Heavenly Beverley : Sundowner Report - Penned by the Shattered Remains!

Sunday 1 April 2018

Sundowner Report - Penned by the Shattered Remains!

Easter Sunday afternoon in the Gallery. We are closing in fifteen minutes or so. Michael and I are sitting, rather like stunned mullets, after the excitement and entertainment of yet another successful Sundowner.

This holiday weekend has been very busy; possibly our busiest weekend ever. We used to become excited if we had one or two guests in a day. I still remember our first sale for one of our artists and then Michael's first sale. Fast forward three years and we revel in the activity of a typical weekend. Don't get me wrong; a lull in the middle of the day allows me to grab my lunch, but I am also capable of eating a sandwich on the run.

Yesterday was another tickety poo day. We opened at eleven o'clock. We closed at eleven o'clock. We enjoyed a stream of enthusiastic and appreciative guests. We set up the BBQ out the front for our sausage sizzle. Our musos were unusually, hilariously late. We were amused at the frenetic antics of our three youngest guests. A further teenage guest was mildly bored but coped admirably.

Our nibbles, sausage buns and vino were enjoyed with gusto. The music was easy listening, across the generations, without ever becoming intrusive. We listened to the karaoke cranking up at the Red Vault. We had fabulously gifted singers, except when I joined it. They had a motley crew of eager and out-of-key wannabe rock stars. We gave them an "E" for Effort and a "D" for Disturbingly Deafening.

One half of a couple escaped from the fracas in the Red Vault, walked into the East End Gallery and immediately bought two scarves and a wildflower card. Guests waltzed in happily and then discovered mutual friends were already in the Gallery, leading to animated conversation and much laughter. Three random acts of kindness occurred in rapid succession. Our local lass with the lead light kookaburra layby has now had her remaining balance reduced by half. She will definitely have her very own piece of original art well before Christmas.

New artist Rob from York presented us with a beautiful framed black and white photograph of a decrepit ute in its final resting spot. Jan George was presented with "Beverley Icon", having placed the winning bid. And we were presented with our best Sundowner ever. Magic.

We will be doing another night of nights in the East End Gallery on Saturday 2 June. Our next Sundowner will see our open fire in full throttle. We will have to move our musos to a different location in the Gallery so they don't become overheated.

We're already looking forward to it!

We closed the Gallery at five o'clock. We wobbled our way home to Station House and then slept for an hour in the late afternoon. We are now full of vim, vigour and vitality once more. Roll on tomorrow for our fifth day of the Easter Long Weekend.