The days leading up to our Coronation Fete were sunny and mild but, unfortunately, May 8th dawned overcast with drizzle which became quite heavy. However, undeterred committee members and our amazing team of volunteers under the stewardship of Steve Day, set about putting up the gazebo’s for the afternoons fun & games – although the weather didn’t make that very easy! Thank you to Finola Samuels for the bacon sandwiches.
Thankfully, the rain eased by opening time and our first arrivals were greeted by rousing music from Brasstastic. The afternoon musical entertainment was provided by the CODA Ukulele Band their upbeat tempo had everyone up on the feet, dancing and singing. They certainly put the sunshine into a very overcast day. Thank you Stuart Jebbitt, and the amazing the other band members who stepped in at the last minute to ensure we had a band.
As with all our village events, thank you to the ladies from Everton WI for keeping everyone warm with tea, coffee & cake (which I believe sold out) An additional thank you to our WI team for knitting the wonderful “Charlie Bears” which were hidden around the Recreation Ground, to Everton & Lymore Social Club for the bar The Crown Inn for providing the BBQ. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t lend itself to sitting out eating & drinking, however I think everyone was hydrated and well fed.
Despite the weather, we had amazing support from the local community and the traditional fete games were enjoyed, everytime I looked there appeared to be queues for Tin Can Alley and Bowl for a Pig (both of which seemed to be getting very competitive). Splat a Rat and Hook a Duck remained favourites for our younger (and not so young) audience.
I think we also achieved the record time on selling out for the Bottle Tombola, a very special thanks to Lynne White for her very generous donations.
A number of young people took part in the Crown Competition and there were some very colourful and artistic entries. Thank you to Cllr Fran Carpenter for judging the competition.
Once again, the Dog Show was a huge success, I think we were out-numbered by our 4 legged friends. Thank you to Oscar Pet Foods for sponsoring the show and to Pauline Breeze & Elizabeth Kempe for organising and running the event.
The raffle sold out, in fact we had to suspend selling mid-week to ensure we had enough tickets to sell on the day – thank you all our prize donors and, in particular, Shorefield for the very generous donation of a 12 month family membership to the Leisure Centre which was won by an Everton Village Resident keen to get back to the gym.
Our “Royal Bear” who was tailored by Jane Rose & Helena Warren was won by Violet.
I felt very humble being part of the organisation of the Fete, I cannot thank our amazing committee and volunteers who gave up their time to clear the garage, fix the games and also build new ones (Bob – thank you) and then set up and take down on the day as well as run all the stalls – YOU ROCK!!.
Thank you, also, to Hayward Fox (New Milton) for their generous donation towards prizes for stalls, Everton Garage for paying all the publicity costs, Aldi, Tesco and Marks & Spencer (Lymington), Hordle Parish Council and Fran Carpenter and many more raffle prize donors. Without their support, we could not have achieved what we did..
And lastly, thank you to all the craft stalls and volunteer groups who braved the rain!
