Mayor’s Log Number 2

Friday June 5^th  – The 6^th Battalion, The Rifles. Cocktail evening , Dorchester

The CO of  The Rifles invited myself and many other Mayors and dignitaries from all over Dorset to this very interesting and informative evening at the Army Reserve Barracks in Dorchester. 6 batt, The Rifles are the only infantry reserve unit in the south west and their principal mission is to train & prepare our soldiers for front line operations.  There was a small military band on site, a bugle display and a demonstration of various types of equipment & weapons that are in use.  There were several speeches with explanations & a talk from a local historian on The Dorset attack in Normandy on ‘D’ Day.  Two of the new Mayors I met are in the photograph.

Centre – Roberto – Bournemouth,     Right – Tracey Newman – Poole

 

Tuesday June 9^{th –} St. James Care Home, Bradpole, Open-Day

This is the third time that I have had the pleasure of being asked to attend a ‘Special Day’ at this special care home.  The last time was last Xmas at their cosy and pleasant carol service.  Quite a few of the more able residents were in the common room where we were treated to some very good live music performed by a one-man band from Shepton Beauchamp.  Janice and I spoke to most of the residents that were there and we were looked after by manager Mihaela Barbulescu and her dedicated team of registered nurses and support staff.  There was also a splendid buffet provided by their resident chef who came out to see us, in his very tall, white chef’s hat.  Everyone I speak to every time I go there always praises how well they are looked after; how pleasant the surroundings are & how marvellous the food is.  The photo shows Mihaela on the left.

 

Friday   June 12th – Ferndown Mayor Making Ceremony

Barrington Arts & Community Centre was the destination this evening to see ,an event ,not dissimilar from our Mayor Making in Bridport. It was carried out with due pomp and ceremony & led by their Town Crier.  The Mayor Elect, Cllr Lawrence Wilson was duly elected to serve his third term as mayor and Ferndown’s 46th Mayor.

Saturday  June 13^th – Bridport Food Festival

Another highlight in Bridport’s calendar of events is the ‘Bridport Food & Drink Festival’. I’m not sure who originally thought of it but it certainly seems to be a big hit with everyone.  I was asked to open the event at 9.45 on the Saturday but it actually starts on the Friday evening with the beer festival held by the Round Table, in the big marquee. The place was filled up later in the evening with many people and lots of music from various bands.

The Saturday event was relaxing with nearly 100 food stalls, cider makers stalls, cookery demonstrations and stalls representing local food groups and charities.  A big thank you must go to all the organizers, sponsors, patrons and many volunteers that helped make this memorable event possible.  Walking around visiting the various stands I noticed how very happy everyone was and then realised what a difference the marvellous weather makes to people’s feelings.

Sunday  June 14th  – Bridport Electric Palace, 100 yrs old Celebration Display  

Sunday lunch time saw us at Bridport’s world-famous Electric Palace who launched a special celebration party complete with cake and fizz. The management sourced an amazing amount of archive material from their own store rooms, The Bridport News, Bridport Museum and sundry private individual collections.  This material was showcased around the truly spectacular auditorium and foyer and a special film was also shown of early footage and other ephemera.  There was also a fascinating documentary filmed of the palace in action with customers toing and froing to an event.

Wednesday  June 17^th  – BYCC & the Not so Youth Club

The Not So Youth Club is a new venture, for the over 50s, at the BYCC, run by Lesley Windsor.  It’s a brand-new social club hosting all manner of events for people who want to connect , create, learn & share skills.  The Deputy Mayor and myself went along to see what goes on.  Basically, almost everything.  There is the opportunity in the main hall to play various sports such as table tennis and badminton.  In the community room one can perform gentler exercise and learn about health and wellbeing.  Bridport Library are on hand to help with books and newspapers.  An enthusiastic cooking instructor helps people brush up on their cookery skills and there is the opportunity for all to have a shared lunch with the proceeds. An adjoining room gives another group access to artist and textiles  materials complete with an artist instructor.  It was quite a busy session with lots of members doing lots of things.

