General Discussion
Party in the Park 2003
Can you remember the Party in the Park 2003 and the crowds that filled the Lawn for the event? Can anyone tell me who organised it, please ? There are some good photos on this site, on about page 12.
The Party in the Park was organised by Dawlish and Teignmouth Round Table. Malcolm Protheroe (of the Mount Pleasant Inn)was the main driving force behind the huge amount of work that went on behind the scenes to make it all happen. The only thing he couldn't organise was the weather, which actually turned out to be perfect! I have a good number of photos taken on the day in my Round Table Scrapbook!
It was a brilliant event, which could and should become a regular event!
Organised to line the coffers of Roundtable and Rotary,creaming off their usual 40 per cent (for admin?)....all in the name of charity. No surprise to find a Protheroe involved..... anything to further the empire and feed the ego.
Myself and my family had the misfortune to see this drivel. Never again! Let him stick to selling chips and burgers to holidaymakers.
PS-On a different note, how can someone be celebrated by their town for bringing the Red Arrows to Dawlish, when EVERY other carnival in Devon and Cornwall has them as well?!
The brainwashing that goes on in this town bemuses me. And the non-questioning, apathy of many residents puzzles me further.
It's like living in a scary American mid-west redneck town......
What a sad and ill-informed little person you are. Dullish by name and, undoubtedly, by nature.
If you did a modicum of research, you would know that the Party in the Park was a free event,paid for by hard fought for sponsorship and a bucket collection on the day. It was open to anyone to attend and gave a great deal of pleasure to most of those who attended. You purport to have been there, which I doubt, or you would have known that fact. Or do you have a selective memory for what happens around you?
The next point you should know is that neither Round Table or Rotary "cream off" 1%, let alone 40%,of any event they hold, to line their own pockets. Members give their time, energy and expertise freely and willingly to help others,and bring enjoyment to people, whether it is local community events, such as Firework Night and Party in the Park, or raising money for those less fortunate, either locally or across the globe.
The next point is that the Protheroe family have done a huge amount for this town through the local Council, Rotary Club and Round Table. They deserve praise rather than calumny from the likes of you, who has probably never lifted a finger to help the local community.
Your sneering and inaccurate assessment of this town, its worthy organisations and its community is a sad indictment of your own character, which seems to be deeply flawed and misguided. What a sad individual.
It would appear from the comments made by David, that Dullish has touched a nerve.
It is all very well to say there was hard fought for sponsorship and a bucket collection. Saying it like that appears to imply there is no ulterior motive. Who were the sponsors and what did they hope to gain and why was there a bucket collection? Sponsors donations are tax deductible and why are bucket collections made in open containers when the law states something else? I would guess the organiser/s required some sort of payback for their effort. People in business rarely if ever do something for nothing. The secret in business is to gain the most from the gullible public.
Whilst the majority of costs involved in organising events (and here in Dawlish one of which is the annual duck race) are covered by sponsors, the Rotary Club reserves the right to deduct expenses prior to passing monies on to other charities. It is that mysterious side of charities which ordinary folk do not understand that is of concern.
There are usually two accounts (sometimes more), a trust fund into which all monies are collected for charity and a general account collected from members own subscriptions etc. So supporting anything other than a charity comes from the general account and not the charity account.
You say, “members give their time, energy and expertise freely and willingly to help others,” you forgot to say, “as well as helping themselves”.
The network setup with such organisations are, more for members benefits other than benefiting the public at large.
Any support other than financial support is tax deductible which significantly reduces the net cost to the donor. That is an area which is most prone to abuse. Why does Rotary collect and then give it to other charities? Why can’t those other charities (whoever they are????) collect for themselves?
The network setup is for the benefit of members, rather than for the public at large.
Rotary members have been seen selling lottery tickets from the street outside of Lloyds bank which is against the law.
To say the Protheroe’s have done a huge amount for this Town needs qualification. Apart from building an empire what have they single-handedly done materially for dullishonians? I know that their business has played its part in what this country is now faced with-----binge drinking, and before the smoking ban was introduced, they played a hand in passive smoking which had no benefit to their staff.
