Tag Archives: fan story

Celebrating Meeting and Greeting with Alfie Boe

Coming to the end of January and we can start to look forward to a new Alfie year with some new shows and new music scheduled for this year.  Those going to the Japanese concerts won’t have to wait very long to see Alfie but before you know it, June will be upon us and Fleetwood, London, Scarborough and Llangollen will be blessed with many Alfie’s Arrows descending upon them. For those of you not in the know, Alfie’s Arrows was a term chosen by Alfie fans several years ago; Alfie liked it and the merchandise of the time produced Alfie’s Arrows badges.  Give me a shout if you’ve got one!

All fans would probably love to meet Alfie, even if they became somewhat tongue tied when speaking to him! If this is you, you are not alone!  One of the most exciting things for fans is to enjoy a meet and greet experience with Alfie and over the years, these have changed format, from the very informal to the ‘sign and pose’ opportunity of recent years.  Having said that, a meet and greet experience is still very special and seeing that Alfie smile just for you really does make your day, or even, dare I say, your year?!

Needless to say, apart from the actual “hello, how are you” and signing part of a meet and greet, the moment captured in a photo is the icing on the cake and a lasting memento of the day.  Here are a few fans who sent me their photos, as well as a few taken at stage doors etc:

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Thank you to everyone who sent me their photo, I just love seeing the happy faces!  If your photo is featured here, please click here to send me your meet and greet story and it might feature in a future post!

If this has whetted your appetite for your own meet and greet this year, click here to see availability at Fleetwood, Kenwood House and Scarborough.

If you would like to see your photo and story included then please fill in the form below:

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Alfie and Michael: Lisa’s Story

Long time fan Lisa Tootill has really found the best way to combine work with Alfie and Michael.  Lisa, who has been following Michael since Aspects of Love and first saw Alfie perform on his 2012 Storyteller tour, works at the Guide Dog Breeding Centre near Birmingham and is responsible for bringing new dogs into the centre to enhance the gene pool for future breeding.  Recently, Lisa found two Curly Coated Retrievers in Estonia (they’re a rare breed), and upon bringing them back to the UK, managed to christen them Alfie and Michael!

Alfie is on the left and Michael the right.

Although the traditional image of a guide dog is a Labrador, there are in fact, many breeds used, including Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Flat Coated Retrievers as well as the Curly Coated Retriever.  There is even a Standard Poodle and Border Collie in the breeding programme.  One of the most famous guide dog owners is David Blunkett who always uses Curly Coated / Labrador crosses, as they are good, solid, working dogs.

Each year, Guide Dogs UK breeds puppies to go on and eventually train and work with visually impaired people around the UK.  The usual practice when naming litters is that all the names should start with the same letter, for tracing purposes but Lisa was adamant that with these two sweethearts, the rules should go out the window and Alfie and Michael were thus named.  In fairness, Lisa says that the theme for name picking was ‘my favourite things’ and Alfie and Michael are two of her favourite people, as all the staff at the breeding centre are well aware!  Here is Lisa with Alfie:

 

Thanks Lisa for sharing your story of marrying work with Alfie and Michael.  To find out more about Guide Dogs UK click here.

If you would like to share your fan story, I’d be delighted to hear from you, just click here to send me a message.

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