2010 Village Fete
The Monkey Island Summer Fete, held at the Farmers Arms on Saturday 10th, was a tremendous success. With glorious sunshine, fabulous setting, the community spirit set the afternoon off with a buzz in the air. This year the Monkey Island Summer Fete Committee agreed to raise funds for the County Air Ambulance Trust. Jason Dennis, Corporate Manager for the County Ambulance Trust cut the ribbon at 3pm and with no hitches to the scissors, the fete got under way. Plus 4 band raised the atmosphere, bringing folk of all ages to the stalls, which included shuttle board games, face painting, making your own cards, Wii boards games, children’s games, Monkey Island passports, cake competition and sale the big Grand Prize Draw, on the patio area and chance to relax in the bar or having a home-made prepared BBQ. Marilyn and her Parish Church team were fantastic in organising the cake competition and sale. The entries were really imaginative and artistic, which made Rupert’s job very challenging in judging the children’s, 11-18 year old and adult categories. Well done to you all.
Photos By Alan Wood
Local group stands were also present which highlighted the wide range of activities we have in the village which included the Lets (Local Exchange Trading Scheme), Neighbourhood Watch, Walkers Stand, CAP (Community Access Point), Cribbage.
Helen Marles, our guest singer captivated the village with her lovely voice and repertoire of music.
While down in the car park, the St John Ambulance watched eagerly as our Parish Chairman Patrick and sun stroked volunteers got soaked with sponges in Richard’s stocks, as the queue got longer for people to have their turn. Tony drew in those with a competitive spirit to try their hand at skittles and the car boot sale soon attracted potential buyers.
Kelsmore dairy provided an array of ice cream and strawberries from Withers Farm assisted by Ann and Helen
In Dogberry field, Ian was running the Wellie Wanging competition for children and adults as hopefuls tried their hand at throwing the Wellington boot... which ended up in all directions.
The bif baf bouncy castle attracted a steady flow energetic children eager to demonstrate their “balancing and flying skills”, watched by the castle supervisor.
The Farmers Arms Shield tug of war competition was held in Dogberry Field became the centre of attention at the end of the day. The first competition between the girls and boys, which ended up with more than eight each side, dived into action with parents shouting their children on, the expression on each face telling their own story of glee and excitement, in what was a spectacular fun event, with the girls only just winning(probably due to the downhill slope). The adult tug of war told another story with Ian Mackie Captain of one side and Patrick Adams the other. This year there were no trees around so it was just good old team work and ......a gentle slope. A great time was had by all with Patrick’s team winning the Monkey Island shield, which will take pride of place in the Farmers Arms.
The fete ended with the Grand prize draw. Most of the prizes were donated by located businesses, to which we owe gratitude of thanks.
Learning Outcomes
If anyone would like to share their experiences of the day, observations or what you would like to see in future fete events, please let me know by email:simon.shorrick@btinternet.com
A big thank you
On behalf of the Monkey Island summer fete committee, I would like to convey my deepest thanks to all the hard work the Parish, Church, Memorial Hall committee members and the many volunteers who helped in the lead up to and during the fete. These include: Ian and Jenny Mackie, Alison and Hamish Skinner Alan Wood, Jayne and Richard Allsop, Simon Brown, Marilyn Gilmore, Kay Watkins, Ros and Patrick Adams, Richard and Wendy Hurley, Lorna Garnett, Kathy and David Harwood, Helen Thorndyke, Sue and Mark Low, Anne, Hugh and Sally Ransome-Wi lliams, Marion and Graham Jones, Ann Shorrick, Roger Allsop, Withers Farm , Barry and Lucy Hill, Richard and Jan Lee-Buxton, Sascha Macdonald, Natalie Rogers, Ursula , Carole Funke, Ann Abbotts, Tony and Kim Cooke, Peter Constantine, St John Ambulance, Plus 4 Band, Helen Marles, Suzy Harper and her Farmers Arms Team. The success of the fete was also down to all of you from village and groups, who made this event on the day. After expenses total raised from the day was £550.00.This exceeded last years total. We hope that with the enthusiasm and spirit of the summer fete will draw on volunteers from the community to assist our small Fete committee, with new ideas, perhaps on activities, taking into consideration our diverse age group, other locations within the village. Simon Shorrick Chairman Monkey Island Summer Fete Committee
