… will be Saturday, 1st November 2008 at The Cheshire Cat in Torviscas.

Entries from teams of up to 4 people are being accepted now, contact stephen@k9tenerife.com to register.

More details to follow, so watch this space.

What a fabulous night, I dont know who to thank first!

Julie and B from The Cheshire Cat had almost everything prepared by the time Cathy, Eli and I arrived last night and when the bar started to fill up, boy did it start to fill up, we ended up having to borrow a couple of tables from Indian Restaurant a few doors away, and as Peter Kay would say, we had to use all of the emergency chairs.

We had been intrigued by B since we announced the event as we were told a particular cprner of the bar had to be kept clear on the night … but we couldnt find out why!  Well, last night we found out why, B and some of her friends from the UK had clubbed together and bought us a huge amount of food for the cats and dogs and also a few toys for them - thanks B, and please pass out thanks on to your friends as well.

Julie started the evening’s entertainment off with a few songs and a couple of the audience even managed to get up and have a sing before the quiz started.

We ended up with 14 teams paid up and entered by the time our Quiz Master, John Sharples arrived with the Quiz Papers and once these were handed out he made a start, first round was a picture round.  John had everything organised and the mood in the place was great.  There were seven rounds altogether, however there were plenty of breaks built in for a few Karaoke singers and our Special Guest entertainers that popped in to support us through out the evening.

Rae-Anne, Eli and Veronica were in charge of the Tombola and between them they raised just over 100 Euro; Cathy, Elsie and Nancy took the sale of raffle tickets under their wing and everyone was really generous hoping that they would win at least one of the great prizes that we had on offer.  As well as the First prize of a large Basket of Goodies and the Second prize of a Huge Teddy Bear, we had a couple of Breakfasts kindly donated by The Bright Side Cafe in Torviscas and a few bottles from The Cheshire Cat.

We held back the BBQ pack provided by our good friend Pete the Meat, and auctioned this together with a Jesse Garon DVD, a Simon King CD and a Bitter and Twisted DVD - slow to start off, the bids rose until the winner was successful and handed over 60 Euro for their ‘lot’.  I am sure they will enjoy it all (lets hope we get an invite to the BBQ!).

At times the bar was swamped with people ordering drinks, I have to say that although B was on her own, I am sure that people were not kept waiting too long for their refreshments.  A special thanks to Mandy as well, I saw you rolling those sleeves up and putting on the marigolds a couple of times!  Thanks B, I know you were shattered at the end of the evening, it was appreciated.

Simon King was our first surprise guest and took to the stage as Elvis (always a popular choice) , we then had ‘Soul Diva’ Rhona Rolls, (what a fabulous voice this lady has), Simply Mo joined Rhona for a song and then later did a set of his own, and finally after travelling back from a gig in Los Gigantes, our good friend Jesse Garon wowed the audience again.  Jesse even managed to persuade local talent ‘The Clacketts’ (from The Tenerife Forum) on to the stage for one of his numbers, complete with wigs and hula skirts.  Thanks to you all, we do appreciate you giving up your time to support us, especially where you had already performed other gigs that evening - amazing!

Then Julie had an idea …. one of the regulars at The Cheshire Cat, Sue does a fantastic rendition of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’, it just has to be heard.  A quick word with Sue, just to make sure she was up for it, and then the challenge was made - Sue would only sing it if a minimum amount of 15 Euro was pledged.  Eli, Veronica and Rae-Anne were despatched with a collecting bucket and returned with just over 33 Euro!  Sue, as Madonna, sang the song.  Hopefully we will persuade Sue to perform if for our next CD so that you can all here it - watch this space.

When I left, it was around 3.30am and there were still customers there enjoying the evening (morning??), but as Cathy had to be at work for 9.00am, we really had to get home.

A quick count up before we left The Cheshire Cat showed that we had raised the staggering amount of 403.20 Euro - probably double what we had anticipated and this will be very, very much welcomed by the dogs and cats in our care.

I am sure this will not be the last event that we hold at this fabulous bar underneath where the Torviscas Market used to be - thanks again, to everyone that made the night so brilliant.