We held our 21st Birthday Bash on Saturday 9th September 2023 at our HQ, the Thatched House in Stanley, Wakefield - technically, we were 21 on 9th January 2023, but an outdoor event in January would have been a pretty miserable experience. We made sure we ordered 10,000 acres of clear blue sky for the event and we were rewarded with one of the hottest days of the year. If anything it was too hot, and unloading gear for the event from the back of a Transit van was a pretty sweaty affair.
We set up tables for the tombola and MAG information outside in the car park but didn't actually bother erecting our stand as it wasn't going to rain (although it might have been useful to get a bit of shade with hindsight).
The masses of bike gear which formed the Huddersfield MAG Top Box Sale 'on tour' was displayed in the tap room of the Thatched House whilst the band were set up undercover, but outside, ready to play to the audience in the beer garden.
Our first visitor, who arrived at 11:00 before we were officially open came all the way from Manchester. By 12:30 we had folks flocking in and at one point, the car park literally couldn't have taken any more bikes as it was that rammed.
The tombola proved popular and we managed to get rid of most of the 50 odd items that could be won. We also had a 1-90 raffle where the winner will get £50, with £40 to the MAG coffers (once we have sold all 90 numbers).
We had around 70 bikes over the course of the day which was brilliant. Like most of these events, people come and go over the course of the event but we had two 1960's Ariel two strokes and a custom Harley V-Rod that were absolutely guaranteed bike show winners, but they unfortunately (for them), left before the judging had been done.
We did the bike show judging at 3pm just as the band were doing their first set, with the prize giving at 4pm. It's not an easy job judging a bike show but eventually the judges reached a consensus with six show winners and one overall best in show.
The winners were .... cue drum roll ....
Seven well deserved show winners !!!
The Top Box Sale items raised an impressive £184.50, we sold 46 1-90 numbers at a pound each, the Tombola and Product sales raised £91.30 and donations totalled £15. We did however incur some expenses to put on the event which meant the overall proceeds were .... wait for it .... 17 pence LOL.
The day wasn't just about making a profit for MAG but celebrating 21 years of riders rights representation in the Wakefield district.
Lots of people who attended said what a great time they had, and our band for the afternoon, The Interiorz, went down a storm.
A huge thanks to everyone who brought along their bikes, visited the stand, spent lots of money on the tombola, 1-90 prize draw and products, bought bargain bike gear, made donations, joined MAG and of course, a huge thanks to all our volunteer marshals who were there early, stayed late, and helped make the event the great success it was - you are all heroes !!!!
And to everyone we spoke to and invited along to our meetings, we meet in the Thatched House on Aberford Road, Stanley, Wakefield, every Tuesday at 8:00pm ... hope to see you all down at a meeting soon.