At the invitation of long standing member of the side and Caister resident, Robin Wilkinson, an experienced squad of AVMM dancers, Donald our lead musician and Bagman, and a small coterie of supporters descended on this lovely Norfolk seaside village for a weekend of sunshine, laughter, dance and song. Robin booked us in at two excellent local pubs for the Saturday evening where we were welcomed by the friendly locals who applauded every dance with great enthusiasm and volunteered willingly for any audience participation numbers. On a warm summer’s evening we were able to dance until the light finally started to fade and then we continued to entertain the locals with Donald leading the singing with a little help from backing musicians and percussionists. As well as receiving a small donation for the side we were also bought drinks by the locals and one of the landlords. The relaxed ambience of the outside drinking and dining areas of the pubs provided the ideal environment to run through the full range of our dances and to ensure that our latest new recruit, James, an experienced performer with Norwich based Kemp’s Men and Golden Star Morris, could perform all our dances to a high standard.

On the Sunday afternoon we were booked as star guests at the Caister Carnival and Fete and entertained the large crowd for an hour in the main arena. The sun continued to shine and once again we were inundated by volunteers wanting to try out AVMM’s unique style of Morris. Had the Squire brought more sticks, we could have accommodated even more on the final Brighton Camp. Particular thanks to Robin for organising the weekend, to Ryan, who called every dance and worked out a well judged programme of dances and to Dorset Dave and his wife, Chris, who made a particular effort to join us.

Squire John Ekers