One of the great Christmas traditions of the AGW is annually remembering our ‘senior’ colleagues and those colleagues who are no longer with us with the despatch of one our ‘famed’ AGW hampers.
We also arranged for a number of hampers to be sent to special friends of the AGW.
And judging by the many ‘thank you’ notes received by AGW Treasurer, Peter Higgs (who arranges the despatch of the hampers) and AGW Secretary, Bernie McGuire the hampers are clearly a Christmas smash hit.
A big thank you then to those members who have spoken of their joy and delight and including Jane Morgan, Lindy Johnson, and Joan Wilson and others who phoned-in their ‘thank you’s’.
Of those who forwarded emails they make for delightful reading. (Please advise and also apologies if you were missed in compiling this list)
GORDON RICHARDSON
Bonjour Bernie…merci beaucoup a tous le monde in the AGW family I joined way back in 1966 at the tender age of 29. Sincerely Louisette and I profoundly appreciate the bountiful box of goodies which winged their way down to the Dordogne. After months of anxiety and frustration over Brexit (yesterday my pitifully petite pension took another hit when Boris re-introduced the damaging NO DEAL prospect for December 31 2020 and the pound plunged from almost 1.20 to 1.17) a gift of good news in the shape of our delicious hamper was welcome indeed
I have a daughter living in Lille and a brother in the Charente and we all must now queue up for right to remain cards…..me after 22 years of residence. But as I crunch my crisps, salivate over my chocolates and sip my English tea, courtesy of the AGW, I remain happy and content with life in this beautiful region of south west France.
Encore merci beaucoup and best wishes to all AGW members and their families. A bientot. Gordon.
GRAHAM OTWAY
Many thanks for including me on this year’s hamper list – it was great to get it today. I hope you are well and enjoy a good Christmas. Best Graham
BRYAN POTTER
Thanks once again for the splendid box of Christmas goodies received yesterday. Thank you both and the rest of the committee for all you do every year to keep the association afloat and for remembering us oldies. My good wishes for you all to have a good Christmas and happy writing (and playing) in 2020.
JOHN INGHAM
Incredible gift from incredible people. Appreciated by the Ingham clan.
Best wishes to all for a Happy Christmas and a great 2020!
John
ALLAN HERON
Please convey my sincere thanks for the bumper hamper i received this morning, from this humble hack who has just celebrated 60 years as a member of the AGW in his 92nd year. When I opened the hamper I was suddenly hit by names in the past like Miss Debenham, Haeger, Huggins, Ward Thomas, Crawley, Pignon, Hart and many others. The days when the Press tent had a floor of turf and where many a caddy spent the night. Last time I ate popcorn was in a Cinema watching Gone with the Wind, with a lady whose name I have long since forgotten! Again thanks to all whom I trust will enjoy a Merry Xmas and a healthy 2020. Lang may yer lum reek.
TONY GARNETT
Wishing you a very happy Christmas and all the best in 2020. Very many thanks to AGW for the Christmas hamper which arrived this week. It was a lovely surprise. Tony (Via lovely Jacquie Lawson electronic Christmas card)
TONY ADAMSON
Still flabbergasted at receiving my hamper. Thank you so much, and if there’s a way of thanking the Association as a whole I’d appreciate it. I’ve been a very proud member for 22 years, worked alongside and appreciated the passion for the game of such AGW legends as Laidlaw, McDonnell, Moseley, and Wilson, and thrilled to be the BBC correspondent when the likes of Nicklaus and Watson, Seve and Woods et al were doing their stuff. Now, a proud AGW senior qualified to receive a Xmas Hamper, I remain an active observer of the best game in the world hoping to meet many of the past and present members at Royal St Georges in July. With best wishes to all, Tony Adamson
JOHN WHITBREAD
My what a pick me up! Having struggled around trying to get ready for Christmas, with my left hip really aching for the operation in January, it was a really lovely surprise to receive this full-of-goodies hamper. I have always been a very proud member of the AGW – today I am a very grateful one. Many thanks John W
DIXON BLACKSTOCK
I never thought that nearly 50 years after joining the AGW that I would still be thankful for what turned out to be a decision so wise. Not only because of the sound advice I was given by fellow members who were more seasoned than me, but the friendship that still prevails.
Which takes me to the arrival of the Christmas hamper…an event which gives my wife Jean and myself such a lift every year. Thanks to all who organise and contribute to the goodies. So far I have managed to keep the looters…ie the family ..at bay. But that will not last long, I am sure. I wish all the best for everyone in the AGW for the year ahead. Dixon Blackstock
JEREMY CHAPMAN
Dear AGW friends
What a wonderful surprise to receive one of your food hampers for Christmas. Thank you all for this marvellous gesture although I can’t see how I qualify for such generosity.
