| Christmas Tree Festival 2009 |
| Written by June Vyse |
|
Well another successful Festival is over! It always seems a log time in the planning and then, like Christmas itself, it is all over in a flash! Thank goodness there were no flashes or bangs, just flashes of inspiration, as people came from far and near to admire all the beautiful trees on show. And what a show! Every year people say that it is better than before, and I think with all the different ideas and all the hard work put into decorating, our trees do seem to have something special (of course, it could be the fab layout that gives it that special touch!). We received many, many lovely comments about the trees and their talented designers – but we already know just how talented you all are.What makes our Tree Festival so special is that anyone of any age can take part and you don’t need to be an expert to take part.The fun and the fellowship we share is proof of that! Once again, we were sponsored by Poplars Nursery and we are extremely for their support which helps greatly towards our costs. Thank you to Mrs Marriott of the Toddington Florist who provided two adorable ‘Sleepytime bears’ for the ‘Name a Bear’ competition.They were named Honey and Biscuit and were won by Kell Taylor from Toddington – Well Done Kell!! Thank you to Mrs Miriam Few who made the beautifully decorated Christmas Cake which was raffled in the Wilkinson Hall.The proud winner was Gemma Knight – we hope you enjoyed eating it! Thank you to all our intrepid volunteers who helped by manning stalls, serving teas making and serving cakes and working extremely hard throughout the weekend. The Tree lights were switched on, by the Rector, on Friday afternoon.The Rector also led the ‘Carols Amongst the Trees’ on Sunday evening – what a lovely way to finish the weekend. Our thanks go to the Rector and to the organist, Paul. Thanks too to the stalwart band of volunteers who worked so hard to get everything set up and then had to clear it all away again! It takes almost a whole week of very hard work to get everything organised and without this extremely dedicated group of people the Festival would simply not happen. Enormous thanks must also go to all the exhibitors and their helpers.Without you all and your fantastic creative abilities the Tree festival would not be possible.We look forward every year to seeing what you are going to come up with and every year we are amazed and delighted – THANK YOU! The weekend raised £1973.52 for the Friends and the Carols Amidst the Trees raised a further £100, which was given to Shelter. I do know that some of you have already started planning for next Christmas – one resourceful individual has already been and bought their decorations in the sales – however, there is some time for the rest of us to have a bit of a rest before we have to start thinking about 2010. It is too soon for us to have started planning for the next Festival yet but we try to keep to the same we e kend each year, so, put a note in your diaries for the second weekend in December now! We look fo r w a rd to meeting you all and welcoming new exhibitors later in the year. Thank you all very much! June Vyse, On behalf of the Friends of St George’s Church. |