Springfield Triathlon Stall - "Come And Get It!!"

On Sunday morning last at 7:00am (yes, really that early and it did feel like it after the Gala the previous night) a crack team of volunteers set up the refreshments stall on the Springfield ready for the annual Triathlon. This has been covered in the Club News and it is an event that the Club attends every year as the stall raises vital funds for the swimmers. Click "read more" for the full story and photos.

The stall and volunteers were ably organised by Janine Ammel and Paul Bacon. The awnings went up quickly, followed by tables procured by a scout party sent into the Sports Centre, and then the 2 barbeques were fired up, all before 8am. Soon the smell of cooking bacon was enticing a lot of longing glances!

So then we had our shock of the day. Despite this being an annual arrangement with the Triathlon organisers, a Burger Van pulled up not 10 metres away and set up shop! The only thing to do was send for reinforcements which arrived in the form of some of our keen swimmers who were Emily and Kaliah Barker, and Alex and Maddie Moore. What was needed was advertising and they rapidly set to work with pens and boards, enticing the customers in. Ambush marketing was also deployed with Alex walking around the crowd carrying the equivalent of a sandwich board. So from our initial despair we rapidly turned the problem round, and in the end even felt a little sorry for the Burger Van as he had less than 10 customers all day.

Paul ran the BBQ with his friend Nigel and very well assisted by Jesse. Jesse seemed to take great pleasure in getting covered in charcoal but worked very hard in keeping the food coming. The younger girls worked the till, with Janine, Bertrand, Jan ("GET YOUR BURGERS HERE!") Barker, Henrietta Brown and Fiona Moore taking front of house.

The weather was good and the customers were very satisfied. I do not know the exact profit as yet but everyone had a great time all day (we packed up at about 1:30pm) fuelled by bacon and sausages as required.

We have this agreement with the organisers as we provide marshalls to count the lengths for the swimmers in the event. This year Donna and Jake Feirn assisted with the marshalling all morning without breaks (or bacon rolls) so many thanks to them for their dedication to helping the Club.

Please note that we are very keen to welcome new volunteers to help with events such as this, and the more people we have the easier the work and the more fun all round. Please ask anyone at the Club, and certainly any of the people listed here as we will be delighted to talk to you. Remember that the Club is run by volunteers and we need as many people as possible to get involved to support this great Club.