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1979
"SPLENDOUR OF THE AZTECS"
The Club's 1979 theme offered tremendous scope, particularly with costume and ambitious cart design. Before the costumes could be designed, it was important to have a basic knowledge of the Aztec civilization, and so children's books were obtained on the subject. The Club was fortunate to be able to obtain literature that contained bright, colorful illustrations on the subject. There was to be four different types of costume selected by the Club, these were outfits for Eagle Warriors, Cougar Warriors, Drummers and Priests. Although membership fees had now gone up to £17.50, it was still necessary to continue working hard on the fund raising aspect of the Club. Forty-week competitions together with cabarets and the annual Hot Dog stall during Fair week, being the main sources of income. We were to continue building the float at the Halfway Inn where the landlord, Alec Bosley, who himself was an old member of the Vagabonds Club, continued to rag the lads about how his old club were going to win the 1979 carnival procession. Little did we know at that time, how right he was going to be! However, we did chase them hard around the County circuit, with never more than one or two places separating the two clubs. 1979 THE
STAGE 2nd POSITION 1979
THE CART 2nd POSITION
The Cart, designed with four feather serpents along each side, featured four suns built into the roof of the float.  The
suns alone were lit with over a thousand bulbs. Rain fell as the carts moved out of Parkway and, although only lasting for a short while, it was enough to leave everyone rather wet and cold. The float entitled "Splendour of the Aztecs" was number 84, out of 132 Even with the weather as bad as it was, this did not keep the crowds down and to prove their appreciation of this spectacular, a record collection was made of £5,062. The Club took second place together with the Charlton Cup, being pipped to the post by their old friends and rivals, the Vagabonds Club. OFFICIALS OF
THE CLUB
PRESIDENTS: Mr. & Mrs. R. Marine CHAIRMAN: M~ Wills TREASURER: C. Mockridge SECRETARY: R. Stoodley CAPTAIN: G. Dunster MEMBERS: B. Baker, A. Bawden, M. Bawden, C. Chidgey, A. Clapp, S. Clarke, G. Daughton, J. Dibble, P. Elson, J. Hooper, D. Honey, F. Mead, B. Mullins, S. Payne, S. Paynter, P. Smith, D. Stone, P. Stubbs, R. Tozer, J. Webb, K. Witts & S. Wood. TRACTOR DRIVER: G. Higgins ELECTRICIAN: B. Villis DRESSMAKERS: Mrs. Bryant, Miss Gore, Miss McSweeney, Mrs. Mead, Mrs. Mockridge & Members Wives. STAGE CHOREOGRAPHER; Miss T. Cummins MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Mr. T. Winter HELPERS: M. Hedge & T. Froude. 1979 ROAD RESULTS
BRIDGWATER 1st VAGABONDS CC "Y Viva Espana" 2nd MARKETEERS CC "Splendour of the Aztecs" 3rd GREMLINS CC "In The Mood With Glen Miller"
BURNHAM & HIGHBRIDGE
WELLS
Taken from the book
THE HISTORY OF MARKETEERS CARNIVAL CLUB 1960 - 1980 WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY DAVE STONE With grateful thanks to Bob Chidgey, Lyn Gore, Andy Bawden, John Williams, Malcolm Wills, Chris Hocking and Gerrard Dunster Without whom this book would not have been possible Transferred to the web By David Kirk Jnr (Jones) |
"Hair".
This opening had tremendous visual impact, from the sheer colour
variety of the costume, to the Aztec Sun design on the backcloth.
Then into "I Can See Clearly Now" which was followed by a change
of light setting with the stage being dimmed, while the lads performed
the theme from "Exodus" The effect of the drummers and priests in
their bright red and yellow costumes added greatly to the impact
of the show. Next came "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" which although
an instrumental number, had chants incorporated in to fit various
sections of The show ended with the Club reverting- back to their
first number entitled "Let The Sun Shine In" The audiences seemed
to sense the vitality and enthusiasm of the Club's performance and
showed their appreciation at the end of the scene.