Request from BARRETSTOWN

[andrew]

Have to say I know we got more of a buzz out of it than the kids. The kids and the leaders were fantastic and it's something we should do again and again ... next time i won't have a watery old diesel and i will be able to park my square-back

i will post some pic later and maybe some video also if i can get them to upload..

 

[Coxy]

Just to reiterate what everyone else has said, last night was amazing and certainly gave everyone the feel-good factor. The turnout was fantastic and the staff were thrilled to see all of us arriving with such an eclectic mix of VWs. The kids loved it but as has been said already, the staff were buzzing more than the kids and it was infectious.
I had a blast and am so happy that I made the effort to get there. A massive thanks to everyone local who showed up but a tip of the hat must go to those who travelled from 'the shtix' to get there. Padraig made the deafening journey from Galway in the noisiest 35 on the planet (but the kids loved it even more for it), Stump travelled.......well, I don't know as he's been all over the country this past week but I think he said the Giants Causeway? Rocky drove his Splittie to work from Wexford to Dublin in rush hour traffic and Deckie and Norah travelled from Meath and each and everyone had to drive the return journey home.

We have asked Barretstown if we could do it again and they said yes so hopefully we'll have the same, if not better numbers.

Time for some photos thanks to 69Bug who kindly took photos for me!

 

[Coxy]

What you're looking at is the front of the castle where we picked the kids up and then drove down towards the lake and back around again, stopping at the disco where there were waiting paps and a red carpet.

 

[Coxy]

 

[Coxy]

 

[69bug]

Again I'd second, third and fourth all the comments above and especially all those who did make the journey down to support such a great cause. A lot of counties represented last night and a lot of miles travelled and well done to everyone.

The staff were overwhelmed with the huge range of cars and buses and massively appreciative of the club turnout.

Well done Eircooled

 

[Coxy]

Mr. Rascal - now here's a guy who was the most excited and excitable of all the people there last night. He would have driven the kids around all night and it didn't bother him how many piled into the Bus. The kids went wild when he blasted the cow horn on the Bus and the staff didn't know what was going on.

 

[Coxy]

 

[Coxy]

I think Padraig thought he was back at Mondello again .........but Beag wasn't letting him by no matter how close he drove!!!!!

 

[Coxy]

 

[Coxy]

 

[Coxy]

 

[Coxy]

 

[JustinOval]

Well done to all involved.

 

[Coxy]

Some say her name is Marie and that she needs to be back by midnight or Duts will be charged a second day rate. All we know is that she is a much nicer fake fiancé than his last inflatable version

 

[Coxy]

Landfill decided to spit the dummy on the way up but we got there just in time. Liam checked it out and was able to narrow the problem down to a few issues allowing me to head home.

 

[69bug]

Some people say that it is more than Marie that needs to be back home before midnight !!!!!!!

 

[69bug]

I also need to add that we were treated to tea/coffee and ice-cream by the staff and they also gave us Barrettstown pins.

 

[Coxy]

Unfortunately the Splittie was throwing out some smoke as we headed home and by Junction 14 we had to pull in to see what was going on. There was a quite a lot of oil spilling out onto the hot engine/tinware which is where our smoke was coming from. It's either the pushrods or the oil cooler seal but we won't know until we pull it apart.

Beag texting home to say we may be quite late


A while later a tow truck arrived and took the Splittie to Portlaoise for the night and myself and Beag headed home in Landfill.




Landfill has a few wiring issues and the battery wasn't charging so night driving was a bit worrying as we didn't know how much power we had left for our lights but thankfully we made it back to Beag's at 1am and locked it up for the night.
Even though we had to call a tow truck for the Splittie and still have to try and get it from Portlaoise to Beag's place tomorrow so we can fix the problem as well as having to sort Landfill for Eirespares next weekend I wouldn't change it for the world. As Beag said to the tow truck driver who commented on how unusually happy we were considering what had happened; "when you see how happy those kids were tonight, knowing what they're going through, our little issues pale into insignificance".

Well done to Declan for organising this. Here's to the next one

 

[knk]

doh!