Winchester’s Circlers beat their counterparts Winchester Round Tablers at Winchester Rugby Club when they met for a ‘Generation Game style’ evening challenge.
Top confectioner Eddie Spence MBE gave a short demonstration of how to make marzipan creatures and then allowed the group half an hour to create their masterpieces. In the ensuing thirty minutes of hectic activity inspiration flowed in some parts of the room, whilst others struggled to master the basics.
Says teacher and judge Eddie, “The group was very welcoming and the room buzzed with friendly banter and laughter all evening - some of the laughter slightly hysterical! Everyone did well in the short time allowed for the task and it was a pleasure to judge their finished creations. I’d like to congratulate them all for their efforts.”
“Eddie is a fantastic teacher,” says Katie Bale, the evening’s organiser. “His explanations and demonstrations are very clear and he is an inspiration to watch. I think had everyone known his qualifications – he has been working in the bakery industry since he was 14 and teaching since his early 20’s – they may not have been quite so relaxed! He was a real star though and very kind with his comments when it came to the judging! I’m not sure how many of the group, 30 in all, he would employ but he certainly opened our eyes to the potential of balls, tubes, bananas and pear shaped pieces of marzipan.”
“With Eddie as our teacher there should have been no excuses for not getting it right,” adds Table Chair Matt Sturgeon, “However… not everyone found it as easy as he made it look!
Circle won the 2010 Challenge with an average score of 8.36 against Table’s 7.35, which means they will be organizing the 2011 meeting.
If this sounds like fun and something you would like to be part of please contact: Jo Woodland for Circle on 07766 516900; log onto www.winchestercircle.org.uk, email This eMail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it