November 18th
As a doyen of the village I do try and get along to most of the village events, and therefore on November 18th I found myself at the Parish Rooms at 7.30pm for the Old Basing and Lychpit Village Show Annual General Meeting. I have to tell you that I wasn’t planning to attend, but the central heating at the Manor chose that evening to pack in and I thought it would be warmer up at the Church, and I was right! So I left Spencer with his head in the oil tank and a crowbar in his hand trying to fix the boiler whilst I made my way to the Parish Rooms. I managed to slip in at the back without being noticed. The meeting was very well attended, in fact the Chairman, Mr Jeff Owen, remarked that this year there must be a record for the number of members of the public in attendance. Perhaps next year they will even outnumber the committee members.
Jeff Owen reminisced about his past three years as Chairman, and explained that he was now required to stand down, (no doubt so that he can concentrate even harder on growing his oversize carrots and parsnips). However, before I could fully take in the implications of this, he was re-elected as Vice Chairman for another three years. So there may be hope for all us aspiring giant vegetable growers if he is being kept busy with his committee duties. Presentations were made to the two outgoing members of the committee, Mrs Penny Gaskill and Dr Alan Gibberd, who have been tireless supporters of the Village Show for many years. Chris Beadle takes over as Chairman, and Mark Offord continues as Treasurer.
The date for next year’s Village show has already been set for Sunday 6th September. The show schedules will be on sale at the Carnival in June. To stand any chance of competing successfully in the fruit, flower and vegetable classes, you need to be thinking about buying your seeds and I have found just the website for you. www.medwynsofanglesey.co.uk. I am reliably informed that this is where Jeff gets his from, so come on everybody, try and buy up all the stock before he gets his order in.
Of course, if the domestic and home baking section is more your thing, you don’t need to be doing much preparation at the moment. However, I must warn you that you will be facing some stiff competition next year as the judges last year commented that one of the Swiss Rolls entered in the Men and Boys only class was “County Standard” (whatever that means). Personally I think his wife must have helped him.
The meeting finished by 8.15pm (another record), and as I made my way back to the Manor fervently hoping that Spencer had got the boiler fixed, I contemplated the evening’s proceedings. Your Village Show Committee works hard all year round to put on an event that rivals the best in the county. They need your support on the day either by entering or by attending (or preferably both). Please mark the date in your diaries now.