JOINMEdinburgh
were very well represented at the recent Karmaggedon 2 in London, on Saturday
6 December 2003.
Team Scotland with Danny at K2 in December 2003
Joinees from all over Scotland travelled down in dribs and
drabs, some flew while others sat on a GNER train for nearly 7 hours (sorry
Geeza!). On the Friday evening some Joinees hit Covent Garden, others
devoured China Town before staying up till 3:00 a.m. telling jokes and
stories and laughing. A lot.
Saturday Swap Shop
Saturday saw Team Scotland meet up with almost 300 other
Joinees from all over the UK (and further afield) on Tottenham Court Road,
before marching down Oxford Street generously handing out Christmas presents
and arriving around an hour later at The Cock pub on Great Portland
Street, with TV film crews and journalists aplenty.
Joinees gather at The Cock on Great Portland Street
Buying a Cow
Following a moving rendition of the Join Me
anthem (available as an
MP3
download (736 Kb) on the official website), Danny announced that we
would be making an old man happy... by buying him a cow! This was a scheme
that would provide a family in India with a cow to help them in their
everyday living, as well as provide some income from the sale of milk.
Within an hour we had raised enough money for 3.7 cows!
Awards
Team Scotland were finely represented in the
Awards that followed. Silver Joinees James Frost and Tony Hodges (both
honorary members of JOINMEdinburgh, and attendees at the first official
Edinburgh Join Meet in August) were jointly awarded the "Most Promising
Newcomer" award.
Silver (now Gold) Joinee Jason Smith was awarded
"Join Me Ambassador of the Year" for his round UK and Belgium
JoinMarathon, attending meets in Edinburgh, Oxford, Belgium, Southampton
and London within the space of a handful of days.
Joinee of the Year award 2003 & T-shirt
Gold Joinee (and Revd) Gareth J M Saunders
(that's me!) was jointly awarded the prestigious Joinee of the Year mug,
along with Gold Joinee Gaz (see p.56 for details). I must say I was honoured,
my speech was appalling, and I'd like to dedicate this award to the rest
of Team Scotland who are some of the most amazing people I have ever come
to know.
(The remaining awards, with no direct Edinburgh-link,
were International Campaign of the Year: Gold Joinee Joan and Joinee Inge
of Belgium; Joinee Team of the Year: The Accrington Collective; and Lifetime
Achievement Award: Gold Joinee Whitby.)
Raffle
Team Scotland also featured well in the raffle.
Silver Joinee Mhairi (prounouced 'Vahrie') Mair won the Joinee
Jones Memorial Prize (with a ticket that I had given her only seconds
earlier, as Mhairi didn't have any tickets). The conversation went something
like this:
Joinee Douglas Gresham, from the Edinburgh
University Collective also won something - but I don't remember what!
and his brother Young Gresham won an early imprint of the new edition
of the Join Me book, which he asked other joinees to sign for him.
...and the rest
The rest of the day involved meeting some wonderful
Joinees from all over the UK, drinking, members of Team Scotland nipping
out for a quick bite to eat at a local Italian restaurant, before returning
to The Cock until closing, which in the backwards country that
is England is still 11:00 p.m.
Silver Joinees Martin Sloan and Patrick
Mason with sign
Highlights of the evening include one (kilted)
member of Team Edinburgh getting his arse signed. Another member getting
her favourite bra (you read that correctly) signed. No names! Two legalistic
members of the collective making off with a "JOIN ME - This is Fun!"
placard (above).