The summer trip this year was held over a weekend (two days) instead of the usual day trip.Walnutree Manor was the decided place located in a village called Haughley deep inside the Suffolk County. As the event was first of its kind to be held by LNS, the committee was worried on the participation but LNS members came forward resoundingly and with the participation of 69 members, it turned out to be a success. The weather too was supportive of our initiative and was sunny all through the event (except for a slight drizzle during early hours on Sunday, which actually cooled the climate a bit) and allowed a lot of planned outdoor sports activities to take place.
The committee arrived around 1 pm to complete the safety tour and other formalities, followed by gradual arrival of members from 3 pm onwards. The members were shown to their respective rooms and settled-in with their luggage. Refreshments with samosas and cakes were served with tea and coffee to the members in the evening. While the sports hall was being set-up with the projector and PA equipment, members took the opportunity to play some games in the field with the gents playing football and ladies playing dodge ball.
Around 6 pm, all members assembled in the sports hall and prayer song was sung by the ladies followed by welcome speech by the President, Mr S. Ganesh Kumar. A nice initiative of introducing parents of several members by their grandchildren took place, which was then followed by introduction of new members.
This was followed by cake cutting for those having birthdays in July. Mr Mohan Subbiah anchored the Family Fortune game among ladies and gents, where the gents won. Mrs Geetha Karuppiah announced her son Dr Arun has got engaged and wedding is likely to be next year. In this regard, LNS would like to congratulate them and wish them very best of luck.
Around 8 pm, members had a variety of delicacies for dinner prepared by achis in the dining room. After dinner, Ms Abirami Ganesh Kumar and Ms Shalini Mohan Subbiah painted mehendi and nail art for the kids as well as adults and donated the proceedings to the Sangam. Mrs Devi Annamalai set the boutique stall, which proved to be hit among the ladies.
After this, gents joined together and collected some logs in the nearby woods and set a camp fire while ladies played Pictionary. Surrounding the camp fire, members sang Paattukku Paattu songs and enjoyed the twilight under the open sky. Close to midnight, some members retired for the night to their rooms while the gents played trump card game and the ladies played dumb charades until wee hours of the night.
Several groups of ladies and gents went for a walk in the nearby green pasture and farm in the early morning the next day. After breakfast, some members took up archery while others (including kids) played badminton and tennis. Football again seemed a popular game and gents took up the opportunity to play a couple of games. Ladies played bluff game of cards. Lunch was ordered from Anjappar and members enjoyed the sumptuous food around 1 pm. Members packed and checked out of their rooms around 2 pm. Game for parents and kids were conducted in the open green field where parents were asked on knowledge of their kids such as their friend’s names and ambitions. All the variety of games was prepared by Mrs Annu Alagappan.
Just before the group photos were taken around 3 pm, the president and secretary thanked the attendees for their support that made the trip possible, and with a heavy heart, members slowly departed the venue to head home.
The committee would like to thank Mr Sekkappan Alagu for arranging and collecting chapattis and channa, Mr Ramananathan Subbu for samosas, Mr Thenappan Gnanasambandham for several Costco items, Mr Karunamoorthy Karunanithi for buying milk, Mr Selvaganesan Ramanathan for buying water and Mr Senthil Panayappan for returning the Anjappar vessel. All members also came forward voluntarily to help in setting up and cleaning the premises throughout the two days as if it was their family function and the committee is grateful for their kind help. Overall, it was an indeed
a very successful event and the committee is happy to note the positive feedback from the attendees on the arrangements.
Link to Photos LNS Summer Trip 2016