Carole Panel shares news of Stourbridge Quaker Meeting’s New Year’s Party on Sunday 4th January.

Following Meeting for Worship, F/friends and Sanctuary Friends gathered together for an hour or so of activities before sitting together for a shared lunch. Diana Lampen led us in a memorable mind bending game where one person mimed an action and the friends to their left asked ‘What are you doing?’ (in a variety of ways). The reply would be something entirely different from the action being mimed. The friend who had asked the question then mimed the action that had been given as the answer. The friends to their left asked ‘What are you doing?’ and so on round the group. I hope you’ve followed me thus far. I can’t wait for the opportunity to play the game again!

This was followed by a Quiz from John Lampen – and a teaser of a Quiz it was too, ranging from questions with answers such as Billy Bragg, Lady Gaga, Beethoven, Ravel, Rory Mcllroy, and Darts to George Fox climbed Pendle Hill. I apologise to Sue Wilding, as we would have had a far better score if she had been holding the pen! Many thanks to John and Diana for these bonding activities!

James Bradbury and I then introduced the third and final activity of the morning. 40 years ago I had been reading Dinosaurs and all that Rubbish, by Michael Foreman, to my children; a story about greed, and about caring for the world and its people. The idea occurred to me that I could turn the book into a short musical for the children of Stourbridge Meeting to perform. Words and tunes came quickly, but I had not the skills to turn the tunes into notes on manuscript paper, so I hummed the tunes to James, who magically turned my humming into a rather good musical score ! Back in November the musical was revived for the first time in 40 years at the CEQ Family Weekend. It was such good fun that James and I thought that we should share it in some shape or form at our New Year’s party.

And so it was, that in 50 minutes and with the indulgence of F/friends who didn’t really need too much persuading to participate enthusiastically in a musical written for children, we managed to tell the story of ‘Dinosaurs and all that Rubbish’ in song, words, actions and sounds. Thank you to Fran who gamely volunteered (or was she pushed?) to take on the role of The Man ‘who wanted everything’, which she played to great acclaim. Thank you also to the cast of F/friends who sang sometimes quietly, sometimes lustily, not always pitch perfectly (after all, the tunes were written for children’s voices) but always enthusiastically, and who spontaneously provided convincing bird, machine, and rocket sounds – I loved it! Thank you, most of all, to James, composer and choir master, without whom my words and humming would never have seen the light of day! It’s been fun, and it would be lovely if the dinosaurs aren’t sleeping for another 40 years!

And what a feast followed! A wonderful start to the year.

For any group wishing to perform “Dinosaurs and all that Rubbish”, the script, vocal/keyboard scores and mp3 sound files are available from James Bradbury (details in the green membership book, or via the office).