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An enjoyable evening in Ferney-Voltaire None of the BRA members and their friends, who attended the Just a Melody event at the restaurant l’Imprévu in Ferney-Voltaire on Friday October 7, could have possibly imagined that they would shortly be invited to sing ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’ in Schwiizertüütsch (De isch’s de gäng no wyt ufs Guggershörnli) and that furthermore some of the company would be seated at a large table with a sunken gold fish tank as a centerpiece. On reflection the latter could prove a bad idea as a delay in the arrival of the meal could result in dire consequences for the resident livestock of this exotic feature. Come to think of it their domain was not over-crowded! The meal was excellent, the company lively – a little too so for the unsuspecting group who had been mistakenly booked in for a long awaited reunion on the same night – and the extremely enthusiastic singing ably led by some behatted GAOS members. Indeed, the chairwoman had to plead for us to abstain from participation in anything but the chorus whilst one of the talented singers performed her excellent Edith Piaf rendering of ‘Milord’. When the waitresses and washers up enthusiastically participate in the singing of such culturally bizarre songs as ‘I’m ‘enery the Eighth, I am’ it has to be judged a success. We must extend a big thank you to our indefatigable Romandie West chairman, Pamela Walsh, and her numerous helpers for such an enjoyable time. It must have done wonders for BRA recruitment figures. Even the puzzled diners who were subjected to an ‘imprévu’ cabaret and to whom we naturally apologized for disturbing their peace, were impressed enough to ask if the performers were professional and did they appear regularly anywhere else. Thankfully they did not seem to be seeking this information in order to avoid us in the future. No doubt there are linguists at this very moment struggling to translate ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary ‘ into the other national languages of Switzerland, as well as Finnish, Gaelic* and Dutch! Long may the varied and frequent events organized this year by the Romandie West Region ranging from a visit to the Reformation Museum through banks, watches, and collective pancake eating continue.
*No problem for my in house translator, Robin Offord: ‘Tá sé bealach fada chun Thiobraid Árann’.
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Valerie Offord
And here are some splendid photos of the event (courtesy Des George):