To Long Melford to participate, as a representative of Subury Citizens Advice, in the annual Street Fair
The volunteers at Citizens Advice in Sudbury may be good at giving advice but they are not very good at erecting Gazebos! The first construction, kindly lent by Muriel Levine, was after half an hour of wrestling with un-marked poles and dodgy fittings, discarded for a simpler model, purchased from Argos by forward thinking trustee, Helen.
Our problems were exacerbated by the fact that the afternoon was typical for an English July with heavy showers interspersed with lighter rain and sunshine. Nonetheless a good time was had by all during the period that I was on duty, although next time I think we do need to think up some more creative ways to attract the general public to our display. Extracting loose change from all those sheltering from the not infrequent storms is not going to contribute much towards office expansion.
Although not particularly financially rewarding, the effort was a good flag waving experience for the bureau. It was well worth doing and we have learnt a few lessons for the future.
The Street Fair as a whole was fantastic as can be seen from the photos. I am posting most of these separately to avoid technical hitches. Morris Dancers and mediaeval characters, plus a great marching band, contributed to a truly English scene. Without the rain it would not have been the same, and by the time I was going home even the skies were brightening up.
