Catsfield

Very good news received from Diane Wilson about next year’s summer fete.

The inaugural meeting of the Village Fete Committee confirmed that the date for the 2014 Village Fete will be Saturday August 2nd, in line with the Catsfield Horticultural Society Flower Show. The organising committee for 2014 has eight members and it is much appreciated that there are also a number of people who are willing to offer support leading up to the fete and on the day. The lists of various events and stalls over the past eleven years were reviewed and a revised list was drawn up and agreed.

The committee then discussed a range of new ideas for the development of the fete, each of which will be explored over the next few weeks. Some time was spent considering an evening event to make best use of the marquee and a number of exciting ideas were discussed, which will be followed up by various members of the committee. A twitter account will be set up so that members of the local community can share their ideas for the development of the fete. The committee will meet again in January to identify key events and activities and agree a timeline for actions.

The Annual Meeting of the WI on Thursday 7th November turned out to be a pretty jolly affair, in spite of the low attendance of members and the less than exciting topic for the afternoon! As usual we began with the singing of Jerusalem and the monthly reading of the minutes and notices of forthcoming events. The next ramble will be a walk through Powdermill Wood and a visit to Great Park Farm for coffee on 19th November, leaving from the Village Hall car park at 10am or meeting at Powdermill Wood car park ten minutes later. Sarah also announced the excellent result of the money raised by the sponsored walk, which will be given to Demelza House Hospice Care, the WI charity of the year - £350 at least, with some donations still to be received! Scrabble will be at Thora’s on 21st November. There was a reminder that the Christmas party will be held on 5th December when the speaker will be the very entertaining Geoff Hutchinson who will be speaking about ‘What is Christmas’ and we were reminded to bring a gift for the bran tub.

Beryl read the report on the previous year and the variety of interesting speakers and events that had taken place was amazing. It reminded us that we are so fortunate to belong to such an eventful, interesting and entertaining WI with so many good friends. The financial statement was read by Thora in the absence of treasurer Ann Clegg, who was on holiday and apart from learning that our finances are sound, we also heard that currently we have thirty-seven full members and three dual members (who also attend another WI).

Our president Ann gave her report and made a point of thanking all members who had made special contributions to organising and planning the events, which we had enjoyed together throughout the past year and she said that there is a full and busy programme awaiting us in 2014. She then left the stage whilst election of the president for the next year took place and to no-one’s surprise, she was duly re-elected! Thanks were given to her on everyone’s behalf for the excellent job that she does, dealing with all the necessary formalities whilst keeping the meetings light-hearted and full of fun.

The meeting continued with a fun quiz, which we struggled to answer and we were rewarded with the usual delicious tea and drawing of the raffle at the end of yet another most enjoyable afternoon.

A warning to all Catsfield residents that the thieves are about again. Two homes in Henley Down have been recent targets of the oil thieves and large quantities of valuable heating fuel were stolen, as well as a break-in to outbuildings. Be on your guard and protect your property now!

The St Laurence Church Christmas Market is on Saturday 30th November from 10am – 2pm in the Village Hall. All donations of items for the stalls, raffle and tombola prizes and cakes for the cake stall will be gratefully received. Ploughman’s lunches will be available and Father Christmas will be in his grotto. Call Jane with any queries (893431) and please come along to buy Christmas gifts and enjoy the day, whilst helping to raise money to support the church.

Tickets are selling fast for ‘Panto Goes West’, the CADS latest offering, so buy yours soon from Catsfield Village Store to be sure of getting the performance of your choice, it’s bound to be a sell-out!

Unfortunately, the very wet weather over the week meant the cancellation of both football matches on 9th November. We hope for better things when the first team are away at Wadhurst in the Hastings Junior Cup and the seconds are at home to Battle Baptists on the 16th.

The rain on Monday affected the plans by the school to celebrate their “outstanding” Ofsted result. However, lots of parents and well wishers were there to see 107 children let loose a bio-degradable balloon each complete with label to a loud countdown and cheers. It was a moment of celebration and great pride, so very well done to everyone connected with the school. A tour of the children’s work and cream tea was enjoyed by everyone.

Looking forward to the spring, three hundred indigenous daffodil bulbs have been planted along the verge to complement the Jubilee garden, which is now planted for the winter. The WI has also planted daffodil bulbs in the churchyard as they do every year in memory of past WI members, so we have now had enough torrential rain and gentle droppings are all we need!