What a fantastic afternoon! BGS Beach Party

Boston Grammar School Schuhplattler dancing at the Beach Party,
led by Richard Anderson

Boston Grammar School showed it was on good form, as it held its first Charity Summer Fete. Principal John McHenry was on hand to enjoy the fun with the staff, pupils (pictured below) and many guests including East Midlands Ambulance NHS Trust (EMAS) and L.I.V.E.S on a lovely summer afternoon.

There was no sign of a dampening mood following the flood that caused the school to close in December 2013. The future has never looked brighter.

Music provided by the school band accompanied the Schuhplattler; garden games; Magic Show starring ex-Head Boy, Mark Watson, Punch & Judy Show from Norfolk and all the delights of a summer’s day—ice cream, drinks and home-made cakes whilst fundraising for such worthy charities - Centrepoint Outreach, World War I Memorial and defibrillators for the local community. Local businesses helped the school by offering time to support such good causes and local superbike rider, Ben Wilson took time out to cut the black and amber ribbon at 12 noon.

BGS is sited at the heart of the Boston Community, steeped in history and the organisers, Richard Anderson and Suzanne McKeown are delighted to announce that the BGS “Beach Party” Fete raised over £1,000 for charity and wish to thank all who contributed to this splendid total.

Richard Anderson to retire

Richard Anderson has been teaching Modern Languages (French and German) at Boston Grammar School since 1971 and in doing so has inspired generations of Boston "lads" as he would call them. But his real lasting impression on those lads has often been from extra-curricular activities, having supervised clubs on topics from Cross Country to Subbuteo, and from model Railways to German.

It's difficult to choose where he has made the greatest impression but some of the highlights would be:

• Leading the Charity Club to raise thousands of pounds for all sorts of charities
• Leading the Schuhplattler Gruppe to perform its German style dancing at home and abroad over 700 times including appearances on television
• Leading lads to success in General Knowledge local, regional and national competitions
• Leading the Grammar Gazette to be what I understand is the longest running school student run newspaper in the country (I stand to be corrected if that is not the case)

And now, having easily passed the historical teaching retirement mark of 60 (thanks to government policy), Richard is preparing to put down his red pen for the last time, retiring on 31 August 2014, so the current term is his last as a teacher.

Some of us have contemplated in the past what Richard would do after retirement. Once when I asked his friend and former colleague, Ron Abbott, if he could contact Richard for me (before the age of school email addresses), he said that short of throwing a rock with a message attached over the school wall there wasn't much he could do. So dedicated has Richard been to the school, or really more accurately to "the lads" (although some are in fact now "lassies"), and the hours he has put in are surely matched by few in any profession.

In fact Richard's plans for retirement are to split his time between Boston, where he has made many friends, and regularly meets former students, who he calls "blasts from the past", the North East, his home territory and still home for one of his brothers, and Germany, where his other brother lives. Let's hope we continue seeing Richard around for many years to come and let's wish him a very happy retirement!

700th Schuhplattler Gig

The BGS Schuhplattler Gruppe
on BBC's Blue Peter in 2001

Richard Anderson has had a letter published in the Boston Standard marking the 700th gig of the Boston Grammar School Schuhplattlergruppe.

The current troupe has had an amazing year, performing at all major Lincolnshire events including the prestigious Lincolnshire Show (where they were ‘sponsored’ by Lincs FM DJs), the Olympic Torch Relay in Lincoln, the Spalding Flower Parade, Carrington Rally, Sleaford Oktoberfest, numerous Jubilee events, the Boston Standard Centenary Show, and in December they were the only act to be invited to perform in front of Lincoln Cathedral as part of the opening ceremony for Lincoln’s famous Christmas Market. This was the remarkable 700th gig.