Saturday June 20^th  – The Mayor Elect of Yeovil’s, Civic Evening

We travelled north again this evening for another visit to Yeovil   & the Mayor Elects Civic Evening at The Westlands Entertainment Centre. We arrived at the centre and proceedings commenced with an informal light Buffet and a chat with various Mayors and Council Chair people in the main bar / restaurant.  At 7.00pm we were all taken through to the main auditorium.  This certainly is a very impressive building with a fantastic stage and tiered seating. We then spent an exciting evening being entertained by various choirs from a very young junior choir through to an adult Yeovil, Sherborne and Shaftsbury, Rock Choir.  The evening was rounded off with the brilliant HMS Heron, RN, volunteer band.

Sunday June 21st  – Bridport Chamber Orchestra , 50^th Anniversary Summer Concert

This is the third time that I have been invited to one of this super orchestra’s concerts & every time I see them, they seem to be Bigger and Better.  Apparently, for the summer concert, they import several musicians to make up a magnificent brass and woodwind section.  So, as well as the usual 12 violins, 6 violas, 6 cello and 2 double bases.  We had trumpets, horns, bassoons, timpani, oboes and flutes for this superb concert.  I would recommend everybody to go and listen to their next performance if you get the chance.

 

Wednesday June 24th – West Dorset AGM

The West Dorset Mencap AGM was held this year in the Town Hall. I was asked to go along & very interesting it was too because the evening featured a special talk from Julia Gannaway from the Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.  She is a Learning Disability Screening Practitioner focusing on improving screening for people with learning disabilities.

Also, Elaine Leader briefed us on the latest news from The Beach Wheelchair Scheme at West Bay.

Mencap are a very important charity that help people with learning difficulties. They run two social clubs; The Gateway Club and Allsorts  and run a local Charity Shop.

Thursday  June 25^{th –} The High Sheriff Visits West Bay

Helena Conibear, The High Sheriff Of Dorset called to see us during a stop off on her mammoth walk all around the border of Dorset.  She is walking the County line to raise £10,000 for the Dorset Shrieval Fund which provides grants for small grass  roots charities across the county. Myself, Janice and Bridgette, along with Macarena, the centre’s manager, met Helena at the Discovery Centre where we had refreshments. After looking around the centre, we had two talks from Ian & Anne Bark representing my charities BYCC and Harmony respectively. We then paid a visit to show Helena the Beach Wheelchair Scheme where she was treated to a very fascinating briefing, on the scheme, from Elaine. We showed Helena around the harbour including the beach matting(for the wheelchairs) and we finished at the Sea Cadets Boat Shed. Here we were educated in the role of the Sea Cadets by Peter. He also explained that they need to replace their very antiquated Boat Shed.

The first photo shows the High Sheriff meeting Macarena on her arrival & a group photo of us all.  The third photo is outside of the new storage shed for the wheelchairs.  Photos courtesy of Bridport Camera Club.

 

Armed Forces Day is held every year in late June to commemorate the service of men &women in the British armed Forces.

The Bridport Branch of The Royal British Legion & Bridport & Lyme Regis branch of the Royal Airforce Association (RAFA) both had stalls in Bucky Doo square.  This is a good way to advertise their existence & publicise events etc that they are holding throughout the year.  They asked me to look up & see them & I had the chance to chat to some of their members & officials.

Monday  June 29^th – New Team Rector for Bridport

This was a first for me. I have been asked to do a lot of things over the years but never before to talk to two prospective candidates for the vacant job of Team Rector of Bridport. The Interim Team Rector position is currently held by The Revd Cally Burch and the Team Rector is the senior Cleric for the Town, overseeing the six Parishes of Bridport . My job was to chat to the prospective candidates & tell them all about Bridport and their parishes and try to impart some local knowledge that hopefully will be useful to them.  My door is always open!