JAGUARS – RESTAURANT REBATE HOST’S THE BIG CATS 5TH ANNIVESARY
Sunday 6th June 2016.- The Jaguar Enthusiasts Club in Spain is 5 Years old, who would believe it. With just 4 members when I first started the club, we have now grown to over 300 members in the Costa Blanca and more than 100 members in the Costa Del Sol.
For the 5th Anniversary event, we chose Restaurant Rebate, it is something special and in a fabulous location. As is usual in Spain, again we were blessed with a beautiful warm and sunny day, perfect for cruising with the top down. If you have never been to Restaurant Rebate near Pilar De Horadada, believe me it is worth a visit. A little tropical oasis, fabulous food, great service and flamenco dancers in the court yard. A recipe for a perfect day out.
Turn out for the day was brilliant, 83 people and 31 beautiful Jaguars gleaming in the sunshine. Initially, many members made their way to Restaurant La Fortaleza as the first meeting point. We left there in convoy to make our way to Rebate. The route took us through the orange and lemon groves and round the fabulous Pedrera lake with its turquoise water. If you have never visited the lake, it is something you should make an effort to do, it is spectacular.
Arriving at Restaurant Rebate we started off with a “drop of bubbly”, a Cava reception in the lush gardens under the “shade” trees, what could be more civilised. A chance to meet old friends and to take the group pictures. As always the food provided by the restaurant was exceptional and very different from that normally offered by Spanish restaurants. I am not going to try and describe each course it would take up too much room to give each one justice. 7 fantastic tapas style starters, then a choice from 10 main courses which included duck, entrecote steak, rabbit, salmon, pork and even lobster thermidor for a small supplement. Sumptuous desserts, wine, beer, water and coffee’s. A perfect feast for our 5th Anniversary celebrations and all for just 27.50 Euros. As we always get looked after really well, this time we presented the Maitre D with a small memorial cup in recognition of our appreciation.
It was a busy day all round, lots of awards and announcements about future events. Our good friends Molly and Brian Patterson organised a raffle which raised 207.00 Euros for the club funds, and a big, big thank you goes out to them. Ian McMenemy, Events Director and his lovely wife Uschi were presented with Certificates of Excellence recognising all their hard work and dedication to the club. They were also presented with a voucher which entitles them to a 5 star meal in any restaurant of their choice. My wife Barbara and I were also presented with memorial cups to mark the day. As if this was not enough, all four of us were given presents of brandy and chocolates from Molly and Brian Patterson just to say thank you. I started the club because I am passionate about Jaguars and I have run the club to get like minded people together and give them an opportunity to enjoy themselves. It is lovely to know that all our efforts are very much appreciated.
For us, if Rebate does have a negative, parking is not reserved and our beautiful big cats have to mix in with other cars which makes it impossible to make good pictures of the cars in any sort of group. Just take my word for it, the cars that did turn up were stunning. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those that attended the meeting, especially all the new members, we even had people come all the way from Malaga, Almeria and Javea. But most of all, a big thank you to Ian and Uschi McMenemy for organising the event, a brilliant job as always.
The next meeting is still to be arranged and will be announced shortly, Just looking into the future a little bit, There will be a couple more local meetings before the Rivers, Lakes & Waterfalls BBQ event in September then we can look forward to The Big One 2017 which will be held at Parador de Leon in Northern Spain. Built in the 16th Century this fabulous building was originally the head quarters for the Military Order of Saint James. It is now Paradors flag ship 5 star hotel. This event is proving to be very popular already, currently we are expecting over 400 people and 200 beautiful Jaguars.
The Jaguar Enthusiasts Club is the largest of the worlds Jaguar Clubs, apart from joining in the fun at the meetings, members also benefit from a glossy 140 page A4 monthly magazine, Jaguar spares department and a technical advice service second to none. If you live in Spain and own a Jaguar you should be a member of The Jaguar Enthusiasts Club. The JEC in Spain is organised by Eric Arnold, Club President and Ian McMenemy, Events Director. Costa Del Sol region is organised by Philip Wray. Eric can be contacted by email or by phone on 609931647; or alternatively check out our website or the JEC main web site. Our Events director, Ian McMenemy can be contacted by email. Not forgetting David Shea who looks after our Facebook identity. Contact details and news of future events can be found on our web site.
Text and photographs by: Eric Arnold
