MOGGERHANGER JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS
June 2012
Early in 2012 the village started planning to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Various meetings took place under the auspices of the Parish Council and it was decided to hold a fete on the village playing field on the afternoon of Saturday 2 June. Chris Bashford took on the job of co-ordinator and various other people worked closely with him, notably Carolyn and Tim Lister.
There was feverish activity in making it all happen. There was to be a central area ringed with straw bales kindly lent by a local farmer. A trailer was lent by Bob Anderson on which the musical contributions took place, two big marquees were hired and lots of villagers lent tents and gazebos.
On the day some villagers organised face-painting and other stalls, there were a book stall and bric-a-brac, Betty Barrance ran a raffle and St John’s Hospice ran a cake stall. There was even a plant sale stall manned for the church by Jo Hollington. And the shop was open for the afternoon also. In fact, most of the village organisations were represented at the fete. Then there was a refreshments and beer tent. Everything was of course run by villagers, the food preparation and sale being co-ordinated by Pat Whitworth. Tim and Carolyn Lister were in charge of the drinks and did a non-stop job.
The event was very successful, blessed with a sunny afternoon amid some rather wet weather. The school children opened the proceedings with a procession to the playing field, which they followed by singing the National Anthem. They then enjoyed races in the central area – old-time races like the sack race, the egg-and-spoon race, the three-legged race, which the grown-ups also tried later. The vicar won the adults’ egg-and-spoon race, in spite of dropping the egg very close to the finish. The balloon man was very popular with the children (and there was a bouncy castle?). All the stalls did a roaring trade and the refreshments and drinks tent volunteers were kept very busy. Later a BBQ was set up run by Peter Dean, and to bridge the gap between afternoon and evening there were various musical events, including songs from a talented young villager. In the evening the refreshments tent became a dance floor and people stayed to enjoy some good music organised by our resident DJ, Steve James. And as they were about to close at 12.00 a group arrived from The Guinea which prolonged the celebrations till 1.00 am.
Overnight on Friday and Saturday people slept in the refreshments tent to guard all the drinks. Others slept in caravans and camper vans to protect all the facilities which had been erected. Then on a very wet Sunday morning various people met at the playing field to dismantle as much as possible, leaving just the big marquees till they dried out. You can see many photos of the event here. Later, after all the work was done, everyone went home to watch the Jubilee Pageant on television.
In the evening of Monday, 4th June Moggerhanger Park hosted the lighting of the village beacon, which was lit with much excitement and a count-down to 10.01 precisely. It was possible to see one or two other beacons towards Sandy and Biggleswade also.
The whole weekend of celebration was very successful and enjoyed by the entire village – a memorable time.
The celebrations raised almost £500, which after much deliberation and discussion by the Parish Council was used to erect a bench in the Children’s Playground.
