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During a year Vicki makes hundreds of personal appearances on
TV, Radio and of course for charity events. For the audience or
the crowd its simply a few moments spent in the company of a
celebrity, but exactly what does making such an appearance
involve for the celebrity. Vicki invited me to help liaise with
the organising of one such event on her behalf and to join her
on the day to find out what happens first hand.
Nuneaton Carnival is one of the biggest in England and this year
with Vicki starring in the pantomime Aladdin in neighboring
Bedworth this Christmas, she was asked to lead the carnival
procession to help promote the show. The carnival itself takes
almost a year in the planning and Vicki was first approached to
appear some months earlier. A programme was devised for her and
agreed and then it was just a case of waiting for the day.
Predictably
after six days of unbroken sunshine with the temperatures in the 70's,
carnival day dawned dull, chilly and with the threat of rain. For Vicki,
the day began around 6am with a final check to ensure every event was
catered for from the days itinery, to the bottled water in the event of a sudden
heatwave and the umbrellas in the more likely scenario of rain. At 9am we
departed for Nuneaton. The drive was timed for me to arrive ahead of Vicki
in order to meet Carnival co-ordinator Mark Palmer, run through the time
table and introduce Vicki on her arrival. Precisely on time, Vicki's car
pulled up at the designated meeting point where upon she was instantly
whisked away by a waiting camera crew to be interviewed for the Official
carnival video. After the initial interview of half an hour, fourteen
cameras strategically positioned along the route would shadow her through
the day adding to the footage. Next it was straight on to meet the Mayor
of Nuneaton and Bedworth, Councillor Geoff Ashford and his Consort,
daughter Elaine accompanied by the towns Member of Parliament, Bill Olner
and his wife Jill.
After a brief
photo call, Vicki was invited to walk the length of the procession to meet
the entrants and sign a few autographs on the way. With the schedule
already running tight for time, it was then straight into the open top
silver Mercedes at the head of the parade for the cavalcade to move off.
Right on cue the first spots of rain fell raising the questions how well
would Vicki be seen under an umbrella? how wet was she likely to get if
she chose not to use one? and should we send Mark for flippers and snorkel
just in case! Quite a dilemma with a two and a quarter hour tour round
Nuneaton ahead. Thankfully the umbrellas proved not to be a major
disadvantage or needed for the most part.
The procession stopped twice en route
giving Vicki the opportunity to get out of her car and go on walkabouts
signing autographs, having photos taken amongst the crowd and generally
meeting people. Such as the residents of Springdale Court.
On arriving at the Gala field we were met
again by Mark Palmer who escorted us to the VIP marquee for refreshments.
Here we were provided with a delicious meal consisting of; chicken, ham
and salad and a choice of "naughty but nice" desserts followed
by a welcome cup of tea. During this break, Vicki was interview by Claire
Harrison of the Heartland Evening News about her forth coming performances
as Aladdin. Before being spirited away to her next photo call, this time
with the visiting Carnival Queen Courts, the Judges and last but not least
the tea ladies.
Photos
over and it was on to the Gala Field itself to give a formal welcome and thank you
speech to everyone for attending. This area was a veritable hive of
activity and divided into three basic zones; The Funfair, which proved a
great attraction with the children, the Arena which played host to a
multitude of events ranging from; motorcycle stunt riding, marching bands
and prize giving to name but a few and the Stall Holders who represented
the charities of Nuneaton to which the day's proceeds were to be donated.
With the welcome duly delivered, Vicki was escorted around the field to
meet the charities. Once again there was time to pose for a few
photographs with the Stall Holders and Town Cryers.
Next on the agenda was
the launch of hundreds of balloons on the great balloon race. I think
Vicki's was the red one! Later reports claimed it had been found two
feet from the launch site.
Following this, it
was the turn of Vicki's fans to officially approach her for a personalised
photograph and some 250 signatures later people were still cueing.
With the clock racing towards six o'clock it was time for the carnival
prize winners to receive their trophies. Once again Vicki was called upon
to perform this task for some of the successful entrants. An hour later
all that was left was to present Vicki with a bouquet of flowers with
grateful thanks and face the long drive home. But wait, what about the
raffle, who was going to draw the winning ticket and send its owner on an unforgettable
trip to Euro Disney? Well of course there was only one person it could be
really.
And so with the final act of the day over, there was time for a
quick drink to mull over the days events and discuss how things had gone
before the journey home. After such a hectic day, you might expect that
journey to be a time to relax, in reality it was spent planning and
discussing the following days personal appearance this time for Comic
Heritage's Annual Awards Luncheon at the Grosvenor House Hotel Park Lane
London. |
