London England
   

 May 6th &  7th 2000

    

There were thousands of things I had wanted to say, and intended to say, but
never did. Here are 3 in particular:

1. In thanking Fan Club organisers, and Webmasters, I ommitted to mention Mac
Steagall. He was on my paper, but the words just didn't come out. Without
Mac, we wouldn't even know each other like we do. Mac, please forgive this
omission and take this as big-time thanks!

2. Alan Hartley couldn't be with us. Last year, as you may know, he and his
wife suffered probably as big a tragedy as anyone could ever imagine. Right
now, his wife is expecting another child. The baby is due any time now, and
you can easily understand why Alan did not want to be away from home. Had I
said the words, I know that everyone at HV would have sent their thoughts
back to Alan and Tina. Dave O, could you please do this anyway.

3. I wanted to share a story about John Lawton. When we first got together
planning a schedule, the name Gunhill came up. John immediately said "no".
Gunhill shouldn't play, in his book. Why? Because, he said, this was about
Heep fans and Heep - not about "promoting John Lawton's projects". It took
some time to convince him that to a Heep fan, Gunhill is every bit as much a
part of the "Heep family" as anything else.

Likewise, after hearing his "Dues to the Blues" CD, I asked him about playing
something from that. Again, he declined, repeating that it was not about
promoting himself.
Who else would not have taken this opportunity to promote a great CD?
Says a lot about the man, and what he was in it for.....everything but
himself.

Thanks for indulging
Graham

 

 

A moment, if you please, for the "unsung heroes" of Heepvention 2000:

Gunnar Taraldset, Morten (sorry I can't remember the last name), and Johnny
Nilsen.
They arrived at 10am on the Saturday after an epic 33-hour journey from
Norway, finally getting to London at Friday midnight. They had offered help,
and immediately got heavily involved in carrying impossible weights of
equipment up the stairs. As we know, in the end, it proved impossible, and a
professional crew was called in. But for over an hour, these guys sweated
blood to help get everything ready.

Martin and Rita Wilson.
Without them, we would definitely have sunk. There is nothing they didn't do.
Martin was the main security guy, and handled all situations with complete
diplomacy and discretion. Rita just did EVERYTHING! This couple missed most
of the show, absolutely willingly, so that you could enjoy. They were there
from the very first to the very last and did nothing but work. I am forever
in their debt.

David Blackwood.
A policeman from Scotland. Before the event, he put in a lot of work liaising
with local police for advice on safety and security. Spent most of HV not in
the hall, but at the door. Karen sat there too, with total understanding (and
she actually missed the whole of the second day as her mother was taken into
hospital. David carried on with his "duties")

Richard Lee Heung
Got the whole thing off to a great start by organising the Friday night
festivities along with Pete Wharton

Lynn Hulme
No-one will ever know just how much she did.