A Celebration of Some Great Service

On Sunday, 2^nd March, Michael Charlton-Hubble organised a party in the Memorial Hall to celebrate Alison, Simon and Phil’s long service as shop keepers for the village, in Central Stores. The event was created to thank them, and their staff, Clare, Gavin and Donna, for their unstinting great service in providing the village with a local retail outlet that acted as a hub for the community and supported many village activities.

All those present wished to express their thanks personally. And the many donations of cakes, buns and scones were welcomed by all. There was no charge made for the event, but a bowl was in place for people to donate what they felt appropriate. There were also a couple of cards to be signed by everyone present as a reminder of the afternoon. The amount raised almost covered the cost of hiring the Hall, providing free hot drinks, and allowing Michael to organise a couple of photo books to commemorate the event for Alison, Simon and Phil.  Michael also presented Alison and Simon, and Phil and Jess with Champagne and flowers and the signed cards, much to the delight of all.

It was a splendid occasion with lots of chat and opportunities for people to mingle with other villagers, renew acquaintanceships and generally have a good gossip.

Our thanks to Michael for creating the event and to Sue and Roy Vincent who were tremendous in acting as a sounding board for Michael and who spent most of the day cooking batches of scones, displaying cakes, and filling the tea urns. They were a great help as were the volunteers who came forward and helped with the washing up!

Michael would like to thank the Memorial Hall Trustees and all the villagers who donated cash, cake or their time. It really is appreciated.

There were several villagers present who confessed to having never before been in our lovely old hall. Let’s hope future events will bring them back. The building was created to serve the local community, and the current trustees do their best to improve an aging facility and keep it going, often with voluntary work and sometimes even at personal expense.