Lockdown seems to have put just about everything out of sync. One village event that was becoming something of a regular feature before the pandemonium was the Tuttington Big Night Out. Now we are all getting back into step, this fun occasion has returned.
Being organised by the Tutts group (or Tuttington Together if you want to be more formal) with David in charge meant it was always likely to be a bit of a lark. Once again, folk gathered at the Banningham Crown which was an ideal venue to cope with such a large group of unruly Tuttingtonians. Over 50 tickets were sold representing a sizeable portion of villagers including a number of very welcome new residents. There were even a few from outside Tuttington who begged to be allowed to join the throng and we just couldn’t turn the Vicar and his party away even though they come from Felmingham.
The main event was a Norfolk-themed quiz. Quite a number of people learned new dialect words – including many born and bred in the county. Who would have guessed that the local dialect term for a squirrel would be squirrl; isn’t that just a spelling mistake? And almost nobody (in fact nobody) realised that a much prized delicacy rumoured still to be enjoyed in the more far flung parts of the village might be a type of yoghurt called Kumis, derived from fermented donkey milk.
Half way through the quiz – after the reams of paperwork had been put to one side – Crown landlady Jeanie and her staff distributed plates of copious sandwiches and chips which were essential aids to recovery from the arduous quizzing. There was also a raffle with lots of exciting prizes the pinnacle of which was a tub of stork margarine and a couple of bags of flour. How the lucky winners were envied!
The second half of the quiz included village cryptic photos, city silhouettes and a page of Dingbats (don’t ask!). Then began the task of collating the results. At first, Jan thought her spreadsheet would be more than adequate for the task but it became so complex she needed to consult her chatgpt artificial intelligence account online. Where would we be without chatgpt? Eventually, the winners were announced but it wouldn’t be fair to single them out because….everyone was a winner!
Although the evening was more about fun than funds, the Tutts managed to collect £175 from the tickets and £91 from the raffle which will go towards upgrading the heating in the church so it can be made more comfortable for village events. Another £45 was collected towards the cost of the Christmas tree on the Village Green. What a generous lot they are in Tuttington!
Thanks go to the unnamed crew who helped organise the Big Night Out and to everyone who came along and made the evening such fun!