Whatlington

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Village Fête: The annual Village Fête was held on Saturday 29th and once again was a great success. We were extraordinarily lucky with the weather; thunderstorms were forecast for the late afternoon but the rain stayed off until the visitors had departed and the clearing up was almost completed. The many stalls, games and attractions have raised a wonderful total of £1,100 for the Hall Refurbishment Fund. Further funds were raised for the Church whose team run a very popular tea, coffee and cakes corner and also sell cakes and other items. As usual, they were sold out by the end of the afternoon and I gather a further £300 was raised for St Mary Magdalene.

Enormous thanks are due to ALL who contributed to the success of this venture, and worked so hard to produce such an entertaining event for the community. Special thanks are due to Trevor Bull who generously provided the tractor itself and all its fuel for the ever-popular Tractor Rides, and valiantly undertook to run the rides as well all afternoon. We would also like to thank our friends at Leeford Place Hotel, who once again kindly allowed us to borrow their barbecue - another essential feature of the day!

All the stalls did well, but among the most popular features this year was the Wine and Water stall, where one paid to choose a wrapped bottle that might contain wine - or might not! This was the first stall to sell out. The China Smashing stall did well, too, and the small Carousel provided for children was a much loved new feature for smaller visitors and also very attractive. We also had two magnificent Gypsy Caravans on display, kindly provided by Terry, Joan and Nicky Finan. These also added colour and interest to the scene, and their visiting Gypsy, Petulenka, also attracted a good deal of interest, I am told, with a queue outside her caravan during the afternoon for Tarot readings. Petulenka would like to apologise, however, to anyone who waited for a reading and was disappointed when time ran out, despite continuing well beyond the close of proceedings. There may well be other opportunities for a reading in the future.

The Weight of the Hamper was guessed correctly by Jenny Baldock-Apps of Battle; Sophie Apthorp won the jar of sweets, with a guess that came within 9 points of the correct answer! Mr Richard Moore found the Buried Treasure, or rather, its place on the pirate map; and the Raffle, which offered some excellent prizes, made just over £200. Again, many, many thanks indeed to all who contributed prizes.

Our next fundraiser will be another Festive Dinner at the Hall in early December, with a slightly different format this year. The date will be confirmed shortly and further details will follow.

Church News: Next Sunday, September 6th, the service will be at the usual time of 09.30, but will be taken by Rev. Francis Baldwin, who comes from Bexhill, and regularly takes services when Rev. Kevin Mepham is away. We look forward very much to welcoming her back next Sunday.

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