For those of you who possibly don't know who Bruce Fleming is, he was the official photographer of the Dave Clark Five and his recently updated site can be found at:Bruce Fleming

I would like to thank Bruce,Peter Akehurst,Michael Ball,Paul Daniels and the Royal Theatrical Fund for making the Chelsea experience a memorable one. Special thanks to Sir Donald Sinden, Paul Gane and Roz Foster. The "Caroline Victoria" rose received a lot of press attention at Chelsea and is destined to become a hit among rose growers. Roz and I had a blast at the pub while Liz met the Queen and I'm sure the Chelsea Pensioners will never forget us at the Rose and Crown. Everyone there will probably die of lung cancer because of the smoke, but the sandwiches were mighty fine.

Michael Ball's Site can be found at:Michael Ball

His OFFICIAL Fan Club Site can be found at:The Michael Ball Fan Club Site

Paul Daniels is a very talented performer and all around good guy who has a website at:Paul Daniels

"The Royal Theatrical Fund Christmas,November 2006"

Christmas is a time of giving, not a time of being greedy and thinking only of one's self. Some people don't know what it means to "give". London's "Royal Theatrical Fund", to me, are the true definition of "giving".They certainly are not greedy and self absorbed at this time of the year, or ever. I was honoured last night to be a part of the 4th annual Christmas programme which took place at the St. Paul's Church in Covent Garden. What a gala event it was with such famous names as Michael Ball,John Nettles, Sir Donald Sinden, and Geoffrey Palmer giving their time and asking nothing in return. I had never heard Michael Ball sing and was impressed both by his professionalism and his amazing voice. He performed two Christmas carols with the Amersham Stagecoach Children's Choir, and it was fun to watch him interact with the children at rehearsals earlier in the afternoon. Truly magnificent musical talents were on hand and in addition to Michael and the children, the Cavendish singers also appeared and they made a memorable entrance into the church. They were led by their conductor,Manvinder Rattan. It made me long for the days when I sang with a choir in school and we would perform at Christmas.

For a bit of background,The "Royal Theatrical Fund" was established in 1839 and their patron is Her Majesty, The Queen. Quite lofty credentials that some people may not be aware of.The man who walked up to me in the church before rehearsals certainly knows how much good they do and "who" they are. I have no idea "who" HE was, but he told me in no uncertain terms how much the RTF had helped him and how wonderful they had been to him for many years. It was a very touching and unsolicited testimonial,and I was happy to listen. I went along to help in any way I could yesterday,and ended up being the "Security Person" guarding the glass church doors from the fans and professional autograph hunters who don't seem to be able to read and obviously didn't know what "CLOSED" meant. The service was at 6.30 PM, but at 4 PM,there was a crowd gathering and an hour later, it was necessary for me to stand in front of the doors holding them shut so the fans couldn't just walk in. You see, tickets were �15 and it was a ticket only event. A large group of mostly middle aged women seemed to think it was their God given right to crash the rehearsal and stare at the celebrities. As there are few people these days who impress me ,that mentality is sort of hard to comprehend. I did my best as the bouncer/security person , and I was lucky enough to meet someone who actually DOES impress me, and that was John Nettles. He very graciously consented to pose for a picture with me and that made my night.Avril kindly offered to take the picture and as no one can work my camera,the one we REALLY posed for didn't make it.

I'd say last night's event was a big success by any calculations and it was totally sold out .Let's hope we made lots of money for the Fund. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Roz,Sharon,Alison,Nathan,Liane (hope I spelled your name right) and everyone at the RTF for their continued kindness and for allowing me to tag along for the day/night. Let's all do it again next year!!!

"Caroline Victoria" Rose
By Page Samis-Hill



The "Caroline Victoria" Rose

The Caroline Victoria Rose For The Royal Theatrical Fund

"The Royal Theatrical Fund" Official Website

Harkness Roses Website

My Cawley Family Website










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