1998

The Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive has come a long way since its beginnings in September of 1998. That year we had but two months to throw the whole thing together and we had never done anything like it before. We were neophytes.

Paramount to helping the Jesters pull off the event were 'outsiders' at the time: Kim Fletcher from Delaney's (now Shenanigan's), Alice Poulsen, Niel Poulsen (Platinum Sponsor), and Peter Mahotra and Dr. Iain Corness from The Pattaya Mail.

The PR blitz began in July with posters designed by Neville Pick and regular press releases and exposure from The Pattaya Mail.

Alice Poulsen announced the barometer of donations, which eventually passed the 1 million Baht mark at the first Delaney’s Charity Pub Night in Sep 1998

We billed the charity raising-event as a Pub Night at Delaney's with live music, raffles, auctions and an all-you-can-eat Irish buffet. The purpose of raising funds was for an additional transport vehicle, scholarships, school supplies, foodstuffs, general maintenance and operational costs for children at the Fountain of Life Center One.

In the end, the members of the Jesters contributed nearly 300,000 Baht (which included the blue van), corporate sponsorship topped out at 270,000 Baht, the sponsored 'nappy rash' bicycle ride from Chantaburi of eight cyclists raised 240,000 Baht, while the rest came from raffle ticket sales, auction bids and a percentage of the drinks and food sold that evening at the Pub Night by Delaney's. Counting the proceeds the next morning we realized we made the million Baht mark by the skin of our teeth.

Many insiders believe we were able to achieve that goal with the shocking auction bid of 24,000 Baht for the infamous 'Full Monty' photo of 4 unspecified members of the Jesters.

1999

Riding on the high of this inaugural event, we all knew we were now committed to an annual affair. The planning of the 1999 charity drive began in earnest with the brilliant idea of Kim Fletcher to hold a Children's Fair, or family day, in addition to the Pub Night. To realize this new concept, we knew we were going to need a real powerhouse committee to organize the two events. To do so, we elicited the talents of Graham MacDonald, Chairman of the BCC in the Eastern Seaboard, Neil Smith, then with Harrow International, Jill Thomas of St. Andrews International School, Mike Franklin, then Golf Chairman of the Pattaya Sports Club, Bjorn Richardson, RM of the Royal Garden Hotel and Plaza, and Paul Dobbs of Global Silverhawk.

Niel Poulsen, on behalf of Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services, came across with another 100,000 Baht to become our Platinum Sponsor for the second successive year, and we were off and running.

They’re off and cycling in the Sponsored Cycle Ride

So here we were in our second year and a bit more experienced, at least as far as organizing a Pub Night. But now we had a Children's Fair to put together, which we had never done before. Finding a venue was the first concern. After looking at several possibilities to no avail, anxieties started to run high. We had to find a venue before we could advertise the event and the days were slipping by fast. It was then that John Wasser, then GM of the Royal Cliff Resort, and assistant, Judi McNamera, granted us permission to use the gardens for our family outing event.

The idea was to set up a stage (which Cape East was willing to do cost-free) that was visible from most parts of the site and then arrange stall spaces with canopies around the perimeter for the various schools and outlets catering to children, so that there was space in the middle for the various kids games, aerobic shows, and what later was to be a historic tug-of-war event.

While the flat area of the gardens was used for the kids' stalls and stage, the food stalls were located to the side and behind the stage up a grassy knoll with the beer tent at the very top. The strategy was that hungry and thirsty people would be willing to make the trek to quash their appetites.

With the stalls all booked and the agenda of activities set, we realized that the grounds were infested with red ants and in need of a thorough spray before the event.

After this was done the next concern was the weather. It had been raining during the week leading up to the event and we had to pray for some clement weather for 2-3 days before the event to dry out the turf and then a 6-7 hour window the day of the event to pull it off.

In the end the weather was magnanimous, the day bright and festive with streamers, balloons and music as a few thousand fair goers came to enjoy the event. The Sponsored Cycle Ride contestants (up from eight to 40 this year) rode from Ban Chang to the fair, the lead riders arriving in conjunction with the official opening of the fair by the Governor of Chonburi and GM John Wasser.

The day was magic for both kids and parents. The games, shows, activities carried on till late afternoon run by Sean and Hannah from the Royal Garden Spa and Fitness Center. And to cap off the day the Pattaya Pullers were the unlikely winners in the tug of war against the musclemen from a local gym, and Tracy, the daughter of Kim Fletcher, won the bigger-than-life stuffed bear in the Children's Raffle.

Tip Top staff came in to clean the site with the aid of Global Silverhawk. And in the waning light the organizers were last seen walking a line across the grass scavenging for cigarette butts. Scant hours later the sky opened up and drenched the site.

A week later was the Pub Night at Delaney's and at the end of the long celebratory night, we had raised 1.4 million Baht, 380,000 of it coming from corporate sponsorship.

2000

Last year in 2000, we shifted up into higher gear. This year both events were held at the Amari Orchid Resort in north Pattaya. The Children's Fair was held in the lower gardens of the hotel across from the beach and the Pub Night at Henry J. Bean's. Khun Tippawan, RM, and Jo Stetten, then GM of the Amari joined our team in organizing what was to become our most successful yet.

And, Niel Poulsen from Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services, once again kicked off our campaign with another 100,000 Baht with his 3rd consecutive Platinum Sponsorship.

Popular additions to the Children's Fair were the bouncy castle rented locally and the climbing wall provided by Bruce Oliver of JVK Movers in Bangkok. Ripley's stalls from Royal Garden Plaza were also well liked by the kids. The Jester Beer Tent catered to the adults and raised 100,000 Baht on their own from beer donated by the club and other bars in town.

The Sponsored Cycle Ride, which started and ended at the Amari Fair site was extremely successful and had over 90 entrants. The end result was amassing over 500,000 Baht in sponsorships, 153,000 of which was raised by Kim Fletcher and his sponsors.

The only real hiccup at the fair this year, though certainly not noticed by the kids, was that there was no tug-of-war, though the defending champions were present and eager to pull. However, there was a technical hitch: The rope was a no-show.

The Pub Night was exceptionally well attended with music by Greg and the Russians, Rick and Harpic and raffle drawings and auctions in-between. BA and Qantas donated the first prize again with a Bangkok-Sydney return, while United Airlines gave a Bangkok-LAX return for one and SAS a return trip to Singapore for two.

We were able to announce, before the Pub Night was over, that we had hit the 2 million Baht mark. The big advantage we had in 2000 was even before our two events were held, the Children's Fair and Pub Night, we had collected over 1 million Baht thanks to liberal corporate sponsorship (almost 800,000 Baht) and the proceeds from the large donation box generously donated by Tesco/Lotus store to the Fountain of Life of 241,000 Baht in change. All things considered, 2.2 million Baht was raised for the kids last year.

2001

Now it is our 4th year (3rd year for the Children's Fair) and though expectations are high, we have set no target. Suffice to say, that, yes, Niel Poulsen and Chonburi Siam Steel Mill Services have done it again with another 100,000 Baht Platinum Sponsorship. Additionally, Shenanigan's has gone Platinum as well, making it the first year we have had two such sponsorships. We are still hoping for yet another, but that's another story to be told later.

In the meantime, our most significant difference for the year 2001 is that we now have this Web Page, thanks to Susie Ngamsuwan, detailing the history of our Charity Drives and what is going on this year. Thanks for visiting and keep coming back for more news and additional information and updates.

Lewis "Woody" Underwood