“At The Heart Of The Village”

My write up for this quarter reflects on even more positive events. As reported in the last issue, we were deep in planning for the Village Country Gala and on September 18th the event took place. What another great spectacle in our beautiful village, Marquees, stalls, rides, exhibits and what colour from the flowers and vegetables, a sight to behold. The sun came out and exhibitors appeared with their entries. There were nearly 500 entries to display and judge from 123 adults and children and everyone was busy from the off getting ready for judging.

The three main display areas were locked down at 10.00am prompt and judging began. Two hours elapsed and awards were given for best in class, section and the best in each of the three display areas. Apparently, there were so many bottles of wine entered in the Home made Wine class the judge took the full two hours to sample all to establish the winners, came out sober too I heard.

Stall holders arrived including the infamous piglet which did not want to go into the pen, but instead tried to escape across the Croft hotly pursued by its owner, to every ones amusement and it even made the Burton Mail.

At 12 noon the sun began to shine and the Gala was officially opened by our MP Andrew Griffiths and the buzz appeared as it always does at our events, a great feeling of community spirit that is not easy to generate these days but we definitely have something to shout about in this respect. Village events are planned in great detail, exceptionally marketed and delivered above expectation. If we could deliver the weather we would but this is completely out of our hands and unfortunately the rain appeared mid afternoon followed swiftly by a brief power cut which slowed proceedings somewhat. The rain got heavier, but people were still looking round the exhibits, I even had a brief moment myself to see how we were getting on throughout. I wandered into the main marquee to be struck by immense light and colour from the vegetable and flowers and so noticeable, the neat lines and the arrangement of the whole space. It amazes me how a carrot or a parsnip can be grown three feet long or more. The Old Grammar School was crammed with home baking, jams and so on, and finally the Club’s main hall, full of delights from the children’s classes, craft, Limerick and photographic sections.

At 5.00pm the exhibiting was over, we gathered all the produce that had been left purposely for the Grand Auction in the evening, briefly caught our breath, and quickly reset the main hall in the Club. The evening began with the awards presented by Bob Fraser our Staffordshire County Councillor who had been instrumental in achieving a grant towards the cost of the Gala via the Staffordshire Local Community Fund. Awards were given for each of the thirteen section winners followed by the three ‘Best in Location’ winners and finally the special awards, Best Male and Female who had amassed the largest points score from all of their exhibits went to Clive G Smith and Angie Gillespie. Best Boy was Ronan Saunders and Best Girl Jessica Ellis.

The tables in front of the stage were full of produce and our Auctioneer for the evening was Len Torr who is a master of the art and he did a sterling job teasing out the slightest twitch as firm bids resulting in £450 being raised on the night. Finally, the Grand Raffle was drawn with some magnificent prizes due to the shear hard work and persuasive qualities of Verity Connor.

The evening came to a close, the raffle had raised a further £450 and we could look back at a job well done. The whole day had made over £1,000 towards new curtains in the Main Hall of the Club which are on order as I write.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the day, I hope you enjoyed it but most importantly, the special thanks must go to RODSEC and my fellow committee who put so much effort into making this day such a huge success, it will be hard to match next year.

On another positive note, we were very lucky to receive a grant to renovate the kitchen, and I am pleased to announce a complete refit has been done. We now have a modern facility for all to benefit from.

Dates for the diary:

Christmas Bingo - Friday 24th December
Children’s Christmas party – Sunday 5th December
Boxing day – Karaoke in the evening from 7.00pm
New Years Eve - Live local band, Front Page (Tickets available from the club during December)
Pensioners Christmas Party –Saturday 8th January 2011
Membership Renewal – During January 2011

Tim James, Chairman

“At The Heart Of The Village”

I personally made sure the Club was right in the middle of the action on Transport Festival day and what a great day it was. Like any major event, these things are months in the planning and I was so pleased with the outcome. Stalls, attractions, exhibitors all in place and we prayed for fine weather and of course the most important ingredient, people and we got both in abundance, a result.

