Blaxhall Parish Council Newsletter
No 51 Summer 2005 edited by Steve Smedley
Plans for Summer Fete 2005
From Clara Jenkins
The Fete and Vegetable Show this year is on Saturday 20th August and will be opened at 2.30pm this year by local District Councillor Ray Herring. Al the usual stalls will be there, plus games and other enjoyable things to do. If you can offer your time and are willing to help with one of the stalls or to run a game please give Clara Jenkins a ring on 688558.
The following people will be running the stalls. Please gather together any contributions you may have and pass them on to the people concerned in the next few weeks so that we can have an even more successful event than last year.
| Teas | Sheila Scopes | 688178 |
| Produce | Sheila Salisbury | 688551 |
| White Elephant | Doris Dunne | 688401 |
| Cakes | Shirley Taylor | 688220 |
| Jewellery/Gifts | Joan Hurren | 688352 |
| Crafts | Viv Browne | 688993 |
| Books and Plants | Clara Jenkins | 688558 |
I am still looking for someone to run the plant stall. Please let me know if you fancy doing this. I have some plants from the Suffolk Wildlife Trust to get you started.
Vegetable Show
We are hoping for the best ever vegetable show this year. There will be the usual classes for vegetables. flowers, baking, children's classes etc, so I hope you have been hard at work growing giant-sized produce so that you can win the top prizes. Keep up the nurturing and care of all your plants.
Bottle Stall and raffle prizes
We have a tradition that eery household in Blaxhall gives a bottle and a draw/tombola prize (these stalls always make good money). Please have your offerings ready when someone calls on you.
I look forward to seeing you all enjoying the activities on August 20th and spending lots of money.
Marquees
Two marquees were recently purchased for hire by local groups and individuals in Blaxhall using funds raised from past summer fetes. The Fete Committee has now taken over responsibility for managing the marquees and has decided that they will now only be made available for events run by the Village Hall and Playing Field committees and the Church.
Two nominated members of each group will be responsible for looking after them when in use and for packing them up when they are dry. They should be booked out with Joyce Iszard (688452) or, in her absence, Clara Jenkins (688558).
Broadband Blaxhall
Broadband internet access wa finally turned on in the Blaxhall area at the end of May. A computer with internet access is available for community use most days at the Youth Hostel. Call Steve or Angela on 688206 to book a session.
If you're new to the internet, make sure you visit www.blaxhall.com, an excellent site run by Jonathan Cutting and Shane Pictor, which is full of local information both contemporary and historical.
New work on the Village Hall
The Village Hall has recently been rewired and now includes new thermostatically-controlled heating, and new lighting both indoors and outdoors. Redecorating is almost complete, but volunteers are still needed for finishing off some remaining areas. Please contact Graham Bowles (688192) if you would like to help.
We will also soon be laying the long-awaited new floor, a modern, hard-wearing wooden laminate in an attractive dark bamboo finish. All this has been possible thanks to grants from Suffolk County Council and Blaxhall Parish Council, but most importantly from the massive support that we have had from you at all out recent fund-raising events. There are still further improvements that need to be done so our programme of Saturday evening events continues towards 2006:
| 2nd July | Summer Ball |
| 20th August | Summer Fete (village hall bar) |
| 8th October | Film night |
| 5th November | Bonfire night (village hall bar) |
| 10th December | Christmas Party |
Weekly in the village hall
Monday evenings: Carpet bowls
Thursday morning and afternoon: Art club
Thursday evening: Line dancing
Blaxhall's Living Past
Over the May bank holiday the Blaxhall Archive Group (BAG) held a photographic exhibition in the village hall. The group has been collecting images of past life in Blaxhall for about two years and this exhibition was an opportunity to show the rest of the village just some of the treasures they have collected.
More then twenty panels of photos dealt with various subjects of village social history, from the church to farming, including one panel dedicated to George Ewart Evans. It was a pleasure to welcome his two youngest daughters Mary and Susan to the exhibition along with over 700 interested people during the three days of the holiday.
Visitors were also able to browse through copies of the entire BAG database of images, enjoying old memories and adding extra information if they had any to give. The Archive Group is still looking for photographs, paintings, maps and other interesting items that relate to people or events in Blaxhall. Has anybody got an image of the windmill? Or of Pump Square? Anything donated is usually scanned (copied) and returned to the owner within a couple of days. If you have anything you think might be of interest please contact:
Shane Pictor: 688205
Daphne Gant: 688758
Maggie Grenham:
Diary Dates
2nd October Harvest Festival, St Peters Church, Lunch afterwards in the village hall
21st October Trafalger Commemoration, Village Hall, Frank Pynn 688196
Your Parish Councillors
Maureen Adie
Gary Borrett 687562
Graham Bowles 688192
Philip Dunnett (Chairman) 688660
Bob Mackenzie 688755
Steve Smedley 688751
Nigel Suckling 688317
Shirley Taylor 688220
(Vacancy)
Parish Clerk
Joyce Iszard 688452