We hosted our popular annual bike show at the Wakefield Hospice May Day Gala, on Monday 2nd May (May Day Bank Holiday), at Clarence Park Arena. We have supported the Hospice for a number of years by putting on a motorcycle show at the Gala, which is one of many attractions at this key fund raising event for the Hospice.
Upon arrival at the site at 09:00am to set up the Yorkshire MAG stand, we found that we were allocated the same spot as last year, an elevated slightly sloping plot above the main arena, highly visible from the entire site, and conveniently next to the access road.
We quickly erected the Yorkshire MAG stand, and populated it with lots of MAG promotional material, leaflets, posters, copies of the Road magazine, together with Wakefield MAG products for sale. The only problem was a bit of a wind which meant it wasn't wise to erect the sides on the stand, and we had to weigh down most of the table to stop the paper taking to the skies in the gusting wind. Other than the wind though, it was nice and sunny with a near cloudless sky.
We then waited for the show entrants to start rolling in, which they started doing in considerable numbers after 10:00.
We had over 40 bikes in the show at any one time, together with classic & modern scooters and several trikes, with many more comings and goings over the course of the day. We had four show judges this year, with Steve, Pingy, Chas & Bill having the very difficult task of awarding ten category winners and one overall Best in Show. The decisions to be made were very close in many areas.
Several potential category winners left the show early so couldn't be included in the judging, which is always a shame, but one person's loss is anothers gain.
Those difficult decisions were eventually made and these were:
Another excellent show and a most popular attraction at the Wakefield Hospice May Day Gala. We raised nearly 40 quid for the branch through product sales and donations, together with a similar amount for the Hospice. We also took 3 new memberships, countless enquires and lots of MAG bumpf was given out. We later heard that the Hospice had raised over £4,000 during the day. A great result.
Thanks to everyone who turned up and made our Bike Show the overwhelming success it was. And of course, a big cheer to the 10 lucky show winners !!
A great effort from 'Team Wakefield MAG' and a huge thanks goes to all our volunteer marshals who put the stand up, manned it throughout the day, helped run the show, and packed everything back up again.
We will be hosting another show at the Hospice Gala next year, so hope to see you in 2012.