Sandy's Mascot
- Lyneham's Newest Arrival
Sandy Martin, BBC Radio Wiltshire and Swindon's Weekend Morning
Show presenter couldn't believe his ears, when he was challenging
Jeff Curnock from Lyneham with some tricky questions on his
"Hat Trick Quiz" that the local competitor was being
egged on by his heavily pregnant partner.
In a nail-biting final last December, Jeff, who is an entertainer
with the family business and successful MaxxTraxxKaraoke,
was having all the brain cells stretched to the limit, with
a head to head decider against a lady who runs a Dance School
in Swindon.. Boy's against Girl's.
So enthusiastic was his family to see Jeff win the weekly
competition quiz, that his wife Tracey was forgetting where
she was and what stage of life she was at too. Tracey, heavily
pregnant, was actually unknowingly in the first stages of
possibly starting off an earlier delivery date than originally
intended. Still egging her Jeff on, encouraged by daughter's
Lauren and Amelia, the excitement was so intense, Tracey thought
that the baby was about to be born within minutes.
Sandy Martin, who runs the popular weekend show, recalls
hearing Tracey's zealous cheers, recalls "The quiz went
to a tie breaker and the excitement was so tense I could here
Tracey in the background cheering Jeff on. He said "This
is enough to make Tracy's water's break" If only he knew.
The behind-the-scenes encouragement certainly helped Jeff,
44, to go on win the tie breaker and for his endeavours picked
up a handful of prizes, including a £25 voucher at a
local Wadworth's Pub, a family pass to see Swindon Town Football
Club and a family pass to the Movies.
Jeff recalls "After winning the prizes, Sandy was gobsmacked
that Tracey was in the stages of labour that day and wished
us luck with the birth. He was in fact really chuffed"
The family remembers the excitement on the show was too much
for Tracey, that they needed to get to the maternity suite
as soon as possible as they all rushed off to the Great Western
Hospital to make preparations for their newest family member.
A few hours later, nerves settled and getting back to normality
reflecting on winning the star prizes too on Sandy's weekend
show all the earlier signs of the baby's arrival was in fact
a false alarm.
Sandy Martin reflects since that day, "We followed Tracy
& Jeff's progress until the baby was born in early 2006.
Getting an update every week about how things were going and
if there was any news."
Tracey's baby was well overdue and eventually started labour
in the late evening of January 19th to deliver a healthy beautiful
baby Elliana, some three-and- a-half hours later at The Great
western Hospital Swindon.
Sandy and his local radio team were so thrilled on the eventual
arrival he decided to give Tracey a call on Sunday 22nd January.
Sandy said " Baby Elliana was born after one of the longest
pregnancies and labours in history. We had to do something
special so I spoke to her live on the show asking Tracy if
she would let the show adopt her baby as a mascot."
"Since then we had a chat on-air last week and Elliana
made her Radio debut and Tracy and Jeff shared there story
about how they met and what they think of life in Lyneham
Wiltshire." Sandy recalls.
He goes on to say "Tracy also shared her acting stories
about who she's worked with and told us about appearing in
the drama "I Walk Away and I Stumble" which was
filmed in Wiltshire and starred Tamzin Outhwaite.
Summing up, Sandy reflects, "Great people and a lovely
family who we're really proud to have as part of the weekend
team."
Sandy Martin the BBC local radio presenter arrived in the
local area in 1979, looking for fun, adventure and excitement!
We can only say this 'Hat Trick Quiz' has fulfilled all that
inspirational criteria in one go. Congratulations to Jeff
and Tracey from everyone at Lyneham Village Online
and a special thanks to Sandy Martin for his dialog to compile
this pleasing village story. Pictures from Sandy Martin, Tracey
and Jeff Curnock. |
