The weather was perfect for the teddy bear parachuting, with a light north-easterly wind and occasional thermic updraughts helping the jumpers stay up. There were twenty jumps by all kinds of soft toys, the winner being a monkey called Tangerine. It was a challenge to our timer who had to pause the clock to allow for Tangerine hanging on to the tower on the way down, giving a net time of 29.8 seconds. There was much excitement for the spectators, particularly with the risk of their teddy ending up in a tree, followed by a rescue by the retrieve crew.
Youngsters also enjoyed the hook a lucky duck stall, throwing balls at Teddy, and the Treasure Chest lucky dip.
A very welcome addition this year was the stall from the new village arts and crafts group with lots of splendid goods created by this very talented and enthusiastic team. Also popular was church merchandise, selling marvellous cards, bookmarks, keyrings, fridge magnets, etc. with images of the church and its features.
Villagers donated a mountain of bric-a-brac which meant not only did lots of people go home with bargains, but also there was plenty to pass on to Age UK after the fete. They also donated lots of bottles for the tombola, which was very popular.
The hot dog stall outside did excellent trade, particularly since it also offered ice creams, Pimms and lemonade. Inside the church we had the Treasure Map, and the refreshment stall which was busy with people cooling off and enjoying teas and coffees and buying tasty cakes, buns and biscuits donated by villagers. The Burton Baker donated the cake for the popular challenge to guess how many smarties on the cake.
A big thank you to the many supporters who gave generously of their time to make it happen and to tidy up afterwards, and to those who attended and contributed over £1200 to the church funds – a new record