Children from Fountain of Life Center blissfully dance on what may have been, for them, the best day so far in their young lives. A change of venue to The Regent’s International School turned out to be a blessing for the annual Jesters Care for Kids Children’s Fair on Sunday, Sept. 8, providing a great place to hold this charity event. The turnout was big, the money raised was huge, and everyone who took part had a great day, despite a temporary time out due to a short rain shower.
Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive 2013, Sponsored by Glencore International and Canadian Jackalope Open
The planning for this year’s Jesters Fair was thrown a curve ball in the early stages when the venue of the past 11 years was unavailable owing to change of management. All those years toying with the configuration of attractions and layout suddenly became redundant. The selection of a new venue was no easy task for the committee as areas that could accommodate our needs and the balance with restrictions placed on the use of them narrowed the list considerably. Finally, after approaching The Regent’s School Pattaya and getting their consent, we knew we had found our place.
Children from Fountain of Life Center blissfully dance on what may have been, for them, the best day so far in their young lives. A change of venue to The Regent’s International School turned out to be a blessing for the annual Jesters Care for Kids Children’s Fair on Sunday, Sept. 8, providing a great place to hold this charity event. The turnout was big, the money raised was huge, and everyone who took part had a great day, despite a temporary time out due to a short rain shower.
The next step was for the planning team to go back to the drawing board. Many visits to the new location and hours and hours of consultation were required before the final configuration was determined. A huge thank you to Regents School’s proprietors and staff, particularly, Mike Walton, principal, and Paul Crouch, assistant principal, who made every effort to accommodate our requirements. Kudos to Bill, Kevin, Sam and Woody for their valuable work in creating a layout that gave easy access to all attractions and took advantage of the existing covered areas.
Lewis Underwood, chairman of the Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive, welcomes everyone to this year’s Children’s Fair.
The main fear was damaging the new grassy area of the oval, which prevented any vehicles from actually going on it. Instead, all vehicles had to park on the surrounding tarmac and hand carry all supplies back and forth to and from their stalls. The other concern was that the grass had to be kept like new as possible, since the field was required for sports activities immediately after the fair.
Still another worry for some was getting out to the school, so for these people we put on shuttle buses between Father Ray’s Foundation on Sukhumvit and Regent’s School. The Whitehouse Condotel, the Golf Club and Brian Abbot graciously furnished their minibuses for this helpful service.
The opening ceremony began at 10 a.m. with the performance of the national anthem sung beautifully by a Regent’s School student, followed by the welcoming addresses by Jesters president, Lewis Underwood and Regent’s School principal, Mike Walton, to get the proceedings underway. With the sun out and visitors streaming into the grounds, it was then handed over to Russell Jay and Poodle Pete, emcees extraordinaire, who tirelessly kept the stage show moving along and keeping the visitors up to date with all the happenings.
This year’s entertainment program began with performances by our project children from Fountain of Life Centre, Blind School, Baan Jing Jai, Hand to Hand Foundation, Mercy Centre, Camillian Centre and Khao Bai Sri. All of these children performed with abundant energy and enthusiasm, whether singing or dancing, which is one of the few ways that they are able to show their appreciation for the support that we have given them.
This year we had the enjoyable experience to witness the talents of the Thai Tims Chorus. This group of more than 50 children came all the way from Nai Am in Chantaburi Province to perform. Theirs is an interesting story as they are funded primarily by the Celtic Football Club and its supporters in far away Scotland, along with Singha Corporation. The formation of the group and its aims are to assist in exposing the educational needs and welfare of children with Down’s syndrome and several of the group has this ailment. Special thanks to the Regent’s School who provided accommodation for the children and their carers during their stay.
Representatives from The Regent’s International School sing the national anthem before opening Jesters Care for Kids 2013 Charity Fair.
With the children performances over, they were free to take advantage of the attractions made available for them. The climbing wall sponsored by the Pattaya Pickle Company, always popular, several contracted game stalls and activities designed for children were available in stalls manned by international school students. Of course, the bouncy castle was getting a real work over and is always a great way for kids to work up an appetite and expend a bit of excess energy.
The very talented Pookpick enthralls the audience with her violin performance.
A new attraction this year was Active City Adventure Land for kids. This installation consisted of a maze of nets, ropes, ladders and swings. It appeared to be like a junior assault course demanding all sorts of physical skills to complete it, but with safety harnesses and help and encouragement from the trained attendants, most kids managed and all seemed to enjoy the experience. This attraction was sponsored by Uni Gold Shipping Ltd.
Bubbles everywhere bring smiles to the children.
While the children were at play, adults were scouring the PILC white elephant stall looking for bargains [one trash is another’s treasure] and restocking their reading material at Jameson’s used book stall. This year’s special was a mystery box [about 20 books] for 500 baht. Many also took the opportunity to visit the Pattaya Sports Club’s Stall to purchase tickets in the Children’s Raffle and the chance to win one of the many prizes available.
Garden International School’s IB students ran various activities to raise money for charity.
With the crowd building and nearing lunchtime, food became important and there was no shortage of options, starting with traditional Thai som tam, etc. from Noi’s Kitchen, Pad Thai, American Philly Cheese Steak from the Blue Moose, Logo Trade and Women With a Mission had BBQ’s available. There was also Patricia’s Homemade, Our Home Bakery and Tamar Center offered a selection of cakes and pastries, while Kronborg Café and The Haven also had delicious food available. (Note: food stalls were so popular on the day that many ran out chow midday and had to arrange to get more rations delivered from town.)
