What’s been happening?
‘The Blues Business’: live music – a really rockin’ set from The BB boys, new to The Gari and well worth the walk up the hill to come and see. The live experience continues apace with another ace act lined up for you this month (see ‘What’s On – One-Off Events’ for the details as it’s imminent!). New furniture – the better benches and top tables have arrived, always remember hot water bottles and blankets can be requested at the bar for anyone still keen to take their Gari experience outdoors in the less clement months.
Friends Of The Garibaldi AGM – okay this sounds a bit boring, but be assured that this important gathering took place on Sat 7 Oct and was a very productive for all, as key ideas and projects were identified and progressed for the benefit of the pub and its users. Happily, a strong year was reported financially, with thanks to Shiv and her team, FOTG directors, our landlord Chris Soden, and of course, you, our loyal customers, without whom – cliché alert but it’s true – this whole thing wouldn’t be viable.
‘Ale 4 Aid’ beer festival – the second of these events was a surefire success from Fri 6 to Sat 7 Oct. A whopping £2,000 was raised, with half going to the Redhill food bank at St Matthew’s Church, and t’other half to our garden group partners, Surrey Choices.
‘Garioke’ – the fifth and last monthly sing-off/chant-off/shout-off took place on Sat 28 Oct, when a surprisingly big number of punters fetched- up in Hallowe’en garb, adding to the overall spookiness and definite scariness of the vocal performances!
Gonk-making with Artifex – moving to matters more culture and craft, the Artifex team dropped in for a cosy evening on Wed 22 Nov to give live instruction to a group of eager ladies (come on gents, this isn’t just a female activity you know!) on how to make ‘gonks’ from scratch. More craftiness is coming (and not all just of the ale kind!) before the year-end too (again, refer to ‘What’s On’ for details) as part of our Christmas offensive!Meat raffle – weekly at 5pm, from Sun 26 Nov – the meaty meet-up on a Sunday afternoon, where a £5 strip could win you up to FIVE different platters of meaty goodness. Vegans and vegetarians are welcome but it’s understood if you don’t participate…!
Quiz night – fortnightly at 8pm, from Thu 23 Nov – it’s Quizmas Time; there’s no need to be afraid…!
‘Music Bingo’ – fortnightly at 8pm, from Thu 30 Nov – if music be the food of love, play bingo…!
‘Forces Fry-up’ – monthly at 10am, from Sat 16 Dec – the next monthly military munch-down is on parade as per usual, courtesy of the Naafia gals. Note that the December FFU will be a kind-of Christmas dinner in fry-up form, featuring turkey rashers, cranberry sauce and so on, so if you’re not in the place of festive fun by then, you sure will be after this!
What’s on – one-off events:
Live music – yes, more music at your local is booked – this month, it’s the local multi-instrumental muso that is Shane Hill, accompanied by his shiny red guitar and on this occasion by the silky-smooth satin tones of Natalie MacLean, doing a stylish mix of soul, jazz and pop covers – from 8pm, Sat 25 Nov.
Clubs @The Gari:
Golf – no further fixtures have been scheduled for ’23 on the golfing front but we hope that it will pick up again come Spring and more clement conditions for outdoor small ball-whacking! Tabitha will keep us abreast.
Books – Sarah reports a strong take-up for this initiative, whose next meeting to celebrate the love of literature is set for Wed 10 Jan.
Gari ‘Winter’ beer festival – a carefully-curated clutch of craft cask beer has been assembled by Shiv personally, to ensure a suitable sauce-up in honour of the impending gloom of winter, and to defend ourselves from the worst it throws at us through absorbing as much dark and brown beer as possible! The list of thirteen ales really is looking stunning and anyone who appreciates a varied beer experience across different styles, strengths, brewers and origins should make this a must-do, sometime between 12pm Fri 24 to whenever the beers run dry on Sun 26 Nov!
FOTG ‘Members Mixer’ – come and join us for a mince pie and a mingle from 6pm, Wed 6 Dec, whether you want to just say ‘hi’, offer compliments, dare I say it any complaints, or learn more about how we do things behind the scenes and how to get more involved if you want to. We’ll be happy to welcome you all.
Wreath-making with ‘The Girl Who Gardens’ – yes, after the success of earlier this year, ‘TGWG’ aka Renée will be back with us to provide expert instruction on wreath-making, from 2pm, Sun 10 Dec. If you fancy using your skills and creating something unique for the seasonal fun, this will be perfect for you!
Christmas markets – our annual exposé of local artisans and their crafty wares is biroed-in the busy pre-Chrimbo diary for 5-9pm, Fri 15 and 12-6pm Sat 16 Dec, in the garden huts, weather notwithstanding! There’s bound to be some good value goods on offer, so do come and get into the spirit and have a wander round.
Christmas carol-singing – whether or not you’re feeling in fine voice, do come and gather at The Gari from 6:30pm, Sat 16 Dec (after the closing of our markets) to “do some carolling” as Peggy Lee famously suggested.
Christmas party (and raffle) – this is set up for Sun 17 Dec and will be a ‘fun for all the family’ kind of event as usual, with ‘Secret Santa’ forming the focus of the event. It’s planned to use the ‘Elfster’ app this year to facilitate this. Details about the party can be requested via our inbox ([email protected]). And yes, as it’s a Sunday, there’ll be a raffle on, with the standard fiver for a strip option plus a special offer of three strips for a tenner! It’ll be like Christmas coming early (well, if you win something anyway!). Donations for suitable prizes are needed though, so please give generously if you can.
New Year’s Eve party – ‘Garioke’ and disco – the annual celebration of another year-ended and survived will be taking place from 7pm on Sun 31 Dec, till 1am. There’ll be an eighties theme to the disco and karaoke, curated by our friend and yours, Mark. Anyone wishing to dress accordingly is encouraged to do so (for some of us that means coming as normal!).
Website – we’re aware that our site still needs some updates to it and general improvement in order to be fully-fit-for-purpose (especially for those of us who don’t engage with social media and so miss pub news disseminated that way). Thanks to Sam Howes for offering additional assistance on this and watch out for more news in ’24, including accessing newsletters…
Finally, we’d just like to extend our sincerest gratitude to all who contribute towards the running of our community pub project, whether that be ‘only’ as a regular customer at the bar, an occasional help with activities, a member of a regular supporting group, or as a FOTG committee member. It really wouldn’t be so successful without all who spend their valuable time and money with us, and who put extra effort in to ensure the pub is fit for the future, despite the ongoing challenges the whole industry continued to face in 2023, and doubtless will do in ’24. YOU ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED. x