Floral stories at Little Common Flower Club anniversary festival

The festival was opened by the Mayor of Bexhill, Cllr. Kathy Harmer, who was accompanied by her consort George.

They toured the exhibits accompanied by the chairman, Pearl Mason, the president, Lorna Maddox, Barbara Harris representing NAFAS, festival designer Sandra Fleming, and life member Marion Longhurst. They then took tea with Father Simon Dray.

They were very impressed by the standard and diversity of the arrangements, which were set off by the setting of St Martha’s Church. There was a large number of visitors to the festival, many of whom remarked upon the wonderful displays, some of the visitors had not been to a flower festival before and came away inspired by the way the arrangers had captured the essence and meaning of the books and stories they had used as ideas for their designs.

The flower club gave their grateful thanks to Father Simon Dray, the administrators and parishioners of St Martha’s, for their generosity in allowing the club to use the church.

The chairman also wished to thank the many local businesses and individuals for their sponsorship and support, without which none of this would have been possible.

Pearl Mason explained that the theme of the festival was classic children’s literature, and had taken over a year to plan. She congratulated the members who demonstrated their flower arranging skills, and in doing so, had raised money for local charities.

She also thanked all the members who had helped in so many other ways with catering, raffle, stewarding, and doing all of the other jobs which ensure the smooth running of the event.

The flower club also ran a very successful restaurant in St Martha’s Church Hall, which supplied the visitors with all day refreshments, including light lunches and cream teas, which were very popular and received many compliments.