4th of July (pics)

1 Jul 07
Several weeks ago the British Entertainment Committee approached us and asked us if they could throw us a 4th of July party. Of course we said yes but I was surprised and had to ask "you do know the significance of the 4th of July, don't you?" They assured us they knew but that it would be a good theme for a party. The only catch was the Brits are allowed to have two beers once a week on Saturday nights. Since the 4th falls on a Wed they asked if we minded having the party on the 30th of June so they could have a beer in our honor (they know we aren't allowed to drink so they were going to have one for us). Of course we were delighted.

As word of the party started to spread, one of the Brits kidded us at dinner one night that they were all going to come to the party with red coats and muskets. I couldn't resist asking, "how'd that work out for you last time?"

He said, "yeah, but you're out numbered."

I replied, "we were then too."

In the late afternoon they organized a "softball" tournament which only resembled softball but was more like a cross between cricket and another game they play called "rounders." We showed up expecting softball so had to watch a bit to understand the game. There were four bases and a home plate. Instead of a 4-sided infield like American softball, they play rounders with a 5-sided infield. It was odd asking who would be our "fourth baseman" as we took the field.

There wasn't much rhyme or reason to the batting and everything was considered a hit. When a batter hit the ball he/she may or may not choose to run to first base. If he ran he risked being thrown out but if he remained in the batter's box he could continue hitting unless he hit a pop fly into the outfield which was caught in the air. There was no foul ball territory so every ball hit could be considered in play. Several times guys intentionally hit the ball into the parking lot to score a homerun or would safely run to first base on a foul tip that went behind the catcher and out into traffic on the main road. It was their game so we played along.

Of course the Brits are huge on soccer ("football") and it permeates into every sport they play. They were more likely to stop ground balls with a quick kick than to use their gloves. As a matter of fact, most of them abandoned the gloves and played barehanded.

Later in the evening they hosted a cookout and served burgers, brats, coleslaw, etc. They decorated the pub in red, white and blue bunting, streamers, balloons, top hats and all sorts of 4th decorations including a huge U.S. flag. It was really well done. One of our guys is collecting the stuff to reuse at American hosted event on the 4th.

Later we went around to each Entertainment Committee member as well as the Group Captain to personally thank them for putting the party together. We told them how much we genuinely appreciated the gesture and that they had done far more than we expected. It was a really fun event.