Saturday, 26 December 2020
'Fool's Gold' Entertains U3A with a Festive Pot Pourri of Non-Stop Entertainment
The Todmorden U3A sung along mutedly to the popular songs and carols of Steve and Carol Robson, the acoustic singing duo 'Fool's Gold', on Friday, 18th December at their monthly Zoom meeting. Steve and Carol entertained the group with a delightful pot-pourri of seasonal mini-stories, reminiscences. They started with the tale of St Nicholas which led to 'Santa Claus is coming to Town' and then they moved imperceptibly onto 'Tidings of comfort & Joy' returning to the familiar 'Santa Claus' refrain.
For the second song they took us back to the snow drifts of 1947 and a young boys realisation that black marks in the snow was made by the warm breath of buried sheep. This fascinating tale was followed by the 'Bleak Midwinter' a favourite with many of our members. Felix Bernard wrote the song 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland' about the Norwegian characters, Tomte, who work for Santa checking if we are being 'naughty or nice'.
Todmorden U3A members love a quiz and Steve started this song with the question, "When was this a Christmas number one?" offering a giant sized jar of 'nothing at all', that comes in a variety of flavours that the winners can choose, as a prize. The song being 'All I needed was the love you gave' and the first person to get it right asked for gin flavoured 'Nothing at all'!
Next came 'Away in a Manger', followed by 'Let it Snow' and 'Good King Wenceslas'. Apparently their next song is mandatory for any Christmas show, and it was of course 'White Christmas'. Thought to come from the film of the same name with Bing Crosby, but it did not and Steve challenged the audience to come up with its true origins, for another jar of nothing at all. Many got it as 'Holiday Inn' and all received their jar of nothing at all in a flavour of their choice. Surprisingly the song only took nine minutes to record.
Steve and Carol ended with a medley of: 'Silent Night', 'Frosty the Snowman', 'Jingle Bells' and 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer'.
Fool's Gold had entertained the members who attended with their well-known carols and popular songs for a good hour. Their warm-hearted performance made for a great lifting of the mood on a wet, grey day, clearly showing why they have become so popular with u3a audiences across the country and beyond. Gail Allaby, who could remember the winter of 1947, gave the vote of thanks, which expressed what a lovely time everyone had.
The next Todmorden U3A Monthly Members Meeting by Zoom will be on Friday 21st January 2021 at 1.45 p.m., open to all fully paid up members for 2021. It will be by Deborah North talking about 'Travelling Coast to Coast in a wheelchair called 'Harriet'.
Not yet a member? You can attend one talk free by requesting an invitation to this zoom event. We're always delighted to welcome new members. Contact details: www.u3atod.org.uk; info@u3atod.org.uk
Our contact details are www.u3atod.org.uk (website), info@u3atod.org.uk (email), or 01422 886021 (phone).
Many thanks to Michael Astrop for this report
Previous U3A reports on the HebWeb - click here