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Beaford Bugle April 2007
Village Hall · The Big Breakfast, held recently at the Beaford Arts Centre, made a big profit of £198.98 for village hall funds. Annette and Sally produced 60 breakfasts to well satisfy the appetites of the three score hungry people. The hall committee thank them for their sterling effort in organising and cooking the food for the event, and those who helped and generously supported the occasion. · The 100+Club winners of the March draw were: First prize £40.00, Mr and Mrs Denning ticket 54, second prize £15.00 Henry Holmes ticket 94 and third prize £5.00 Shirley Heard ticket 98. The coffee morning made a profit of £38.50 for hall funds. · At the recent quiz night 13 teams enjoyed an excellent evening; their support and generosity raising £284.19 for hall funds. · A joint village hall and school PTA venture will be a fashion show to be staged at 7.30pm on Friday 20th April in the hall. There will be children, ladies and male fashions on show, clothes by Edinburgh Woollen Mills, make-up by Body Shop at Home and jewellery by Jeneca's Beads. Tickets costing £3.50 for an adult, including a glass of wine and for a child £1.00 including a soft drink, are available from Anita on 603212/553 or if you fancy your chances on the catwalk give her a call. · Bookings of the hall may now be made, not more than 48 hours in advance, for a period of one hour between 4.00pm and 10.00pm on any day including weekends. The cost is £2.50, excluding heating, which will enable users to play badminton, table tennis, pool, snooker or hold a social meeting at a low cost. Shop Survey. The replies have now been analysed and the topic will be on the agenda at the next parish council meeting. Following examination of the details further action will be discussed. Refuse. With effect from April 1st free black bags will no longer be supplied by Torridge District Council.
Cricket Club. The new cricket season is about to start and with the success of the match ball sponsorship last year it would be good to see this success repeated. Please contact Richard or Anita if you would like to sponsor a match this season.
Newspapers. A reminder to all who have used the Greygable newspaper supply service over the past two years that it will cease on Saturday 31st March and settlement of accounts would be appreciated on this date.
Bugle Distribution. Following the cessation of the newspaper collection service Bugles previously delivered or collected with newspapers will be available for collection from the garage.. Walk for Life on Sunday 27th May 2007. John Spilstead is taking part in the ‘Walk for Life' again this year to raise money for the North Devon Hospice. This year he will be walking from Down End to Woolacombe a distance of 6.4 miles. If you would like to sponsor him then please contact him at Grey Gable 01805 603394.
Travellers Return It is great at this time of the year to return to Beaford. Everything looks so fresh and eager for the summer. Development in the village centre provides a welcome for the passer-by (and, in our experience, to anyone popping through the door). There are new houses and refurbishments, which should bring new faces and their adventures to the village. Our birds do not appear to have survived the winter but trees and flowers are out in full magnificence, fighting bravely the odd patches of inclement weather. So, all set for the Easter holiday and the summer to follow.
Forget the diet - Easter is here. Easter is just days away and the shops are filled with hot cross buns, Easter eggs and chocolate Easter rabbits. For centuries we have accepted these as Easter symbols but it may surprise some that all of them predate Christianity by many hundreds of years.
The origins of hot cross buns lie in pagan traditions of ancient cultures, with the cross representing the four quarters of the moon and perfect balance at the vernal equinox. During early missionary efforts, the Christian church adopted the buns and re-interpreted the cross. In 1361, a monk named Father Thomas Rockcliffe began a tradition of giving hot cross buns to the poor of St Albans on Good Friday. In years that followed, many customs, traditions, superstitions, and claims of healing and protection from evil were associated with the buns. Many superstitions grew out of this custom - a cross bun kept from one Good Friday to the next was thought to bring luck, the buns were supposed to serve as a charm against shipwreck, and hanging a bun over the chimneypiece ensured that all bread baked there would be perfect. Another belief was that eating hot cross buns on Good Friday served to protect the home from fire. Eastre (earlier, Eostre, derived from the Saxons' Germanic heritage) was the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of dawn, spring and fertility. Our word, "east" is related to this deity's name. Her male consort was the Sun god, and the sun does rise, after all, at dawn and in the east. Rites of spring were celebrated in her honour at the vernal equinox (first day of spring). The first Sunday after the first full moon succeeding the vernal equinox was also sacred to her, and this pagan holiday was given her name -- Eastre. The full moon represented the "pregnant" phase of Eastre -- she was passing into the fertile season and giving birth to the Sun's offspring. Eastre's symbols were the hare and the egg. Both represent fertility and, consequently, rebirth. Over time the rabbit has been substituted -- not without merit, since rabbits are notorious for their fertility. Thus was born the "Easter rabbit" tradition. Dyed eggs were already being used as part of pagan rituals at the dawn of history in the Near Eastern civilizations. These were the first Easter eggs. As the traditions of the Easter rabbit and Easter eggs evolved, they were lumped together -- somewhat incongruously. Thus in our modern Easter lore, although the Easter rabbit is sometimes thought of as laying the Easter eggs so eagerly sought by children, the Easter rabbit is nonetheless often regarded as male. Later, the new Christian religion, with its emphasis on rebirth through the Resurrection, found it expedient to continue celebrating Eastre's holiday. The focus simply switched to Christ -- and the spelling, eventually, to "Easter." © Eileen Blacklock
AN ERROR occurred when printing Pat's Ode to The Bonfire Burner in the March Bugle and the last five lines did not appear, this meant that the punch line was lost. As an apology to her I have repeated it in its intended complete form. Sorry Pat.
ODE TO THE BONFIRE BURNER
It was a beautiful sunny winters day The wind was quite chilling
But Mrs Smith didn't mind Her washing would dry very nicely if it kept up And Sid might even cut the grass later
The sky was as clear as clear could be You could see an aeroplane high above Where was it going Mrs Smith wondered? To some far distant land most likely Sid came out to join her Smell that fresh clear air luv
Makes you feel good doesn't it He went to get his mower out of the shed And pottered around for a bit What's that noise he thought?
Mrs Smith came around the corner of the house She was puffing and panting She really must lose some weight
Sid! Sid! Come and help me please I can't manage on my own
The washing is getting smutty and smelly The bonfire from up across has started again
You would think that in this day and age said Sid Bonfires would be no more Be environment friendly Tony says We have green wheelies now.
Pat Brown
If you have a contribution you wish to make to the Bugle, whether it is information concerning an event, a personal message, a suggestion or maybe a literary contribution please don't hesitate call me. James Neville, