Village Fete August 2008

The fete held on Saturday August 23rd was certainly one to remember, especially as it was the first in a few years. The reason we didn’t have a fete last year was because the park alongside wasn’t ready yet, so we couldn’t put up the marquee and various stalls as usual. This year we banked on it all being ready, but it didn’t turn out quite as expected.

First of all, our extension work was severely delayed and the internal work was only just completed in time for the fete. The building work unavoidably ruined the grass immediately outside the extended part of hall, but we thought that this could be roped off and we could use the rest of the park for the stalls. However, the state of the rest of the park was dire. The grass was completely waterlogged due to the recent torrential rain, and even though the Saturday of the fete started bright and sunny, we couldn’t use the park at all.

So when the team from the council arrived to erect the marquee, we were left with a problem. Luckily, the grassed area just across the road was fine, so the guys set up the marquee there. There wasn’t room for any other tents, but since it was such a nice day, the plant stall and tombola were set up in the open air outside the hall. And due to the extension, we could fit the bottle stall and cake & candy in there, with the bric-a-brac in the meetings room. Everything was going to work out!

The Borthwick Pipe Band heralded the start of the fete, which was opened by Frances Smail. Gladys Chucklebutty MC’d the event from a stage set up in the car park as well as entertaining the kids with her balloon bending antics.

The nice men from the council team marked out the grassed area alongside the hall entrance for putting. This was a surprise hit, bringing out the competitive spirit in a big way. The £5 prize was eventually won by Thomas Green.

Meanwhile, the cake and candy and bottle stalls were mobbed, and the ladies serving the teas were kept very busy. Yours truly was sat at the entrance manning the Whisky Galore stand, so I wasn’t able to get as many photos as I’d have liked, but it was clear that the other stalls were all doing very well. The plants apparently sold very quickly and there was a steady stream of people to rummage around the masses of bric-a-brac piled up in the meetings room.

Over in the marquee, this was given over to stuff for the kids. Moorfoot Primary School PTA had a kids tombola, lucky dip, sweets and games, while opposite them, the Crafty Fingers group displayed their talents, and gave kids a chance to join in.

All this was orchestrated by Susan Owenson, who has spent months organising the event. She did a great job in bringing the community together for this event. It would not have been possible without the help of lots of local people, whether it was in manning stalls, donating goods to sell or simply coming along and enjoying the day with the rest of the community.

Things drew to a close as 5pm approached, but that was only the first part - we also had a dance in the evening, with live music provided by Ignition. There was some major tidying up before the band set up ready for the evening. The bar opened up around 7pm and there was a slow trickle of people into the hall. For some reason, ticket sales for the event were poorer than expected - maybe it was too much to have the fete and dance on the same day. Still, by around 10pm, the tables were pretty much full and the atmosphere was more party-like. A great time was had by all. Many thanks to Derek and the rest of the band, and to the girls on the bar. At the end of the day we had raised well over £1000  toward the running of the village hall and we’d all had a great time doing it.

Alan Pemberton (31/08/08)