Stoke Poges Village Fete 2007

WOW.

The Village Fete took off with a real bang, as it was my first opportunity to be involved with organising the event - I would first like to thank everybody who attended and made the day such a great success, it was a real pleasure to be part of everybody having so much fun, I hope you all had as much fun as I and my family did. I would also like to thank a team that gave me great support and to be quite frank did a great deal of the work - Thank you to Barbara Davis, Amanda Gatehouse, Jo Wiley, Phil Hertel and Amanda Trewern.

The day went really well apart from a few light showers that just boosted the sales in the beer tent, that was run very efficiently by the staff and regulars of The Rose and Crown and the tea and cake tent that, as usual was deliciously catered by the Sunshine Corner Playgroup staff and parents, further catering was supplied at the barbecue by the long serving Duke of Edinburgh Awards team and also by the very welcome Mrs Araf and her team of helpers. Any Fete would not be complete without ice cream and candy floss that were also available.

Entertainment was provided by the very impressive South East Martial Arts Academy, who displayed their skills with a demonstration of kick boxing, provided by four of their star pupils (please contact Fitzroy at the Village centre if you want to develop new skills in self defence). A very enjoyable workout was given by Michelle from LA Fitness but I'm afraid the class weren't much to ogle at.

That's me in the middle, Phil Hertel with a beer and the shy and retiring Nick Moore in the shirt that was louder than the public address system.

Valley Reptiles put on a very informative, if not a little scary display with a six foot cobra and a baby crocodile along with a tent full of interesting creatures. They are based in Iver at the garden centre close to the Evreham centre and are more than willing to show, sell or give information on a variety of exotic creatures.

This year's theme was based around fifty years of space travel, to commemorate the launch of the world's first satellite in 1957. A static display of real rockets, all of which have flown was put on by Rocket-FX.com, along with video's of some of the rocket work they have done for the "Brainiacs - science abuse" television programme. (What a great job).

The spaceball ride and the airborne adventure parachute simulator all added to the space training flavour of the day along with the chairoplanes and swing boats.

Phil Breetze supplied his driving instructor's car to let the kids have a go at his ever popular driving experience.

The day was supported by a lot of local groups and organisations including the Scout and Guide groups who are trying very hard to raise cash to renovate their hut - I'm sure that with some of the money raised by the Fete and a great deal of support from the local community that their goal will eventually be reached.

After the crowds thinned a little, the kids had a great time launching water propelled rockets whilst the their parents chilled out with a few beers, Pimms or glasses of wine and listened to a great performance of live acoustic music played by local talent Michael Lucas.

If you do want to get involved, please contact me at stokepogesfete@googlemail.com .

Thanks again. Martin wood.