The Bellbirds New Year's Eve dinner dance was not just good - it was great. That was the consensus. More so because it also marked the celebration of
the Club's Ruby Anniversary.

When members and friends, ever so loyal, were told the annual New Year's Eve dance was to be a two-pronged event, tickets were lapped up like rich cake,
Maliban biscuits and Edam cheese at Christmastime in bygone Ceylon. It was a sell-out!

The Rydges Hotel ballroom absorbed the inevitable full house with calm aplomb. The guests, bent on revelling in the birth of 2008, were equally delighted to felicitate a beloved association on reaching a significant milestone.

The Bellbirds may have been around for 40 years but they seem to carry a vibrancy belying the vintage.

Flanked by five past Presidents, present incumbent, Jill Foenander fittingly cut the birthday cake, decorated with a single ruby-red rose. Rich cake, made in the old Dutch tradition, was served to each guest later on.

As Jill reiterated in her welcoming address, the Bellbirds have upheld the objectives of the club -developing co-operation, mutual understanding and friendship between individuals and people; and assisting registered charities and not-so-well-off individuals with appropriate donations and support - unfailingly through all these years.

While dinner was gourmet and the service star class, the band, Kopykatz, added just the right zing to the evening. They had the revellers gyrating to a well-received repertoire of dance music climaxing with those perennial favourites to farewell the old and usher in the New Year.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW AN ALBUM OF PHOTOS BY DOUG JONES