, and mentioned that Billy Cross, Mik Schack and Flemming Ostermann were going to give a concert for EKGL I asked for an invitation to attend the festivities, and was invited.
I never heard them playing before, but the band is quite famous in Denmark. Billy Cross played together with Bob Dylan; Flemming Ostermann is a well-known bassist that played with Savage Rose and other artists; Mik Schack plays on a washboard (!) and is a TV-personality who among other thing also had a TV program about cooking. Mik tasted Torben’s gourmet food that evening, and – when he got on the stage – praised Torben’s skills.
The trio played, and we were dancing:
Kaj Lund, the chairman, had a speech where he mentioned all those important, funny, and memorable events of the past season we were celebrating:
Each year, there is a competition coordinated by Mogens Hansen (right on the photo below). The competition is about flying gliders of course, and in different categories. Mogens congratulated the winners, and handed over the prizes:
From left to right – GNC Gørløse category: Anders Mølgaard with 2702 points, GNC International category: Bjørn Reichinger – 2088 points, GNC Denmark category: Klaus Degner – 2768 points.
Then there was live music and dancing again. It was a bit hard to dance on the concrete floor, but nobody complained; everyone seemed to be happy and we just enjoyed it as much as we could.
Having hangar-style fun with Rikke:
We listened to the last song, standing on the dancing floor, and nobody wanted to leave – it was such a great concert!
It was a really nice evening: pre-heated and tastefully decorated hangars, cosy lighting, gourmet food, music concert that we will remember, huge dancing floor, comfortable sitting areas, candlelight, and by all means the company – pilots and those who support our passion. Many thanks to all who contributed to organising and running the party, and to all guests!