LONDON, ENGLAND,
|
If we had delayed our departure for London until a little later on the Saturday morning we might not have made it; as our neighbours told us there was three inches of snow after we left. In those circumstances we would not have got our car up the hill and out of our cul de sac; and then the other hills, (nor would a taxi for the train station) so we were lucky.
We arrived at the Eccleston Hotel, Victoria, London, at about 12 noon, and had a sandwich lunch with Roy and Monica Fisher. Then lots more fans started arriving, it was so lovely to see them all again, the last time that we saw some of them was at the concerts, and then Woburn Abbey the summer of 2000.
In the afternoon there was an auction of part of the record collection of a fan who had sadly passed away, the proceeds going to charity. This took quite a long time, but was interesting and in some parts very funny. Ian was there with a huge stall of records etc, I obtained the picture disc Primitive from him, now I am happy to have all 4 of the collection. June and Don, (The Diamond Connection) and I, shared a stall - June with her TDC things, and I had some odd and ends I wanted to pass on.
Then came a break for tea and cake, and lots more chatting with friends.
There was the usual group photograph and if the party gets any bigger then it would have to be taken in two halves I would think? We all signed a card for Neil, as always (I hope he actually reads all the comments on there?)
Later, I changed into something that glistened for the evening "do". And a group of 12 of us sat at a huge table to do the quiz and later for dinner. This group consisted of: Karin and Hans (from Germany), June and Don Allen, Tony and me, Annabel, Michael, Angela, Sheila, Lindy, and Carey .
Angela, trying to wish Neil a Happy Birthday,on her mobile?
We had lots of fun and a good laugh, as always.........the tables were decorated with red, white and blue (of course) England and American flags, lots of silver strands, and balloons, with coloured serviettes on the tables too.
The walls of the room were incredible. Decorated with lots of posters, album covers, and fantastic drawings and cut outs of frogs wearing trousers and crowns, that Sandra and Margaret had made. It all looked stunning.
The cake, was really Neilly, it was the waistline with a belt and even the belt-loops , and the top of blue jeans, with a pocket that had a picture of Neil and one of his Labradors It was a shame to cut up the cake and and eat it - but we did! (I always say this!)
"The girls" had worked so hard to make the whole room look gorgeous and very festive. Evelyn really is a marvellous organizer. Everything was planned to the smallest detail. All of them working so hard, and with love, to make it look "so good, so good...." We are grateful to them for all their hard work and the stylish presentation of the party.
The disco was brilliant as always, with some of the lesser known songs (good to hear them too) as well as the biggies.
And, a young man, Richard, from Scotland, did a Karoke version of Sweet Caroline, and it was incredible. We all stood and jigged around on the dance floor, "ah,ah'd" and "so good'd" for all we were worth. It made his day and it made mine too, one of those very special sweet moments that can happen with Neil fans, "if you know what I mean?"
The food was very appetising, sweet and sour pork, savoury things, Indian platter and my favourite - fresh salmon; with salads, rice, pasta - and the sweet was a trifle with cream. I was very good and didn't pig it, even Ian was impressed and said my portion was moderate.
So much to talk about when Neil fans get together!
Red Red Wine:
(Hope we all get to meet again soon at Neil concerts?)
We danced ourselves silly, "once again", and then Tony and I got really tired at about 1.30am and sloped off to bed. Actually slept very well in the hotel which is unusual for me, but a fan somewhere, (that is electrical - not a Neil-fan) woke me up at 6.00am.
Then we said a sad, long, goodbye to all our friends in the lobby as they all drifted off with their lift, in their cars, or to catch a train.
And in Karin and Hans' case to catch a flight back to Germany.
A big thank you goes to Evelyn for all the careful planning, the success of the evening and for all the money she raised through party tickets and the raffle - for charity. Thanks also to Sandra, Margaret and all the rest of the group of fans who worked so hard and with such style to make the evening a huge success, once again. Jean
Back to the top of
page
HOLLAND
Celebration of Neil's Birthday by Dutch fans.
 |
This is an abridged version of Carla Aangenendt's "party write up" in the Dutch FOND magazine, permission to abridge and use the text was given by Carla who is one of the presidents. (Thanks Carla, it's good to have Holland included in the NDparties page, Jean)
"January is of course a risky month to organise such an event. When we looked out of our window on Saturday morning the snowflakes were already fluttering down. Three fans from Germany had arrived the day before and three others from Den Hagg and Rotterdam, so we were already six persons to celebrate Neil's Birthday. We had two cancellations by telephone, which was to be expected because of the weather forecast, So Marijke and I were prepared for the worst.
The Neil Day began at mid-day and soon after there were 110 fans already arrived, so this year's turn out was a record.The programme for the day: First coffee and a chance for members to get acquainted. At 1.30 the sales stand opened, then at 3 o'clock we had planned for Ben Spierings first 'Neil perfomance.'
