VILLAGE FETE RAISES OVER £8000
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Crissy Kellet writes:
What a great day we had for the Fete, we were so lucky with the weather and the support we had from everyone was fantastic…………. Thank you all so much.
We raised £8,350.00 from the afternoon and evening events and I think a good time was had by all.
A big thank you to our hosts, Moo & Pete for letting us use their lovely garden….. and kitchen….. and paddock!!
Also to Joy & Andron for hosting the BBQ……… feeding us all and organising the entertainment. The band were really good…….. my kind of music anyway, even if it was a bit loud for some.
The fete organising started about 3 months before the event when a small team got together to plan what we were going to do. They then went out to recruit more volunteers until we had about 75 adults and children volunteering to help out in some way. Some were press ganged, some husbands and wives had no choice!!
The preparation for the actual day started weeks before, Libby and Susie gathered donations for the auction of promises, there were tombola tickets to stick, Valerie has had this task for years but she says that this was her swan song. Janet sold a 100 squares. Donations for other stalls were gathered and of course the BBQ tickets were sold. All through May and into June the weather did not look promising and we were all keeping our fingers crossed, that despite being the same weekend as the Glastonbury festival, the sun would shine on our efforts.
The day before all the shopping for the BBQ had to be done, then chopping of onions …. 6 kilos!!
Moving tables and gazebos ……………. people are so generous in lending their belongings.
A team then met early morning to move the tables and chairs from the Church Hall to the garden. They then had to move the same to the pub at the end of the afternoon and put them away on Sunday morning! The same team put up gazebos (without instructions), signs and generally got the place organised, with addition of bunting, beautifully dressed stalls ……..the fete looked a picture!
The stall holders then brought in their wares, the various games and events got going. Our volunteers probably never got away from their pitch most of the afternoon because so many of you arrived to support the day. At one point we must have had over 200 people in the garden and over the course of the afternoon we must have had over 300 visitors.
We ran out of raffle tickets, all the cakes sold out, as did the bottle stall, teas did a roaring trade as did the face painting……. there were queues at one point. The constant pony rides kept Greg fit …….. he crammed his weekly exercise into one afternoon!
There were so many things to do and look at, the games were popular with children and adults alike and we won’t mention the local cider.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes lettuces by the dozen and crates of strawberries were being chopped and hulled. The pig was gently roasting and I was panicking because I had no tickets left and was wondering whether I could feed 220 people, never mind whether they could all sit down to eat.
The auction of promises was a great success, our auctioneers were in good voice and humour. The food did not run out and the dancing went on well into the evening.
The counting of the money was then the only thing left to do … to which we have to be grateful to Robin who was handed a crate full of coins to bank
It all came together in the end only a few things to learn from for next time ………. What did happen to Shire Horses for example?
Thanks to the “committee” for all their help, …………… to the many other volunteers, …………………. to those of you who lent us equipment and most of all to all of you who came and spent your money…………………. Without whom all of our efforts would have been in vain.
Crissy