THE

HOOK NORTON

NEWSLETTER

December 2001 Series 26 No 6

Page 2


   


ON THIS PAGE
TWELFTH NIGHT BALL
HOOKY PLAYERS
ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL
ST PETER'S TOWER PROJECT
BONFIRE NIGHT
LUCY'S PINK PARTY FOR CANCER RESEARCH CAMPAIGN
LEUKAEMIA RESEARCH FUND COFFEE AFTERNOON AND SALE
HOOK NORTON BRASS BAND
CHICAGO HITS OXFORD




Twelfth Night - Something to look forward to after Christmas and New Years Eve
are over! Come and dance away those New Year Blues!!

TWELFTH NIGHT BALL

Ball to be held at Heythrop Park on 5th January 2002 in aid of St Peter's Tower Fund. Dancing to Celebration 7.30pm - 1am. Evening Dress, Black Tie. Tickets are £35.00 each (tables of 10) available from Rita Wheatley or Jo Bartlett



HOOKY PLAYERS

Update re the pantomime ROBIN HOOD & THE BABES IN THE WOOD - dates have been finalised for the performances which will be at 7.30pm on
Thursday 31 January and
Friday 1 February and 5.30pm on Saturday 2nd February in the Memorial Hall. The production will be by ticket only and these can be purchased from our box office c/o Sheila Rider, Little Nook. Chapel Street. available from 2 January 2002. Tickets cost £5 for adults, £4 for Senior Citizens and £3 for children.


ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL

PROTEUS
The Changing Shape of Theatre presents
THREE MUSKETEERS
this successful Hampshire based theatre company presents a new production:
a family version of the classic swashbuckling adventures of the
King's most loyal and fearless musketeers.
Comedy, suspense and intrigue abound as our high spirited heroes parry in the palaces,
duel in the dungeons and cries of 'one for all' resound throughout the land.
With original songs, plenty of participation and more laughs
than you can swish a rapier at, this action-packed show is the
ONE FOR ALL
this winter!
The Memorial Hall Friday 21 December 2001
Tickets available at the Post Office



ST PETER'S TOWER PROJECT
The Glass Screen is now being erected and work on the disabled hoist is due to start early in the New Year. The only work which will then be left to be completed will be the installation of the clock mechanism.
Since the last Newsletter there have been a number of highly successful fund raising events. The Messiah from Scratch was a huge success with a choir of over 100 participating, the age range was from 8 to 80 and also included three generations of the same family. Congratulations to Emma Callery and Simon Mead for their superb organisation. The Craft Fair continues to be extremely popular and this year's event raised just over £3000. Many thanks to all those who gave so much help with special thanks to Jan Hughes and her family. The Betjeman Readings were also very successful and we look forward to another similar occasion. If you haven't got your 'Backsides of Hook Norton' calendars yet, there is still time; they can be obtained from Janet Collins at The Pottery for just £5.99 each.
With all these successful events the fund now stands at £114,000. In the New Year there will be a number of fund raising activities. The first of these is designed to chase away those post 'Christmas Blues' by dancing the night away at Heythrop Park at the Twelfth Night Dinner Dance . Tickets can be obtained from Rita Wheatley. On the 14th February there will be a Valentines Murder Night at the Sun Inn ; tickets are available from Janet Collins. The Gwalia Singers will be making their return visit for a concert in the church on Saturday 2nd March .
Other events currently being planned include, a Golf Day, a concert by The Cotswold Chamber Choir and a Donkey Derby in conjunction with The Sports & Social Club. Details of all these activities will be available shortly.


BONFIRE NIGHT
A big thank you from Hook Norton Firefighters to everyone who supported the Bonfire Event. This year the event was held in aid of the New York Fire Department Benevolent Fund. We were overwhelmed with the number of people who attended, which you may have witnessed in the length of the queues! Our apologies to anyone who had to wait too long. The event was a resounding success and £1680.80 has been forwarded to the Fund. Thanks to everyone who helped in whatever way towards this popular annual event.


LUCY'S PINK PARTY FOR CANCER RESEARCH CAMPAIGN
Saturday 27th October
The Memorial Hall was adorned with pink balloons and ribbons for the Cancer Research Campaign pink party which raised £735. The event was masterminded by Lucy Meyler (12) in memory of her grandfather, whose widow moved to the village three years ago.
Donations of pink bottles and items for the bring and buy came in a constant stream to our house. Thank you to everyone who was so generous. We were also helped by the many friends of Lucy's grandmother Sheila Lilley, (you know who you are!), Lucy's sister Kate and friends from school in Bloxham. (Mother did her bit too!). The party was a lively affair and very pink, with strawberry milkshakes, name the pink dog, pink nail painting, pink champagne and although the pink parrot unfortunately was unable to come, we all had great fun and recovered in the pub later!


