SMRA – Feb 2012
January 26, 2012 1 Comment
Village Hall Christmas Tree
As usual, the lovely Christmas tree which was outside the Village Hall this year was donated by Dale Wildern. Many thanks go to him for another year. Read more of this post
New Village Hall Booking Page
November 10, 2011 1 Comment
To make it easier to make villagers to book the Village Hall, we have now launched an updated Village Hall Bookings Page.
The new page now includes:
- a calendar so that people can check hall availability at a glance
- a link to the full terms and conditions
- a form that people can use to make bookings and make queries
There is also now an email alias for the administrators of the Village Hall:
village.hall@southmarston.org.uk
SMRA Update – Oct 2011
October 4, 2011 Leave a Comment
South Marston Playing Field
For several years, profits from the annual Summer Fete & Christmas Bazaar have been nominated for up-grading the children’s play area, with particular attention towards the older children. During September, another set of swings was installed, made possible with a generous grant from the F&E Harris Memorial Trust. By the end of the year, we would hope to also have the pendulum swing and new roundabout in place. However, the tarmac path around the school perimeter is in need of repair, so there may have to be some juggling with the budget.
SMRA is now looking to our next project. We would like to hear from anyone with ideas for what they would like to see on the field. This would not necessarily have to be orientated towards the village children, who are probably now fairly well catered for. Another major group of villagers who use the field is dogwalkers, and we thank them very much for their continued clearing up after their pets.
If you have any thoughts on future projects on the field, please contact:
Mary Case
- 01793 826038
- 41, Greenfields,
Jenny McEwen
- 01793 825312
- South Marston Church Farmhouse, South Marston
You can either give us a ring or put a note through the door of the addresses above, or come to an SMRA meeting.
The F&E Harris Memorial Trust
SMRA is extremely grateful to the Trust for its very generous grant of £1,100, which has paid for a set of swings and safety surface on the village playing field. We are most appreciative of the prompt response from the trustees, which enabled us to take advantage of the offer of a good quality but previously used set of swings, which we obtained at a considerable discount.
Crocodile Packaging
For several years, Crocodile Packaging has been very kindly supporting many of the village organisations, not only with donation money for raffle prizes, but also towards funds for specific projects. The committee members of the various groups are aware of Crocodile Packaging’s support, but possibly not the villagers generally. We thank them for their interest in our community.
SMRA Meetings
SMRA meetings are on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, usually in the Village Hall, but occasionally elsewhere if the hall is already booked.
Please check on the village website to confirm the location if you would like to come to a meeting, or phone either Mary Case on 01793 826038 or Julie Hatherall on 01793 979287.
Summer Fete 2011 – Thank You
August 30, 2011 Leave a Comment
SMRA (South Marston Recreation Association) Fete Committee would like to give a huge thank you to all of the helpers who made the 2011 fete such a success.
Villagers helped with putting up marquees, road signs, bunting, hay bales etc on the day before. We had many helpers on the day, with car parking, car boot, programme selling, stall-holders, refreshments, bar, tug of war, duck race, etc. The band in the evening was a great chance to just relax and enjoy the rest of the day, before packing it all up again on Sunday.
Thank you to our sponsors, too – Mitchy Motors, Conway & Laker and Yuasa Batteries.
SMRA now have another £1,700 in the bank and will shortly be putting in more swings, this time for older children, into the playing field. We also hope to be installing two more pieces of play equipment later in the year, as long essential repairs on the Village hall entrance porch do not prove to be too expensive. New blinds are also needed in the Village hall, but we are hopeful that after several years of profitable fetes, we may be able to pay for more items from our “wish list”.
When the stall takings from all of the other village groups and organisations are added to our fete figures, there is a total profit of well over £2,000.
This is also a good time to publicly thank our noble team of voluntary grass-cutters for the playing field, many of whom have done it for years – Lionel Cave-Ayland, Alan Phillips, Gary Comley, Chris Maull, Simon Wright-Cooper and Stuart Tomlinson.
If anyone else would like to join in with the planning for next year’s fete, or for early thoughts on a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Street Party and celebrations, please contact either Mary Case on 826038 or Jenny McEwen on 825312 (who both also cleaned and painted the inside of the bus shelter – it looks a great deal more inviting now). There will be an initial meeting in the Carriers in early September.
Duck Race at South Marston Summer Fete – 9th July 2011
June 22, 2011 1 Comment
Note: Updated with Revised start time
Christmas Bazaar – Thank You
January 30, 2010 Leave a Comment
The South Marston Fete Committee would like to thank everyone who came along to support the local community at the Christmas Bazaar. It was so nice to see so many people coming out on such a bitterly cold day to see Father Christmas and his jolly Reindeer.
Over fifty children came to see and speak with Father Christmas in his fireplace.
We would also like to thank Father Christmas and his Reindeer for taking the time to visit us especially at this busy time of year.
Thanks also to Dale Wildern for generously donating the beautiful Christmas tree for outside the Village Hall and thank you to Adam Rudnick, Rupert Burt and the Case Brothers for erecting and decorating it so nicely.
(Click on the pictures for larger versions)