Am still working on golf a couple of days a week for the Racing & Football Outlook and filling the rest of my time reviewing musicals for the Musical Theatre Review website or playing table tennis with fellow geriatrics in the U3A (also coaching youngsters at our new Ping Pong Parlour in Walton).
Sadly I won’t be able to sample the array of goodies in the hamper as I have been strictly Nil By Mouth for three years now but Christa has already nicked the box of chocolates while two daughters, husbands and four grandchildren will do full justice to the Christmas cake, biscuits, crisps etc when they descend on Chapman Towers tomorrow.
After two years of being too frail to play golf and 48 days spent in hospital, I have made a mini-comeback this year with three full rounds and four nine-holers. Well, “golf” is a bit of a misnomer because the plan is to keep a 10 off the card and the target is to beat 110 (did so once at West Byfleet) but it’s so good to be able to sort-of-play again. My pub golf society where I turned out twice have given me a handicap of 32 for next year, not enough but it really doesn’t matter anymore. It’s the company and the friendship that’s important.
I see the AGW are planning a competition near me at Royal Mid Surrey in April and if that comes off, I’d love to take part. Christa will come too to drive the buggy and pick me up if I fall over.
Fervently hope to see you all then. In the meantime, festive greetings and thanks once again for thinking of me.
Jeremy
DAVID HAMILTON
How wonderful to receive the annual Christmas gift from the Association. My thanks to all and as its arrival almost coincided with my 82nd birthday it made it that more special. My lady and I will enjoy it all and I shall remember many pals I see all too rarely these days. Once again, my thanks to the AGW for this treat at Christmas. Dave Hamilton
KATE WRIGHT
I just wanted to drop you line thanking you for the wonderful hamper sent to me on behalf of the AGW. It was a very thoughtful surprise and one I was not expecting at all.
Needless to say, all the contents have been demolished, as if we don’t already eat enough over the Christmas period as it is!!
Once again thank you for thinking of me.
PAT OAKLEY (John Oakley)
I very much appreciated the Christmas hamper you sent me this year. Best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year. Pat Oakley
I would just like to add my thanks for the Christmas hamper. My mother is in good health, despite her advancing years. It really lifts her spirits that John is still remembered by his former colleagues. Each year, she always wonders if she will get another Christmas hamper and when she does, she is delighted. It is heartening that after all this time, my father is still missed by the Association and in your thoughts. David Oakley (Son)
PAT RUDDY
What a shock and thrill when a hamper came out of the blue. Stunned. Almost speechless. Delighted. I love you all. Pat Ruddy
PATRICIA DAVIES
I’d just like to wish all members of the AGW and their families all the best for 2020 and say thank you, shamefully late, for my Christmas hamper. It was much appreciated and delicious – I don’t think there’s anything left. Here’s to a year of good golf and lots of fun, Patricia x
DONALD STEEL
Very grateful, slightly belated, appreciation for my Christmas hamper. There aren’t many prizes for being over 80 but that is one. Please pass on my thanks to those concerned. Happy New Year. Donald
LIZ KAHN
Please could you post my very grateful thanks for a most excellent and very welcome hamper. Cannot believe I am old enough although I feel about 100 as I managed to crash to the floor at a wedding near New York and smash my femur. Two months later neuropathic pain has set in and I’m a wreck.
I wish everyone a happy Christmas and good things for 2020.
Love, Liz
MARGARET BROADLEY
Apologies for the delay in my getting in touch to thank you for sending the hamper at Christmas. It’s a very kind gesture which is much appreciated as before
I am just back from five weeks in Australia to meet my first ( and only ) grandchild . Ian would have loved to go … odds are he’ll be a golfer as his father and grandfather before him
The hamper was here waiting for me!
With best wishes for a happy and healthy year to all.
Margaret
JAMES MOSSOP
One of the first joys of Christmas is the arrival of the AGW Hamper. It brought a special smile to Herself (Sandra) who fractured her femur on December 9 and needed an operation. Thank you all at the AGW for such generosity towards the widows and Wrinklies and to member Peter Higgs for putting the imaginative package together. Best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy and bountiful 2020. PS: I now know how a dishwasher works, I can follow a shopping list and usually manage to push a wheelchair around Waitrose etc without incident. As Herself says, I am willing but not very able.
JUDY WILLIAMS
Once again a very big “Thank you” to the AGW for remembering me. I was delighted to receive the hamper which was enjoyed by my family, who were all with me over Christmas. I very much appreciate this gift from Michael’s colleagues.
My very best wishes to members of the AGW for a happy, healthy and successful 2020
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