It is disgusting that you feign altruism, when in reality the motives are greed and self advancement.
Remember, ‘you are not what you own’.
It is strange that some people only see the information in a piece of prose that they want to see. Viaduct talks of Rotary when I clearly stated it was Round Table who organised Party in the Park.
I also stated that neither Round Table nor Rotary members organise events for personal profit....apart from the satisfaction of doing something to give pleasure to other people: a concept which appears alien to Viaduct's way of thinking.
But this is true of so much of society today: a selfish and self-centred majority of the population, for whom altruism has no meaning, and who will not lift a finger for anyone, other than themselves, unless there is financial gain involved.
Well, let me tell you that there are still people around who do enjoy organising events, either for the community, or for charity, who do not expect any payment whatsoever.
And as for one of your other crass comments about the finances of Party in the Park: the collecting buckets were all properly monitored and there were a good number of local sponsors who helped to cover the considerable set-up costs: hire of the staging, lighting and sound equipment, posters and advertising, paying for the bands, paying for security,insurance, hiring the Lawn, barriers and toilets etc. etc. etc. As far as I remember, the set-up costs were close to £13000! A not inconsiderable sum for a local event and a big risk for the organisers.
In view of the crowds there, and their generosity (we colected a few thousand pounds on the day), the event just about broke even. If it had been a wash out with the weather, we would really have struggled and we would have had to organise another event to recoup the money. That's the way it works.
We only wanted to break even, as the Party was arranged for the benefit of Dawlish people rather than as a charity event. You probably can't grasp the concept of that either, but it is the same as Round Table putting on the Firework and Bonfire Night for the community: to give pleasure to others!
The marshalling, setting up before and clearing up after was all done by Round Tablers and thir families. FOR FREE!!!
Audited accounts are available for scrutiny by anyone!
It saddens me that there are cynical people about who are so mistrusting that they cannot see the event for what it was: a joyous, happy musical event, which was well organised and passed off without any bad behaviour, alcohol or drug abuse. The comments in the paper afterwards were full of praise at its success.
As for your personal sleights on individual Dawlish residents, they are are mean, low and completely unfounded. You should be ashamed to libel people from behind the cloak of anonymity. Shame on you.
Round Table, Rotary or the Freemasons, what difference does it make as to what banner they operate under? Your very last comment, “Shame on you”, exposes your naivety, but then I can clearly see you are a part of the network. So maybe you are trying to keep others asleep, instead of what I try and do. WAKE UP ENGLAND! My way of thinking has stood me in good stead, more than can be said of the gullible public at large. Every day you can hear of some poor sucker who has been conned into thinking that his/her life would be improved if they followed some other advice, only to find later that it was not what they thought it was. Estate agents have been selling property to gullible people for years, they have encouraged sellers to push for higher asking prices in order to bolster their own profit margin, and look at what many are now confronted with? Of course there are gainers and there always will be, they are usually those at the top of the tree, I feel sorry for those at the bottom. Magicians are adept at the sleight of hand.
Laws are so numerous that the mind boggles, and why are they there? They are there to protect the innocent from the guilty not the other way round and it is the Round Table etc, that people need to be aware of in spite of there claim to other things.
Lifting fingers other than for themselves is only what those you are attempting to protect do, but done in such a way that it is not what it appears to be. You know the sort of thing, as an example, we get today on the internet-----,’download for free’, GREAT! But you cannot use it until you cough. Or internet providers claiming you can get speeds, ‘Up too’. When in reality you get no where near the up too mark. ‘Buy one, get one free’, are just a few of the con tricks that confront us all today.
Opportunity cost is the cost (sacrifice) incurred by choosing one option over an alternative one that may be equally desired. Thus, opportunity cost is the cost of pursuing one choice instead of another. Do you invest your money in the hope of a financial gain or do you put on an event in the hope that you can gain in some other way?