We were glad that despite the weather we had fans from Belgium, the former GDR republic, also some from Northern Holland too. We were glad that so many people, despite the weather, had taken the trouble to cover such great distances to attend the party. Outside the snow kept drifting down...We all put our coats on and lined up outside for the group photograph. Ben then performed a second performance and this time it was a bigger room and he was able to move around a lot. The atmosphere was great right from the first song. Ben then sang Happy Birthday for Neil and from that moment on the audience let loose and behaved as if it were a concert by Neil himself.
After this we began to make preparations for the Neil Diamond dinner. This sounds as though we cooked it ourselves, but we didn't of course! Half of the fans stayed for dinner and half of the fans left and then we were a group of 25. We played bingo sitting around a large round table in the middle of the room and thoroughly enjoyed the game. Funny thing - two fans each won three prizes. A bottle of wine with a photo of Neil - Headed for the Future - on the label. A Neil figurine, a linen bag with Neil's autograph and a few other things. The party stopped at 10.pm because the motel staff wanted to go home. We cleared up the room with a couple of friends who were staying over and put away all the beautiful decorations. Everline van der Kroon had made some beautiful paper chains and streamers with Neil's picture on them, for which we thank her warmly. We'll use them again next time."
Approximately 95 Diamond fans starting arriving in Chicago on Friday, January 19th for the 15th annual Neil Diamond Birthday Party weekend. It was Neil's 60th, and would be special, for sure. The weekend celebration took place at The Rosemont Suites Hotel, just outside the city. The hotel plan is perfect for this type of gathering. It has eight floors of 2-room suites, facing an enclosed courtyard. The courtyard became the central gathering spot for fans to share breakfasts, cocktail hours, Neil-games, and informal gatherings. Many of the double-doors of fan's rooms were adorned with posters and photos, beckoning others to visit. Those rooms became home for many of us until the wee hours of the morning. The Saturday night festivities began with a large group that gathered in the courtyard for the hotel's cocktail hour. The actual party kicked off at 6.30, there was a table full of wonderful door prizes. We dined on salad, grilled chicken, jumbo shrimp, twice baked potato, mixed vegetables, wine and an ice cream sundae for dessert. *Next came Jay White's performance (see below) and Jay provided autographed 5x7 photos. Each fan had the opportunity to record a special greeting for Neil via camcorder, and still shots were taken at each table. Names were drawn for the door prizes. There were 20-25 prizes, including two autographed In My Lifetime CD-sets. Dancing followed the drawings, and lasted until 12.30. Following the party, most people gathered at the rooms of several fans for more Neil-talk. I was fortunate to be in the room where about 20 fans were serenaded by Kevin, a Chicago-area fan. Kevin has a wonderful voice and plays guitar beautifully. A long night was followed by an early morning breakfast as fans started to make their way to cars and planes. Those of us who had late flights, including Jay, gathered for one last lunch together before saying our good-byes. It was nice to get the opportunity to thank him once again for a fabulous show. Giant thanks our party hostesses, Joan, Annie and Carla for all their hard work. |
*Another reason for this year's Chicago party to be
special was the scheduled appearance of Jay White, a very well-known
Diamond-impersonator. |
|
|
|
I [Linda] had seen Jay three times in Las Vegas, but his segment of The Legends show included only three or four songs. I was very anxious to see the entire presentation at the Chicago party, and Jay had been mingling with all of us since the previous afternoon. He joined us for cocktails, dinner, and breakfast. So, although most fans already had the opportunity to meet him before the show, his appearance on stage came as a shock to many. Jay "nails" Neil, for sure! He has made it known that he prefers to represent an early-80's Neil, but during this performance, he reached back to the '70's, including duplicating the outfit Neil wore at the opening of The Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas in '76. Jay put on an outstanding show that lasted 90-minutes. [Thank you so much, Linda, for your brilliant report and the wonderful photographs, it's really appreciated. Jean] |
We started off by about 14 of us, including a couple from New Zealand, and some interstate fans, having a light dinner together on Friday evening - Jude and I got to the hotel about 3pm and had a stroll by the river, and a look at the Crown Casino (no gambling though!!) while we waited for others to arrive. Finding tables for us all in the food hall at Southbank, alongside our Yarra river was fun in itself!!! Of course, most of us were wearing Neil t-shirts and/or badges, so we got some strange looks...... We then made a leisurely way back to the hotel and about 20 or so of us, were there to watch the gorgeous videos!!!! That's always a hoot - lots of oohs and aahhs - and other expressions best left to your imaginations!!!! One of the interstate couples brought their two young children - one about two and the other about 4, and they had a ball too!!! They danced in front of the TV - youngest Neil fans I've seen!!!!! Around 9.15, there was the loudest noise we've ever heard overhead - sounded like an earthquake or building collapsing!!! And then more explosions for about ten minutes or so.... Someone went and asked at reception if they knew what it was, and it was a jet - part of the Australia day celebrations - followed by fireworks!!!!! Sure did nearly give us all heart attacks!!!!! We finally all went to bed after 1 am, and had difficulty sleeping because of the anticipation of the night to come :-} Half a dozen or so of us started decorating the dining room around 11 am Saturday - others popped in and out, helping for a while, and then going off to explore a little of the city - especially the interstate visitors and the couple from New Zealand.. Around 1pm (I think!) Klaus from Germany and his wife Tina arrived and came and introduced themselves. It was fabulous to meet them and others who I previously only knew as names on a message board...... Now when I write messages to them, I will be able to picture who I'm talking to......
