(Photo - Hilary Mead-Durrant hosted a craft fair at
Chaffcombe Village Hall to raise funds for CRY (Cardiac Rick in the Young).
Ilminster’s
celebrated Victorian Evening, held on the third Friday in November, certainly
sets the scene for kick-starting the Christmas season. Despite the inclement
weather this year it was great to see so many people out and about, and all of
the shops looking splendid, putting on a real show and helping to encourage
visitors into the town. I am always pleased that, despite tougher times
financially, the town still feels that it is important to support the Christmas
lights.
In
the run up to Christmas I find that several times a week I am visiting local
craft fairs, often several in one day. These are usually held in village halls
and in addition to supporting whatever the cause may be, I find that such craft
fairs and events are a really good source of locally produced goods and
produce.
My
last haul included jolly Santa napkins, a glittery evening bag, handmade
stockings, scented lavender bags, homemade mince pies and chutney - Christmas
gifts galore. My ever expanding waistline is also testament to the difficulty I
have in avoiding temptation when bacon butties and scrumptious meringues are on
offer (Ashill village hall if you were wondering), as well as the usual
tombolas (where I won a bottle of Pimm’s) and raffles.
Our
schools will also be putting on a variety of events and activities to delight
the parents, carers and proud grandparents of our youngsters; how sad it is
that nowadays, due to child protection issues, we are unable to record these
moments for posterity.
Churches
will certainly want to look their best, and volunteers will be hard at it to
produce splendidly festive displays, surely using skills passed on by Angie
Blackwell who has been busy doing demonstrations. At The Minster in Ilminster
the Christmas Tree Festival, held from 4th to 10th December, will undoubtedly draw in the
crowds to admire the beautifully decorated trees, with each one benefiting a
local charity from the donations made. I am always amazed at the ingenious ways
in which the trees are designed to attract our attention.
For
my part, in addition to supporting Rotary with their carol singing pub crawl on
the 15th, I shall be hard at work putting together a quiz to test
the brains in Broadway on the 10th December
to raise much needed funds for the church. Last year I wore my reindeer suit;
this year I have been asked to refrain from doing so. I can’t think why?!
With
so much going on, and with such dedicated community involvement from all
concerned, there can be no doubt that our market towns and villages, despite
having the odds against us at times with road works, and floods and funding
cuts, are all set to continue to thrive.
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