Ardamurchan & Morvern Inter-school Sports
Tuesday 21st May 2002
We woke up on Monday to the wettest day we've had in a while.....groans all round from us!! How could we get the field set up and the tracks marked out in such torrential rain? Would the sports have to be cancelled? It continued to rain....and rain....and rain......
Four o'clock came, we were supposed to be at the field with the white line marker.....still raining.
White line marking....cancelled.
7 o'clock......it had stopped raining!! Parents, other helpers and I standing in field....ground soaking....no equipment....no lines marked.
Decided to go ahead and erect marquee, minus sides because a gale was forecast for later that night. Those wonderful parents VOLUNTEERED to come to the field by 9.30 in the morning to help set up before the sports started at 10.30 and then went home and prayed for a dry day. They did well!
Tuesday 6.45am.... if not exactly sunny, then at least dry!! Games can go ahead.
9 o'clock Tuesday morning.....Sandra, Susan and I carting various items of equipment up to sports field....still dry.
9.20.....Sandra poised with white line marker, Marjory walking backwards placing cones (aiming to get the perfect straight lines) almost succeeded....Sandra is now hoping she will never be asked again to paint white lines on a grassy field! (Susan was director of operations and gopher.....she was throwing cones for me when I needed them!
9.30ish...parents arrived....Crawford and Kevin arrived with dumper filled with sand to make the missing sandpit.......oh yes...and with three trestle tables poised on top for the snack bar/tuck shop the mum's were to be running.
10.20....sports field all set up and organised...we hoped! More volunteers required! This time to go to ferry and pick up children and teachers from Kilchoan school who had come via Mull! (Journey involved a ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory, then a bus to Fishnish, then another ferry from Fishnish to Lochaline!)
10.35...Everyone had arrived and we were ready to think about starting off the day. Brian Turnbull had the unenviable task of getting everyone mustered and organised into their various teams.
10.45....everyone was in position and poised for the start of the fun.....
10.46....They were off!!
And so began the inter-school sports.
I think this photograph below sums up the whole day perfectly.