We finally finished about 3 pm - I have taken lots of pics, they are now on my new web page [see links below] and you'll be able to see what our decorations looked like. But we were very pleased with our efforts - and so were the rest of the fans when they saw it later that night. After having a bite to eat with some of the other girls in their room, I went back down to make sure all was well with the slide show I'd made for while we had dinner. While we were doing that, our Neil-alike, Peter Byrne was doing his sound check, so I got a preview of him - WOW!!!!! were we in for a treat :-}
Then it was time to get ready for the 'meet and greet' and memorabilia stall at 7pm. There were t-shirts and windcheaters for sale - (but, by the time I got there, none in my size :-{ ), Cds and videos, calenders, stationery, magnets and badges - oh, and posters.. I finished up buying five badges - I really wanted some as I always feel only half dressed at our club 'dos' when everyone else is wearing theirs.. I do have a couple of t-shirts and will one day buy more - but it was time to go in for dinner. We had nearly 70 there for dinner!!! We'd chatted and taken pics and had a drink and were really having a ball already.
We got another badge as we went in to the dining room - a special Neil's Diamond Spectacular one - so now I have 6!!!! Everyone loved the room, and when dinner was served, the slide show started - boy, I was nervous about it... And Dianne had said a few words before we started about everyone who'd helped, and told them I'd done the slide show - I said she should have waited till afterwards to tell them!!!!! Anyway, it ran beautifully :-} - and everyone loved it.. It made me really happy to have done something for so many people to enjoy. Some were selling raffle tickets and some chatting - and some had their backs to it while they ate and so missed some - but everyone got to see at least some of it, and many came and told me they would never forget it.. They really made my night for me :-} And then it was time for the fabulous Peter Byrne!!!!!!
He really put on a wonderful show, and he's such a nice guy. He said it was probably the only time we'd see an Irish Catholic impersonating a New York Jew!!!!!!!! He's much shorter than Neil, and doesn't really look like him - except his hair is how Neil's used to be - but his voice is great and he has all the moves!!!!!!!!!! We had a raffle draw when Peter took his break after about 50 minutes - I didn't win anything this time, but there were autographed CDs, Cds sent over specially from Neil, but not signed, pics and frog pens!!!!!! And we got a note from Neil, too - thanking the fan club for celebrating his birthday - I'll have to see if I can get a copy of it from Dianne to put on my site...... The absolutely gorgeous cake (pic to come of that too!!!) was brought out and we took pics and Peter played and we all sang Happy Birthday to Neil.
Then Dianne asked Lissa (who was in charge of bookings, decorations - and several other odd jobs) and me to cut the cake!!! That was a real buzz - I hope I can get a pic of that from someone for my web page too.... Then we got another 50 minutes of Peter - we did a conga line at one stage, and all got up on stage and tried to get him to join in. He shooed us off again, but had a good laugh. In fact, we got him laughing quite a few times while he was singing, and made him muff the words!!!!! We were all having a real ball.
Almost everyone was up dancing nearly all night - including two 8 year old boys who just absolutely love Neil!!! I wanted to bring them home so they could teach my 8 year old grandson to be a fan!!!!!! We got Peter to do a couple of encores, and when he finally finished, he signed menus or whatever we had for him to sign for us, had his pic taken with us, and gave us kisses!!!!!!!!!! We sat around chatting and re-living the night for another hour or so - and finally made our way up to our rooms around 1.30 am. I don't think anyone slept very much though - we were nearly as high as if we'd actually been to a Neil concert!!!!! Around 9am Sunday, we finished taking down all the decorations - some had been taken down last night, checked out of the hotel and made our way to one of our beautiful parks. It was a glorious day - we'd been worried as we'd had some wild winds and heavy rain on Friday, but yesterday and today were perfect. We decided Neil must have ordered us a good day today!!!! There were about thirty of us by the time others came back to join us - and Chris, one of our FOND members who usually sings for us at our 'do's', and his friend Peter, sang Neil songs and played their guitars while we sat on rugs on the grass, did some more dancing, and had a warm January afternoon!!!!!!! We had pizza and ice creams (not chicken ripple!!!) for lunch - and gradually wound down till it was time around 3pm to all make our way home again - and get ready to rejoin the real world...... Wish you could all have been there with us - I thought of you all, and hope you all had a great weekend too.... Ours was just the best - don't think we'll ever have another Neil birthday quite like it - until his 70th anyway!!: Here's the links to our party pics pages (Maggie and Judy) http://members.optusnet.com.au/~jbf/ http://www2.tpg.com.au/users/libra8/neil.htm Copyright © Jean & Tony Bovis 2003 |