LEUKAEMIA RESEARCH FUND COFFEE AFTERNOON AND SALE
The new venue for this annual event was obviously popular and a great success; the proceeds now stand at £2007! The Clarke family are amazed at this wonderful result which they realise is only possible with the help of so many friends. This year more help was required because of the size and number of the various stalls. This help was so easily forthcoming for which the family is indeed grateful.
It seems the customers enjoyed themselves - nearly twice the usual number - and a good many stayed for a longer time, sipping tea and coffee (and some the occasional beer!) and watching the goings-on.
A huge thank you to all involved, in whatever way, in helping to achieve such a great result. God Bless you all.
Should the Brewery Visitor Centre continue to be the venue in the future for this annual event?


HOOK NORTON BRASS BAND
In September, a small group of band members, along with their families, met together for a social evening at the Norman Knight, Whichford. An Aunt Sally contest on the lawn was followed by a delicious buffet supper in the cosy, comfortable little back room of the pub. Small prizes were presented to the winners, with Steve Ashby, scoring six hits, John Eades, four, and Andrew Coleman and Ron Glynn, both hitting three.
Our Annual Autumn Concert, in memory of Bill Clarke, was attended by a large and enthusiastic audience, despite the disappointing lack of support from our local newspaper in advertising this event. It was announced on Radio Oxford and many colourful posters were displayed in Banbury and the surrounding villages, designed and printed by Ron Glynn's artistic hand. An ambitious programme had been put together and the promise of a full and varied programme was fulfilled, with numbers that ranged from classical to pop, including film themes, a foot tapping march, and a selection of World War II tunes, with audience participation. Two pieces featured specific players, with the front row cornet section presenting the fast and lively "Buglers Holiday" and a lovely soprano and flugal duet, playing the haunting melody of "Pie Jesu". The training band made their contribution half way through the programme with three short pieces for which they had practised long and hard. The whole evening was one of sheer musical pleasure when everyone was able to forget their cares and anxieties for a while and lose themselves in rhythm and harmony. The added bonus to the joy of this occasion was the fact that over £300 was raised for Cancer Research and St. Peter's Church funds.
The band were again engaged for the Remembrance Parade and the Church Service of Remembrance that followed on the actual Armistice Day of November 11. In new outdoor coats, worn for the first time, the band led the Parade from The Green in Hook Norton at 10.30am, playing the rousing march, "Blaze Away". There then followed the Remembrance Service at St. Peter's Church in which Paul Brook-Nolan played "The Last Post", after the two minutes silence and "Reveille" after the poignant words of Remembrance. This was Paul's first time in undertaking this duty, and it must be said, that he carried it out extremely well. It is also worth mentioning that Paul had worked a night shift before the service and forfeited his bedrest in order to be there and in fact, took a day's leave to enable him to be on duty again for the evening service at Shutford.
The band accompanied the hymn singing throughout the service, then played out the Standards, the Clergy and the people with the march, "Death or Glory".
The evening Remembrance Service at St Martin's Church, Shutford was attended by a much smaller congregation and a party of band members led the hymn singing. Julie Jakeman sounded the "Last Post", and "Reveille" on flugal horn. She had taken part in the parade earlier in the day, then she drove to Shutford to perform this same duty at the War Memorial in the village, as she has done for some years.
With the Christmas season just ahead, the band have a full and busy period in the coming weeks and are presently rehearsing for their "Prelude to Christmas" concert, which will take place on November 24 at the Marlborough Road Methodist Church , Banbury, at 7pm. Tickets for this event are £3.50 and are available at the One Man Band music shop, Banbury, or by tel. 01295 252395. Carol playing will take place at Tesco's on December 2 from 10am - 2pm,at Sainsbury's on December 11 from 7.30pm - 9.30pm and Castle Quay on December 22 from 10.30am - 2.30pm.
The annual Royal British Legion Carol Service will take place at St. Mary's Church on December 9 at 3pm.
Jenny Glynn


CHICAGO HITS OXFORD
The outstanding West End hit musical, Chicago, opens at the Apollo Theatre, Oxford on Monday 17th December, as part of its nationwide tour.
The lead role of Roxy Hart is played by local actress Jane Fowler, who also appeared in the West End production. Since leaving theatre school Jane has appeared in a number of West End successes including 'Crazy for You', 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Guys & Dolls', 'Sweet Charity' and 'Spend, Spend, Spend'. Last year with some friends from West End Theatre she performed in a memorable concert, 'West End meets Hook Norton' in aid of the Tower Fund. The run at Oxford continues until January 6th.