Jubilee Celebrations in Great Waldingfield.

(From our own correspondent (on the spot throughout!)

(Photographs at the end.)

Great Waldingfield's Jubilee Celebration  was a unique opportunity for neighbour  to meet with neighbour and indulge in some friendly chat. There was plenty of it going on in an atmosphere of joy and happiness and plenty of laughs. And  phew! what a turn-out - the Jubilee Celebration was a huge success if you were to judge it on the number of visitors that attended. A conservative estimate put the figures at between 800 and 1000 attending the events during the day on Saturday with another 400 attending the evening entertainment held in the marquee.

It did look as though all the hours of planning and organising would count for nothing. With just 30 minutes to go before the commencement of the celebrations the electrical power failed in the pavilion! However, we had the solution close at hand; some skilled analysis of the problem by our resident electrician Mike followed by a quick visit to the local DIY store and we were up and running  in time for the festivities to commence at 11.00am Phew!!

The weather was very kind to us too, whilst it wasn't hot and sunny it didn't rain so that was a blessing. The hardy souls of Great Waldingfield and surrounding areas did us proud and supported the event to an extent that could only have dreamed  of a few weeks before.

All of the events that were programmed in for the display ring drew large numbers so much so that communication between the judges in the ring and the MC had to be done in a round-a-bout fashion with a go-between running through the ringside crowd to shout out the results to the MC. Next time, if there is a next time, perhaps we might invest in two way radios for the organisers and make life easier.

With plenty of ice cream for the kids and tea and cakes for the adults courtesy of the ladies of Great Waldingfield Church and the bar which dispensed drinks from 11.00am until 11.00pm, everyone was catered for and this helped sustain those contemplating a whole day of celebration.

Entertainment and fun in equal measure was all around. Paul Pleasants entertainer with his  Punch and Judy Show which was a great hit with the kids. There really is nothing to beat kids laughter to cheer you up and there was laughter in bucketfuls from this source.

Events kicked off Waldingfield Primary School Choir who sang there little socks of then ran through Janet Drake's Fun Dancers and a succession of dogs and their proud owners (not sure who was on display here owners or dogs) then to the hat parade's followed by the impressive display by the karate team.   

It was remarkable to see how much entertaining talent really exists in Great Waldingfield whether  singing or playing musical instruments. The GW got talent was a great hit, some ten acts gave it their all and entertained a goodly number of visitors  for well over an hour and consequently over-ran its allotted time.

 

The event that had everyone enthralled and laughing in equal measure were the Belchamp Morris Dancers. They managed to lift everyone's spirits and whilst Mike Williams their dancing spokesperson tried to explain the origins of the dances and the history of morris dancing it was the infectious nature of the dancers and their unique outfits that kept everyone's amused attention, not to mention the dancing . Some of the morris men stayed on and gave Janet Drake's Fun Dancers some ad-hoc support which some of the crowd saw as highly amusing as well as an opportunity to also join in. It seemed to do the trick in terms of recruitment  to Janet Drakes classes anyway with a goodly number of ladies committing themselves to attending regular fun dancing classes  at the Village Hall.

The evening's entertainment  was well attended with some good bands entertaining from 5.00pm until 11.00pm. A local band, The Story Boys kicked off proceeding and entertained for an hour - now this is a band to look out for - they are destined to go far. They are to appear at the O2 Arena later this year having recently won an area competition to qualify for this prestigious event. They are original, with a pleasing clean cut image that should take them far - they can sing too.

The Victory Jazz band followed the Story Boys with their brand of traditional jazz which clearly appealed to the older generation of jazz aficionado's.

The evening was nicely rounded off with the excellent rock band, Boontang Southern Rock. All were accomplished musicians with a string of rock numbers to equal many such bands of world repute.

What an end to a day that went just about as well as anyone could expect.

And then to Sunday  which started with a very pleasant church service in the marquee conducted by the Reverend Caroline Hallett. Despite the rain, there was a full house for what was a very different and absorbing service a bit different to that normally expected of a Christian service. Well done to the Rev Hallet for competing so well with the weather. And  Mrs Faith Marsden kept everyone singing in key with her very professional musical accompaniment.

The post service musical entertainment was curtailed due to the effects of the rain on the numbers of people, so the two day event was concluded  at around 2.30pm.

It's just a pity that we do not have an occasion like this every year to bring the hardy folks of Great Waldingfields together in such friendship.