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Rex Appeal
Rex was introduced to the public in Issue 1 of Surerandomality, when we told of the plight of a human that had been reincarnated as a golf ball, and then gets hit into a water hazard on it’s first outing.
Letters received from readers suggested that there was public sympathy for his plight and so an appeal was started, initially as the Save the Golf Ball Appeal.
Money has been coming in steadily over the weeks and issue 4 saw a suggestion that we give the golf ball a name. From the many suggestions, the 10 most popular names were collated and a vote was held over the following two weeks, and issue 7 saw the winning name to be Rex. (For full results click here)
Registered Charity status was awarded in time for issue 10, and the registered charity number is 248163264.
The search Eventually led to Brampton Golf Club in Cumbria, and to one of it's member's a Mr Benjamin Andrew Daniel Slice, who it turns out was the cack handed golfer that had put Rex into his watery surroundings.
On the 5th April 2003 a search was conducted at Brampton golf course, and Rex was found. However on this joyous occasion there was tragedy, an Rex was dropped and was run over by a green rolling machine, and was crushed. The appeal has now been wound up.
The final total for the appeal stood at £691.79, 12 Guinea, 58 second & 51 First class stamps, 202 euros, $39.99, 9 Irish Punt, 12 drachma, 71 French Francs, 23 Swiss Francs, 34 Belgium Francs, 1756 Andorran Pesetas, 44 Yen, 301 Australian dollars, 666,666 Italian Lira, 2,056,179 Turkish Lira, 7 Krugerands, 28 Luncheon Vouchers, 124 Green Shield Stamps, £221.50 in postal orders, 14 Esso tokens, £30 worth of Circus Casino (Viva Las Vegas) chips, 71,000 WH Smith club card points, 18,000 Nectar points, 4 Car wash tokens, 5 Milk Tokens, £15 worth of Argos vouchers, £2.50 worth of Mothercare vouchers, £20 worth of Specsavers vouchers and £1420 worth of out of date HMV money off vouchers
The dispersal of the remaining funds was a problem, and suitable causes were searched for. There were many nominations, but I narrowed the list down to five suitable candidates, and over a period of four weeks, the readers and general public voted on where the funds should be sent to. The five candidates were, 1. The royal society for the prevention of damage to natural water hazards on golf courses. 2. The golf ball historical society. 3. The international museum of green rollers. 4. The golfers with Alzheimer's hospice, and 5. The Mango protection alliance. The final voting saw the Mango Protection Alliance get the fundsTo see the final result of the vote click here.
The Rex Memorial service was held on Sunday, 29th June 2003, at the Checketts Road Kingdom Hall in Leicester. The turnout was astonishing, and heart-warming, especially considering the local parking problems, and difficult directions. The major downside was the fact that the location couldn't really cope with the size of the crowd of well wishers that had turned out to pay their last respects. Fortunately we managed to get speakers set up, and were able to relay the service to all those who stood outside unable to get into the kingdom hall. It was a fitting end to the story of Rex, I just hope everyone remembers him.