We lit the B-B-Q and could not believe it when we had to call in the reserves for more food as it disappeared so fast it was a job on its own to keep the coals warm. Everyone I spoke to said they thought it was a brilliant day and I agree it was. I would like to thank everyone who got stuck in with us, you were marvellous. We have already started planning next year, can you believe that?

If you were unfortunate enough to miss the day, a small snippet can be seen of the Steam Lorry leaving the event on its parade lap around the village - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncm2gUhA5W8

I mentioned our dance floor in the last edition. Well, the carpet has been trimmed back to enlarge the dance area and the floor beautifully sanded and polished with some special dance floor polish I’m told. The result is astounding, it shines like a new pin and completely changed the room making it feel fresh and bright. The Line Dancing classes are in full flow on Monday nights with beginners commencing at 7.00pm and the improvers at 8.30pm. I noticed last night there were easily 25 dancing so is getting popular.

Another Mammoth Event coming very soon

Already mentioned, and which has been well publicised throughout the village, Saturday September 18th will see Rolleston Village Country Gala. This is predominately the Horticultural Show but much more besides. In conjunction with RODSEC, we are staging a show the like has never been seen in the village. Produce, flowers, cakes, wine, cooking, baking, crafts, photographs, paintings, colourings, and Limericks are the classes to be entered, exhibited and judged on the day and I’m sure those of you entering will be putting the final finishing touches to your entries by now.

To compliment all of this, there will be attractions for all such as Tractor & Trailer rides, bouncy castle, farm animals, pony rides, a raffle and many stalls. If you are not too exhausted from all of this, Presentations followed by the ‘Grand Auction’ will take place in the evening with all proceeds going to the club to aid further improvements. Entrance to general attractions and stalls etc will be at 12 noon and is FREE. Good luck to everyone.

Club Membership

If anyone is interested in joining the club, membership forms can be obtained at the club and Starbucks or simply pop in and have a look round, someone will be very happy to assist you.

Dates for the Diary

McMillan Coffee Morning – Friday 24th September 10.00am until 12.00 noon
Two ladies will this year be hosting the McMillan Coffee morning at Rolleston Commemorative Club. Tea and Coffee will be available to purchase (sit and have a chat with your friends). If anyone has any books to spare, would they please drop them off at 16 Hall Road as a book stall will help to raise funds. There will also be a Stall and Tombola, so if anyone would like to donate a cake, please bring on the day or contact Mrs Kay Holloway on 815991 or Mrs Jill Sharratt on 814641.

Beer Festival – To be confirmed, look out for the posters

Lesley Smith as ‘Anne Hathaway’-
Sunday 17th October

Skittles Night including light supper -Saturday November 27th –, Teams of 4

Children’s Christmas Party – Saturday 11th December

New Years Eve – Live Band, FRONT PAGE, tickets will be on sale during December

Tim James, Chairman

Unfortunately I have to begin on a sad note, it was only autumn last year when I wrote my first article for the Rollestonian, informing you of the new committee that was in place and thanking the retiring John and Pat Edwards for the years of service both of them had given to the club. John passed away recently and will be greatly missed. He was a committee member for many years, the more recent ones, holding the important and busiest role as Secretary of the club. Our thoughts are with Pat her family.

We have been busy as usual at the club trying to improve everything as finances allow and I am pleased to see new members coming in. It is important we have the younger generation coming in as they are the future of the club. A new state of the art television has been erected in the main hall and our Wii games consul hooked up to it for everyone to enjoy. If you’ve never played on this type of games machine you must come and have a go as it really is super fun for all the family.

Line dancing classes Started at the end of March and judging by the attendance, is becoming very popular. Please note; Line dancing will be moving to Monday nights starting in May.

We are all looking forward to the Transport Festival on 31st May and the club is playing a big part this year. A ride on miniature steam train will be running along the frontage of the club, photos and paintings of steam trains and a model shop will be in the main hall. Jacket Potatoes, Burgers and Hot Dogs will also be available in the Main Hall. Swing Boats, a large “Scalectrix” will be on the car park to complement the outside activities.