Will sponsors sponsor, unless there is hope of some sort of gain? I doubt it! Yet YOU conveniently side-step the taxable benefits that most sponsors benefit from, you side-step the hope of gain from advertising banners that are displayed at these events. “Pepsi” was I remember one of the banners displayed at that event. Pepsi would not do it unless there was gain for them however it is accomplished. Everyone (not literally) goes along to a watering hole and asks for a Pepsi, (at inflated prices) simple business ploy. Advertising is big business and any expense incurred is TAX deductible.
You say, “The event just about broke even”. So with all the effort you and others put in for a charitable event, obviously did not bring in the financial rewards that some had hoped for, otherwise it would have turned into an annual event. Firework and Bonfire Night is an annual event. Someone puts up the cash (expense), it is run by paid professionals there is an open bucket collection and bingo. So who would pay for that? I am not saying that many, especially the children, do not get any pleasure from it. The gain is achieved by those that organise the event. How much profit does the providers of the fireworks make and are those providers part of your network?
The marshalling, setting up before and clearing up after was all done by Round Table and their families. FOR FREE!!!. That is not what I saw, I saw council workers (employed by tax payers) clearing up much of what was left behind by the onlookers. Pay more attention next time!
Yet much of the difference in the charities lies not in their ability to run a tight ship, but in the way they account for their fundraising costs and admin expenses.
Are Audited accounts published in the local paper and who would understand them if they were?
Some people are not cynical in the way you describe. It is a label that you conveniently attach to others when you are unable to blow their side of the argument out of the water.
I am very pleased that it was a joyous, happy musical event, I too enjoyed it. And why should there be anything other than a good behavior, alcohol and a drug free occasion?
You claimed that I had slighted individual Dawlish residents that had done huge amounts for this Town. I asked what had they done and pointed out some of the things that I know they have.
So what do you know they have done, but are not telling us?
Oh! And by the way, I support hundreds of organisations both locally and nationally, FOR FREE!!! Good int it?
Dear David
Your ruffled response is to be expected, as is your crude attempt at public relations, in the vain hope you can paper over the cracks of duplicity. It highlights the inherent arrogance, of both, you and many members of Roundtable/Rotary. I think you will find that my knowledge and understanding of the actual workings of the above mentioned organisations makes me well-informed; certainly not malicious or false. As for dullish, you appear to be extremely dim in your failure to grasp the irony of such a moniker.
You have the temerity to state that Roundtable/Rotary do not take 1%, let alone 40% from it’s collecting. Are you not embarrassed to claim this as a truth? Various percentages are ‘creamed off’ by Roundtable/Rotary through numerous loopholes in the charity system. Charities upon charities are created under false motives to maximise this money laundering. It begs the question, how many Roundtable/Rotary members would still be willing to give their ‘free’ time, if all of these loopholes were abolished?
For your information, I do give to charities, but I choose to give directly, therefore ensuring none of my donations are syphoned off by collectors or tax dodges. No doubt you will continue to brainwash the residents of Dawlish with your charity and community ruse, whilst ‘tapping-up’ potential new members (couples/new businesses) to perpetuate your greedy culture of personal gain and materialism.
Talking of culture, I did attend the party on the lawn, along with my family and friends. We soon left as it appeared this event was aimed at the dumbing-down culture of the x-factor generation. What a sad world you inhabit.
Sorry, guys. Been busy at work, but am looking forward to my response nearly as much as you!! Stay cool! D
What a hornet's nest I appear to have stoked with a simple question!
I found the Lawn full of happy people that day. It was a fairly magical transformation and much less damaging than the massive fairground installation. The PITP seemed to be the sort of event that might bring more visitors to Dawlish and its shops and cafes.
Sorry that it has not met the standards preferred by Viaduct=Dullish.
Vanguard, you did not stoke a hornets nest, another hornet in the name of David did that. I tried to explain to others why there was no more party in the park and it would appear that I touched a hornets nerve.
I enjoyed that day as much as everyone else or I think everyone else enjoyed it, except maybe those that put the event on because it did not turn out quite to their liking.
A shop keeper will not stock items that no one wants to buy, likewise the event providers are not going to repeat an event (even though it was a joyous occasion for many) if the outcome does not benefit the event organizers.
There are many events that are repeated annually and are joyous pleasurable events for many. Now why do you think the PITP was not repeated?