Southrepps Village Fayre
Although the majority of entries for events relate to forthcoming attractions the outstanding success of the Village Fayre demands that some description of the celebrations be recorded for those who were unfortunate enough to miss the day. The following narration was compiled by Sandra Stanway, who was the Publicity Officer for the event.
Southrepps Village Fayre - Saturday 25th August 2007
After 4 continuous days of rain (and 4 sleepless nights!) it was almost possible to believe that the weather had been ordered especially for us here in Southrepps. I realised it was going to be a scorcher of a day when I commented on how hot it was and it was only 7.30am!
About 8am the volunteers, stall holders and arena performers started to arrive and everone was kept busy for the next couple of hours, ready to kick-off at 11-30am. It was a great start to the day to have both Jason Reynolds from North Norfol Radio and Peter Piper from Cromer's Seaside Special officially declare the Fayre open at 12.10pm - just 10 minutes behind schedule.. As soon as Bill Sandal, Chairman of the Southrepps Village Fayre handed over to Peter Piper, the quick witted comedian decided that Bill would be a good starting point for his laughs and proceeded to tease Bill about his shirt. Pretty soon he had the crowd roaring with laughter and even managed to persuade a lady from Mundesley to part with her bra in return for free tickets to the Seaside Show!
Keith Skipper then took over as Master of Ceremonies for the day introducing the arena events and keeping everyone informed of all the events taking part in the Fayre. It's not an easy job to try and keep everyone amused and fill in the quie time, but I think Keith did an admirable job and I know for sure he thoroughly enjoyed himself.
There were many highlights of the day - I'm sure everyone has their favourite memories, but I particularly enjoyed the falconry display and thought it was great they involved as many people as possible including the kids. With such a big arena it wasn't easy to get a close-up of the birds, but I was amazed to see Tim the handler walking around the edge of the arena with his friendly vulture up close and personal to hundreds of people!
Obviously I'm slightly biased as I am married to one of the now "legendary" Red Barrows, but for me the highlight of the day had to be our very own local display team. After lots of hard work put in by not just the Barrows themselves but John their leader and all the volunteers who were involved in forming the team whether it was procuring barrows, t-shirts, painting the barrows etc. it was a credit to the village. It was funny to see the look on everyone's faces when the first Barrow arrived in the arena and pretty soon the whole crowd were clapping and cheering as each member arrived for their entrance. After lots of "oohs" and "wows" during the crossovers and close formations, the crowd jumped to their feet and gave the team a 5 minute standing ovation. A brilliant job lads - well done. The only problem now being, is Southrepps big enough for all those celebrities?? After an encore performance it was decided to auction the barrows (the wheelbarrows that is!) and within minutes all nine barrows were sold and raised the grand total of £450!
The day had run exactly to schedule and though exhausted the volunteers kept working in order to set up the village hall and marquees ready for the barn dance and charity auction. A great time was had by all whether it was inside dancing to Rig-a-jig-jig, or outside enjoying the balmy summer evening. By 12.30am most of the clearing-up had been done and it was time to retire for a well earned rest and a nightcap!
Thanks to Pam, whose idea it was to find an event to bring people closer together while at the same time raise money for local charities, I have made so many new friends it now takes twice as long to walk to the pub by the time I have had a chat with everyone!
On behalf of all the organisers involved, I would like to say a massive THANK YOU to all the volunteers, sponsors and supporters without whose help and donations the Fayre would not have happened. A reunion is being organised for all volunteers to get together and share their stories over a drink - details will be announced soon. The final amount of money raised will also be announced shortly together with a list of charities who will be benefiting from the distribution of cash.
As the sign said outside the Vernon Pub - "What a day!"
Southrepps Village Fayre is a community and fundraising project supported by the parish council, village based voluntary groups, church, chapel and local businesses
A grand total of £7,000 was raised to support local charities and good causes. This amount far exceeded all expectations and goes to show what can be achieved by a whole community working together under an enthusiastic and capable organising group. Donations to agreed causes will continue to be distributed over a short period.