Gari Newsletter – March ’24

What’s been happening?

Burns Night: Boy, doesn’t this feel like a long while ago now?! In fact it was only eight weeks since a goodly Gari gathering was held on January 25th to honour the Scottish Bard’s contribution to our wider British culture, by stuffing ourselves silly with haggis, neaps and tatties, all accompanied by George Henderson’s inimitable renditions of the main man’s work! Sometimes you just can’t beat the obvious, and a jolly good knees-up is always especially welcome in the dark and dank days of the first couple of months of the calendar.

‘Gariokes’: After moving back to the monthly frequency in the hope of livening up the winter months, it seems people still can’t get enough of belting out the big tunes to escape the blues, as our events on Jan 27th and Feb 24th proved to be just as popular as in summer. Thanks to all those who make sure they support these entertainment nights regularly, as your custom really does boost the pub’s profile and of course, its fortunes, especially in flagging financial times such as now.

Birthday bashes: A couple of our stalwart regulars celebrated shall we say ‘significant’ milestone birthdays this year at the pub, and anyone who was there will I’m sure not be forgetting Sarah Maye’s 50th birthday party on March 2nd – a big thanks to the team for setting it all up so prettily by the way – and Chris Rosario’s 40th on March 16th which was another corker, even though he did not do his customary bar-dancing! Perhaps he’s getting a little old for that malarkey now…. Remember you can actually book the boozer for a private function – contact us at the email below if you’re interested.

Live music – ‘3Times7’: Just ahead of going to press, on March 23rd there was a celebration to mark the local blues-based band’s latest single launch (according to a certain very-well-subscribed streaming service, they’ve already issued two albums and three singles since 2016, so we had a genuine pro recording act in our midst!). As ever their performance was well-attended and well-received in equal measure, with a canny mix of covers and originals rendered for our enjoyment. The band’s next showing at our pub is expected to be in June.

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WHATS ON?

Quiz Night:

Fortnightly 8pm – 28th March

Music Bingo:

Fortnightly 8pm – 4th April

Meat Raffle

Every Sunday – 5.00pm

‘Forces Fry-Up’

Monthly – next event 10.30am, Sat 20th April (pre-booking essential)

Live Music: 3×7

8.00pm – 23rd March

‘Garioke’

7.30pm – Sat 30th March

In other news: Pub website upgrade – the basic bare bones are in place, but we’re looking for help with adding the meat ‘n’ two veg – i.e. the technical elements of uploading and maintaining the content, including photography. If you have the requisite skills and would like to make yourself available to assist, please leave your details at the bar or email [email protected].

Brewery trips – as previously promised in earlier editions of this publication, we have not forgotten these or how popular they are with many of our punters! Please do keep watching this space, as Shiv is hatching plans to re- start the trips soon, beginning we hope with the Only With Love Brewery at Hawkhurst Common near Uckfield. Hopefully the cask critics among us will have become familiar with their wares in recent months, as many of their range have featured on our bar and sold well, indicating a keen turn-out for a visit.

Provisionally – this is very-much dependent on transport availability etc – we hope to run a trip each month from April to October. Details will likely be confirmed ahead of publication of our next edition, so do keep asking at the bar/checking our wall-mounted sign board if you’re interested.
Beer (and possibly cider) festivals – again don’t fret folks as we’ve not gone off the idea of hosting these events either across the coming months! Finalised details are still to be announced, but the intention is still to run three – late Spring, early Autumn, and early Winter, allowing as much ale variety as is available during different seasons. Keeeeep drinking (responsibly)!

Regular fundraising activities: You must all know the form with our four key revenue/support streams by now, but as ever, here’s a little reminderette:

EasyFundRaising
The Garibaldi Pub One Lottery
‘Your Fund Surrey – Join The Local Conversation’ Meat raffles

What’s on – regular events:
Meat raffle – weekly:
It’s a raffle, innit. And like, you buys tickets at a quid a go and if you’re a real jammy dodger, you get to win a plate of real meat, yeah! And all proceeds go garden-wards, so that’s nice ain’t it, even though it doesn’t quite feel macho enough… Drawn at 5pm, EVERY SUNDAY.
Quiz night – fortnightly: You bowl up, get comfy with some surprisingly varied and competitively-priced drinks and possibly bar snacks, and then get lots of random trivia questions fired at you by Fran or Jim, our resident quizmistress and master. 8pm, EVERY ALTERNATE THURSDAY, FROM MARCH 28TH.
Music Bingo’ – fortnightly: It’s a mighty medley of musical mystery and mischief, where our Bingo Hostess Alex sells you however many bingo cards with names of songs on them you would like for £1 each, then plays 30- second clips of music – all you have to do is match the song being played to what’s printed on your card correctly, and the first person to max-out their card wins the entry money! Such is the popularity of this game that this can now amount to a hefty sum, so please, have fun, but no cheating… 8pm, EVERY ALTERNATE THURSDAY, FROM APRIL 4TH.
‘Forces Fry-up’ – monthly: Our military might past present and future is marked by a fulsome fry-up at the pub ahead of opening hours on a Saturday morning, served alongside coffee and tea, by our local catering corps – i.e. Shiv and the ‘Naafia’ girls! Former and current members of the armed forced are always welcome, but please do remember to book ahead as this one just gets more and more well-subscribed. 10am, EVERY THIRD SATURDAY IN THE MONTH, FROM APRIL 20TH.
Garioke’ – monthly: A choice of often cheesy but always cheerful chart-busting choons hand-picked from the internet for you to render, rejuvenate or ruin as your vocal abilities all 8pm, MONTHLY SATURDAYS – MARCH 30TH; APRIL 20TH; MAY 18TH.
Bhunny’s Sunday roasts – monthly: Regular roastiness now features at the Gari, with a selection of options to tantalise your tastebuds, and save you the bother of assembling the Great British meal for yourselves. 12pm, EVERY THIRD SUNDAY IN THE MONTH, FROM APRIL 21ST.
Book club – monthly: A group of literature lovers come together in the cosy parlour of our pub to discuss the latest hopefully-above-average page-turner in more depth and alongside some drinks. English Lit ‘A’ level is an advantage but not a requirement! 7pm, MONTHLY WEDNESDAYS, FROM MARCH 27TH (further dates to be announced).

What’s on – one-off events:
Easter events:
Shiv has laid on some lovely treats for people of all ages in the last couple of years, and 2024 shall

be no different. The itinerary includes:
·Easter egg hunt – one for the little ones – 10:30am;
·‘Community Table’ roast dinner – Shiv reckons she could cater for up to 20 special people, but if interested you must book first! Should start around 12:30pm;
·Treasure hunt – one for adults too here – 12pm.
Golf society:
Tabitha Knight will be resuming the golf initiative next month – a venue is yet to be booked, but those interested please note the date is scheduled – ask Tabs for details or keep an eye on the events board. 11am, SUNDAY APRIL 14TH.
Live music – ‘The Shane Hill Duo’: The multi-talented and hard-to-pigeonhole local guitar hero that is Shane Hill will be back with us for a night of stylish and sexy renditions, accompanied once again by the silky tones of Natalie MacLean. 8pm, SATURDAY APRIL 27TH.
Cockney sing-along: Yes, everyone’s cheeky chappie chum Eugene Portman will be back among us dishing up some deftly-delivered traditional tunes that proved particularly popular within the sound of Bow bells! Come and exercise your lungs and ’ave yaselves a right good jolly-up by the ole Joanna. 8pm, SATURDAY MAY 25TH.