Introducing Ping and Pong!

The Community Centre is delighted to announce that the two table tennis tables are now built and ready for action. But the construction process did not quite go as planned.

Vice Chair Sue Hardacre said "The tables we decided upon were designed to be extremely easy to open and close and to move around. However, we were also aware that they needed to be constructed after delivery, but we were advised it was a two-person job taking an about to an hour and a half per table. There would be detailed instructions, there was a video to follow and we would save the construction fee – what could possibly go wrong?"

Six members of the Committee met one Sunday afternoon full of confidence, but about two hours later had to retire, sweaty and frustrated, with only the wheel structure of one table completed. Perhaps it was the heat, or perhaps a case of too many cooks or perhaps not reading the instructions fully before unpacking. Having a laptop rather than a phone to watch the video might also have been the key to success. This certainly was proving much more difficult task that building an IKEA bookcase. There wasn't even an allen key provided!

The Committee was saved from an embarrassing defeat by the sheer determination of one Committee member, Lyn Brunton, who refused to be beaten. Spending much of Sunday evening studying the instructions, she felt that another go on Monday morning would solve the puzzle. With help from Chris the Caretaker, the two heavy table tops halves were slotted into place, but certain screws in the legs just wouldn't behave as they should. Was another failure to be faced?

But nothing was going to defeat Lyn, and by the evening, together with her husband Peter, she had cracked the problem completely and one table was done. Building on their success, this dynamic duo had the second one up and ready for action on Tuesday morning. The Committee members who struggled earlier are in awe of their achievement.

Sue said "We can't thank Lyn and Peter enough for their hard work. Getting the supplier to send a technician would have proved very costly, not to mention very embarrassing. The tables are indeed as sturdy and manoeuvrable as we hope, and we can now star planning for their use."

The Committee will discuss the best way to get table tennis under way at their meeting next week and hope that it is not too long before this activity is a regular feature of life in the Community Centre.

Ed: Hawk-eyed readers may have noticed the Lyn Brunton is demonstrating the competed table with a shoe! Fear not, bats and balls will be available for future users.