At Home with the Hirsts
On Friday 17th February Sharon and Tony Hirst kindly opened up their lovely Nottinghamshire home to Mensans for an evening of food, drink, chat and boardgames. The nibbles we had originally expected turned into a two course meal with Sharon slaving over a hot stove to prepare a vegetable chilli and rice, Mediterranean pasta bake, baked potatoes with various toppings and salad followed by pear and chocolate flan, cheesecake and tiramisu. All yummy! Some of us dined in style around the candlelit dining table whilst others enjoyed the comfy lounge. Once the mountain of food had defeated us, from the range of games people had brought along we opted to play that old favourite Trivial Pursuit. 13 of us didn't make equal teams so the 'fireplace team' had an advantage! There was that much procrastination and laughter I can't actually remember which team finally won but I think we were evenly matched. I interrupted proceedings to present Tony with a specially made plaque on behalf of the British Mensa office in recognition of him designing the diamond anniversary logo now being used worldwide. I think Tony was surprised and delighted at the award. Before we knew it, it was nearly midnight and we bid a fond farewell to our hosts. It was nice to see some faces from the past reappear as well as new ones of all ages. Strangely enough two Mensans already knew each other through another social group. Thanks to Sharon and Tony for being the perfect hosts and watch out for their next event in June.
Maxine Bates