Icklesham

CHURCH NEWS: The 9.30am Parish Eucharist service will be led by the Vicar, Rev. Jonathan Meyer. It is Advent Sunday, when the church’s liturgical year begins. It is always the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew’s Day, which is 30th November, the fourth Sunday before Christmas. So Advent wreaths will be appearing in church with their 3 purple and one rose candle on a circular wreath of evergreen and a white candle in the middle for lighting on Christmas day. Thursday 6th is St. Nicholas’ day, he who was the Bishop of Myra, reputed to have given money and gifts to a poor family to help the girls find husbands. St. Nicholas is the original Santa Claus.

WEATHER: Let us hope for brighter, crisper weather now that we have got rid of November. It is only three weeks to the mid- winter solstice, so the days are very short – lights on by 4 o’clock at least. Sunrise on 1st December is at 7.37 : at the beginning of November it was 6.52; sunset is 15.54 : in November it was 16.28. And yet there are still roses flowering, the viburnam is beautiful, and I have noticed a few crocus spikes venturing up in the pots.

QUEEN’S HEAD: The live music at 4pm on Sunday will be played by Blacken Blues, presumably playing blues.

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION: A message from John Pulfer gives the excellent news that the total collected from Guestling, Three Oaks, Pett, Fairlight and Icklesham was £6,358.52. Very grateful thanks go to the collectors and donors. That total will increase a little as there is still more money to come in. The Pett Memorial has been refurbished and 10 local names which had been missing were added. A metal seat was put in place with the names and “Never forget” inscribed on the back. The ladies of Pett had been busy knitting, and created 10,000 poppies – red for people, maroon for the animals and white for peace. The silhouettes cost around £250 and there was a waiting list of 500, so Kevin at the Robin Hood copied one and made his own for local use. The special Tea Party at the Robin Hood raised £733, and very special thanks to Carly and her team. The local branch of the Royal British Legion meets every second Tuesday at Fairlight Hotel at 11.45 for 12 noon. The membership has nearly doubled since moving to a day-time meeting. Some members stay on for lunch, making it a social occasion. Margaret Pulfer will be retiring as secretary in the next three months. She has filled that role for 10 years. She is willing to work in tandem with anyone willing to take the job on. It means attending all the meetings and keeping Minutes, but not too much else. Anyone who feels that they could help, please phone 01424 814 866. Thank you.

CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR: This will be held in Icklesham Memorial Hall on Saturday 1st December from 10am until 2.30 pm. Many locally made crafts will be on sale at very reasonable prices. You may find just that elusive, unique gift! There will be a Christmas tombola with lots of goodies to be won. Refreshments will be on sale, including hot sausage rolls, cheese scones and a selection of home- made cakes. The monies raised from this sale will be shared between Icklesham, Pett and Guestling bowls clubs. If you are interested in joining one of these clubs we will be happy to speak to you. This will be my last craft fair, and I would like to thank everyone for their support over the years. Many thanks to you all. Sandra.

TALKING NEWSPAPER: Hastings Talking Newspaper produces a sound recording every week for distribution to people who have visual disabilities or problems in reading due to illness or other disability. This recording is delivered in the post, usually on a Monday, having been recorded on a Saturday. The service is completely free to anyone who qualifies, and the necessary equipment to listen is also provided free.. We are very concerned that there are people in the community who may not have heard of this service but who might wish to receive it. Unfortunately such people are no longer automatically referred to us and despite our publicity they may have been overlooked. We are anxious to widen our publicity and would be grateful if you would advise anyone who qualifies by reason of disability who might benefit from this service to contact us. If so, please call Peter on 01424 719 939 or email him on [email protected]. I have some personal experience of this service, as I record the magazine articles which go out every couple of months. There is a team of 4 of us, and we always enjoy each other’s contributions.

SCHOOL NEWS: There will be a Christmas Fayre on 7th December at 3.15 pm. Any raffle prizes will be warmly welcomed. The Book Fair remains in school until 4th December, and any books bought earn rewards to buy books for the new library. Other news has not come through.

CONTACT: Remember that there is a joint edition of the Parish Magazine for December /January. So if I can help with publicity I am happy to do that.

AND FINALLY: Keep on keeping on. Christmas will soon be here!!!