Over 6o people who crammed into the grotto at The Canal on Monday, November 4 were treated to some great speakers and a bit of British humor. A film crew from a BBC production company filmed the meeting as part of a reality/entertainment program to be aired in the spring. The stars of the show, Georgie and Poppy Carlton (as they’re know in the show) joined us for the meeting and Georgie delivered an odd speech about fox hunting and cricket.
Catherine White, who many of you may know from her Constitutional study group, spoke first. She delivered a great message about the importance of our Constitution and then answered questions from the audience. Among the questions asked was one from Poppy Carlton, one of our British guests. “So, do you like President Obama?” she asked. It was our first clue that we were in for a little humor for the evening.
Jim Wallace, Executive Director of the Gun Owners Action League, spoke on various gun rights issues and gave some facinating facts about gun laws, gun violence, and gun licensing. Jim showed that he also had a sense of humor in explaining to us that Massachusetts is the only state to require a license for possession of a spice!
Georgie Carlton, the 24 year old heir to the Carlton Estate wrapped up the evening for us with his talk about the distress of losing the right to hunt foxes in England. After a convoluted story about cricket (and the starting eleven on his team, which included Duffy Scrutton, Hugo Frogsworth, Sniffy Minting, Archie Froggat, and Porks Roberts, among others with interesting names), Georgie ended his speech with these words:
“So,to summarize, it’s not about winning. It’s about how long you take, the friends you play with, and the tea you have afterwards. And that’s why hunting is a lot like cricket.” You would have had to have heard Georgie deliver it to appreciate the humor.