Looking further along the year to the 18th September, we are very proud to be the hosting the Village Country Gala which is the first collaboration between RODSEC and Rolleston Club. Many meetings have already taken place during the winter months to make this event a reality. Historically, this was the Horticultural annual show which has taken place in the main hall for many years, some of you reading this will have no doubt taken part; however, this year’s event will be huge in comparison. Proceeds from the show have always gone towards the Pensioners Party and this year will be no different, however we would love to be able to make further improvements to the club such as replacing all the curtains throughout with any additional funds which come our way. If you have not already collected an entry form, you can obtain one from Starbucks or the Club.

Talking of improvements, we applied to the Council for a grant to completely replace our Kitchen as it is in desperate need. I am pleased to inform you we have been awarded a large sum of money to be able to make this happen. The job is quite a big one as damp and new electrics have to be dealt with before the new Kitchen is installed. By the end of June we should have a beautiful modern facility adding real value for the club and our members.

Usual Club Activities

Mondays Whist 2.00-4.00pm (Alternate weeks in winter months), Line Dancing 7.00-10.00pm and Bridge from 8.00pm
Tuesdays Men’s Darts League - 8.30pm
Wednesdays Quiz Night 9pm
Thursdays Whist, Snooker League, Ladies Darts and Dominoes - mainly in winter months
Fridays Cash Bingo 8.15pm
Saturdays Youth Club 2.00pm-4.00pm, Live Entertainment (2/3 times a month) 9pm

In addition, Bowls Leagues for both Ladies/Gents take place in summer months. The Club also hosts the Friendship Society on the 1st Thursday in the month (10.00am – 12.00noon).

Coming Saturday Entertainment (Look out for details for all the acts on notice boards)

June
5th Added Attraction
12th Double XL
19th The Crusaders

July
3rd Front Page
17th Owen
24th Max Spangle

We are all recovering from Christmas which is a very busy time for us all including the club. The Children’s’ party went very well and thanks must go to Santa who handed out gifts and Phil’s Disco who kept the kids entertained. New Year’s Eve was well attended and we all enjoyed the great sounds of Big Lix who were excellent. More recently we held the annual pensioners Christmas party which included a three course meal, a few games and dancing in the evening to a live band, Foggy. My thanks to everyone who made this day happen, it is hard work but was well organised and went without a hitch, I am sure everyone had a great day.

We are steadily getting through jobs that need attention at the club and before Christmas we managed to paint the Main Hall which has brightened the place up and looks much better. Further improvements are currently being done to the gent’s toilet in the lounge which was desperate for an overhaul. We will continue to make steady progress as funds allow.

I made note to our dance floor in the Main Hall in the last issue and we have discovered a full sprung floor that. when originally laid, cost a substantial amount of money. We were also told it covered a far greater area than was actually on show, so we lifted a test piece of carpet to check and I it as correct. Following a few quotes to remove a large proportion of the carpet and put new edging strips down, we now have a beautiful dance area which can be used for many things. We have already had contact from a Salsa teacher wishing to use the facility and I don’t think it will be long before it is being used again. If anyone runs dancing classes and feels the Club would be a good opportunity, please get in touch with us to discuss.

The club is doing better and more people are coming in which is great for business. Bingo on Friday evenings is very well attended and growing by the week thanks to our callers and staff who are doing a sterling job. The quiz on Wednesdays is also flourishing and again due to the efforts of a few.
We have also managed to purchase a Wii games consul thanks to a local grant and we hope to have this set up very soon for all the family to enjoy. I can see golf and Ten Pin Bowling challenges happening in the Club which will be great.

The officers of the club met recently with local youth leaders who have been struggling for suitable venues for the kids to go and ‘chill out’. Saturday afternoons was discussed in depth and I hope we have made progress come the next issue.

Bank Holiday Monday 31st May – The Transport Festival and to compliment the event, a ‘Ride On’ miniature Steam Train will be running up and down in front of the club. We shall also be showing Steam memorabilia in the Main Hall.

Beer Festival – Date will be confirmed in the next issue.

Tim James, Chairman