Moneymore BB display success

The three sections; Anchor Boys, Junior and Senior Sections, fell in under the command of Lieut. Ian McCullough who handed over to the Captain Paul McMenemy.

The officers took up their posts - Lieut. Ian McCullough, Wendy McAdoo, Rosalyn Fullerton, W/O Johnny Palmer and Anchor Boys leaders; Amanda Knox, Charlene Bell, Suzanne Wylie and Stacey Henderson, followed by the Colour Party with Lieuts. Stephen Brown and Kenneth Brown.

Following the opening hymn and the Inspection of the company by Mr Basil McCrea MLA, the awards were presented. The Anchor Boys received many awards including Jamie Stockman (Best Boy), Matthew McMenemy (2nd) and Peter Brown (3rd). Their project this year was for the Make a Wish Foundation; the boys collected a total of £1,140 with the highest collectors being Jamie Farmer (1st) and Ben Stockman (2nd). In the Junior Section, 13 boys collected awards for full attendance.

Top collectors for BB week were Jack Chambers, Zac McMenemy, Jamie Smyton, Harry Turkington and Adam Huey.

The award for the best group went to Zac McMenemy, Jack Chambers, Canaan Carleton, Ryan Brown and Ryan McMenemy.

In the senior section, the awards for champion Collectors for BB Week were James Cousley (1st) and Joel Donaldson (2nd). The McLarnon Cup for best 1st year boy went to Alan Goodwin, the John Dunlop Cup for Scripture went to Matthew Carleton and the Sword Drill Cup to Thomas Carleton. The President’s Badges, which were pinned on by their fathers. went to James Cousley, Matthew Carleton and Thomas Carleton. The McKee Cup for ‘best all round boy’ was won by Stephen Cousley.

The chairman, Rev John Montgomery, welcomed all present; parents, friends and old boys and extended a special welcome to the Inspecting Officer, Mr Basil McCrea. He thanked him for giving up his time and also thanked Ben Crockett, an old boy of the Company and a Queen’s Man, who acted as ADC for the night, Raymond Anderson who filmed the events of the evening, Alex Brown on the door, Caroline Hill, Philip McMenemy for printing the programs, Sylvia McMenemy for her continued support and musical accompaniment and Paul and all the Officers who give up their time each week selflessly.

The 3 sections came together to present the theme, ‘News and Politics’. This began with ‘News Headlines’ featuring 4 boys from the junior section - Harry Turkington, Zac McMenemy, Matthew Thompson and Kyle Scott - giving a hilarious version of the news that set the tone for the rest of the evening. The Senior Section Drill item was performed by boys, representing the history of News Makers over the past 50 years. This was followed by the Anchor boys interpretation of ‘The Weather Forecast’ featuring Noah acted by Luke Marks with the other 50 members playing the roles of the characters or animals in the story of Noah and the Flood. The item titled, ‘Outside Broadcasting’ demonstrated the skills of the Vaulting team under the direction of Kenny Brown. PM’s Question Time featured Harry Turkington as Speaker of the House and an amusing range of questions on topics of the day. The contemporary quiz, ‘Have I got News for you’ with Jonny Palmer in the chair, allowed some of the boys to display their musical skills. This included a traditional music performance with 5 tin whistles players and featuring an impressive duet by Sam Hardy and Mark McKirgan and an accomplished piano solo by Stephen Cousley.

The finale, ‘Good News’, started with the three sections of the company coming together to sing a musical compilation including ‘My Heart will Sing’ with Jack Hunter taking the solo and a trio with Jack, Alan Goodwin and Mark McKergan.

The Inspecting Officer concluded the evening with some amusing stories and said how much he and Jill enjoyed the political humour. He complimented the boys on their performances and singled out Luke Marks for the Harris Cup for best performance on the night.