Rotary Club Eastern Seaboard Pattaya continues to do their part to help those less fortunate, including putting an end to world polio.
The children were not forgotten either with AGS Fourwinds giving free ice cream right alongside the Jelly Belly’s candy stall, and the FOL Chow Hall was busy keeping project children fed and watered. For those with a thirst, plenty of soft drink was available and for adults Wine Direct was open for samples and sales while the Jesters members were kept very busy with cold beer sales. A special thanks to all who donated beer for this occasion.
This year we had the enjoyable experience to witness the talents of the Thai Tims Chorus.
As the entertainment continued with items from different international school bands, dark clouds gathered and some rain began to fall, which caused an interval in the proceedings as a safety precaution. However, the delay was not long and after a brief appearance by Bruce, the magician, the stage was soon rocking again. Sets were presented by bands from Regents, St. Andrews, Garden International and ISE Schools, one of which was an all girl band. The music was interspersed with appearances by Pookpick and her violin [a very talented young lady] and the return of the Thai Tims group. Jester Richy, who organized the day’s entertainment schedule, said that he was impressed with the competency of all the artists.
How much fun can you have with costumes and a camera? Lots!
With the last school band leaving the stage, it was time for the Fountain of Life ‘best of class’ children to receive their bicycles. These were donated by Jeff Jester and presented in memory of Chris Kays. This year, 8 children were beneficiaries. Then, while PSC members were preparing for the Raffle drawing, the members of the local Salsa Community took over the stage for a lively display of their dance, encouraging participation from the audience, which was a great way to shed a few kilos.
Taking dead aim, hoping to win a prize.
With the raffle drawing over, it was time to wind down the show and Richy introduced local entertainers Slow Ride and The Core. These two bands are truly professional, which was an ideal way to top off a great day!
Any time an event of this nature is presented there are particular people to thank, without whose efforts it would not succeed; so in no particular order, and apologies if not named, but you know who you are. Firstly, all of our sponsors and supporters, as well as the Jesters MC members who assisted in preparing the venue, manned the beer stall, organized the shuttle buses, sold raffle tickets and stayed behind to aid the dismantling and clean the grounds.
Face painting is always a popular draw at the fair (pun intended).
There was also the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, and their ambulance and trained staff available for emergencies, the YWCA ladies and Regent’s students who helped with the children’s raffle; Linden and the gap students for organizing the field games for the children and PILC for the prizes. Thanks also to Richy for putting together an enjoyable program and to Chief for the sound system. To the staff of the Regents for their cooperation and finally to Jester’s Care for Kids committee and their tireless leader Lewis [Woody] Underwood.
Children from Pattaya Redemptorist School for the Blind keep the beat.
That’s it for another year and we hope you had a great time with our project kids. They are special to us and we thank you all for sharing time with them.
* Please remember that our Gala Party Night is at the Amari Hotel on Saturday Night 21st September, great food, beer wine and soft drinks included terrific entertainment auction and raffle with great prizes. Dress smart casual. B2, 200 tickets charge. There are a few tables left. *
Staff from Pattaya Mail Publishing Co. Ltd., a sponsor since the first charity drive, hand out free newspapers at the fair.
The huge balloon slide is a bit scary at first, but great fun for the brave.
PSC Children’s Raffle Result
Remote car Lego Set: Steve Gould, Radio/CD/MP3: Dave Crawford, Games Set: Prakorn Thip, PC Tablet: Marc Fitzgerald, Giant Teddy: Lisa Mason, Computer Game: Merk McGirr, Elec Fan: Kevin Fisher, Piano Keyboard: Emmy, Remote Helicopter: Jemma, Ladies / Men’s Watch: Neil Phukit, Luggage Set: Noi, Mountain Bike: Pakorn Thip, DVD Player: Riab, BHP Hosp Voucher: Daeng, 32 in Flat TV: Warren Cardwell.
Beer Donors
Oliver Minto, Chris Hogg, Jerry Zaft, Ray TQ, Neil S., Craig Kluske, Rob Fogelman, Street Claws, Barry Philip, Ann W., Neil Moo, Lena Adahl, Loveboat, Ron Herbert, Johan Danielsson, Chanop Cameron, Rog MC Garage, Anders Justal, Panita Jonsson, Christer Nielsen, Jan-Ove Eangen, Par Kullberg, Roger Olsson, Stefan Widing, Christian Widing, Kari Seppala, Martin Simonsson, Mon Simonsson, Purple Bar, and Sweet Lou.
Sales of Care for Kids merchandise were swift, raising much needed funds for charity.
The Fountain of Life ‘best of class’ children receive their bicycles.
Bjarne Nielsen can’t resist the Jesterswear on sale at the fair.
Lisa Mason happily accepts the Giant Teddy Bear lucky draw prize from Lewis Underwood, chairman of the Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive.
How could you resist buying lucky draw tickets to raise funds for disabled children from Praichit Jetpai (left), president of YWCA Pattaya, and friend with their beautiful smiles.
Kevin Fisher, managing director of CEA, won an evaporative air cooler in the lucky draw.
Women With A Mission were on hand to promote their worthy charity cause.
