7th September
Yet another successful Village Show out of the way! Credit should be given to the Committee members, their families and helpers who tirelessly and selflessly dedicate so much of their time to put on such a splendid event.
I expect you are all keen to know how I got on with my 27 entries, which incidentally was the most out of anybody who entered. Well I had a few notable successes with the Manor pears and potatoes, as well as some unexpected achievements with my flowers and baking. Overall I was quite pleased with the results.
One unwelcome occurrence was that my “single large flowered rose” was disqualified on the grounds that it wasn’t a hybrid tea. It just goes to show that even we seasoned exhibitors can occasionally make mistakes, and that it is always worth checking with some of the even more knowledgeable entrants before staging your exhibits. Which brings me on to another gripe. As you all know, I always get to the Village Hall early on the morning of the show, as this means that I can bag the best spots on the show bench to display my entries. This year, I was most affronted to find that at least one of my pot plants had been moved to the back of the show bench by an exhibitor who turned up later, who also insisted on preparing her flowers on the actual display bench instead of in the preparation area in the foyer. This is where the Paulet-Halt bony elbows can come in useful I can tell you, as I manoeuvred my plant back to its rightful position at the front.
I made a point of going to check out the handicraft section upstairs. I was particularly impressed with the first prize painting in the art class which quite rightfully won the prize for the best entry in the handicraft section. Recognising the name on the card, I enquired of the person concerned and discovered that she had only been painting for 8 months, and that she was completely overcome with her success. In fact there will be a few new names on the trophies this year as the Wine and Beer tankard was won by a newcomer.
As usual the long suffering Spencer vowed that this would be the last show he would be involved with, however by next year I am sure he will have forgotten all about it!