Article for the Village News – April 2013

by lmphs | Apr 13, 2013 | News

At our March meeting, we heard extremely favourable comments about the Neil Gurney Pantomime Spectacular the previous month, several people commenting that it was the best ever! The turnout on the Saturday was also full of locals who turned up to say thank you to our long-standing postman, Dave Grove, who came as our special guest. During the audience participation song (where the words got mysteriously lost in the post!), Dave was presented with an engraved tankard with the inscription “Dave the Postie” Best Wishes for A Long & Happy Retirement From your friends in Long Marston.

 Time moves on and the Horti are busy preparing other events that we hope to put on in 2013. Our main event as usual will be the Annual Village Show. Although planning is in its infancy, we are hoping to rearrange the Jazzercise exhibition which went down well last year and the possibility of Morris dancing returning to the arena. The flower and produce show in the Village Hall also goes ahead and we hope to provide guidelines for entry into the show over the coming months.

There is also plans to build on the wonderful Jubilee year of 2012 by holding a Midsummer Picnic on Saturday June 15^th. The whole idea of this is to create an informal get-together for all the villagers of Long Marston on the recreation ground behind the Village Hall where everyone can relax, meet new friends and create a sense of community spirit. We hope to put on some games for people to play, including our space hoppers and would be grateful for any ideas on what could be put on.

We are also in the process of working with all the community groups in Long Marston to create a facebook page to run alongside are marvellous website, www.longmarston.org, to help publicise events taking place during the year. We are also running a competition to win £50! All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is email our chairman, Martin Winship, with your address (martinwinship@live.co.uk) or pop a note through his door (13 Marston Court). Good Luck!

On the subject of sports, the Queens Head Golf Society have just come back from a rain-soaked weekend away which had to be abandoned on the Sunday because of snow! There will also be a football match being played on the recreation ground on Friday 12^th April at 6pm between the ‘Pub’ side and the ‘School’ side of the main road, dependant on where you live. All are welcome to come and support on the day with both sides fielding teams with varying ‘football’ abilities!

There is in any community, be they in town or in the countryside, a thriving underbelly of events taking place for those that want to join in. I have however recently noticed an upsurge in events being held to raise money for World Challenge. This is a worthwhile cause for the youngsters who learn valuable life skills whilst learning the value of fundraising in order to realise their goals. I recently attended a delicious pop-up restaurant and played “Rock’N’Roll” Bingo in the pub. Long may these events continue!