When Tenby Male Choir gave a concert last Thursday in aid of Macmillan Nurses, it was pleasing to see such a full church, despite the fact that the weather had been so awful all day.

St. Mary's provided a safe, dry haven from the elements and the atmosphere throughout the evening was one of calm and pleasurable enjoyment.

On behalf of Macmillan, Mrs. Marion Hutton, hon. secretary of the Saundersfoot, Tenby and District Committee, welcomed everyone to the church and to the concert. She explained how, in 1911, a Mr. Douglas Macmillan, shocked and upset by his own father's death from cancer, and by the lack of care and resources in those pre-NHS days, began the Macmillan Nurses scheme. Then, in the late 1960s, a committee with a wider agenda was created. This was called Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund. More recently, the charity re-developed its services to reflect the different pattern of patients' needs, as developments and diagnoses progressed through the NHS and cancer charities.

Marion thanked everyone for coming to the concert and thus supporting the work of Macmillan Nurses. David Blackmore, compère, was introduced was introduced by Marion and he, in turn, introduced the choir, MD Ian and pianist Jill.

Beginning with their usual set of six, the choir stirred up all sorts of emotions in the listeners. With the toe-tapping version of The Gospel Train and the beautiful solo rendition of 'Bui Doi' from David himself, it was an excellent beginning to the concert.

The choir soloist, Paul Varallo, entertained the audience with three songs, before the choir returned to sing six more items. These included two perfectly sung romantic ballads and 'Bring him home' from 'Les Miserables'.

Once more, Paul stepped forward to sing three items, and it was after this that David mentioned Paul's proposal to run in the New York Marathon to raise funds for Alzheimer's victims. David was also able to announce that the Macmillan Nurses Fund would make a contribution to Paul's fund-raising run.

In their final set of four pieces, the MD had to remove his jacket for the up-tempo 'Amen' and it was nice to see two visitors come forward to sing the final item, as usual, 'American Trilogy'. The visitors were from Abertillery and Norwich, this week.

After the singing of the Anthems, Marion once again expressed her thanks to all who had contributed to the success of the evening.

After the concert, many of the choristers and some wives, went to the County Club where a gift presentation was made to club steward Malcolm. Malcolm has been steward of the club for 13 years, but has been associated with the club for 37 years, serving as secretary for five of them. Over the years, he has done sterling work, despite the ups and downs of the club's fortunes. Malcolm was presented with a beautiful mounted set of 1937 cycling cards, a life membership of the club and a special rendering of 'Climb every mountain'.

It's always been a joke that this song was Malcolm's pet hate, but with the four sections of the choir scattered indiscriminately around the club room, it still sounded really beautiful, and we could see that Malcolm appreciated it very much.

A couple of weeks ago, the wives and friends of Tenby Male Choir, whose remit is to fund-raise for the choir, made a presentation to Malcolm to thank him for all the help he has given them in their fundraising efforts ever since their fund-raising efforts ever since their inception five or six years ago. The choir, and the ladies group, wish Malcolm and Val, his wife, all the best in their retirement and hope to see them at the club -on the right side of the bar - in future!

Tenby Male Choir's next concert is on Tuesday, July 28, at St. Johns Church, Tenby, when they will sing for church funds. With July coming to an end, the choir have four concerts in August and four in September to look forward to. Keep up the good work, boys. For many visitors to Tenby, it's a highlight of their visit.

M.N.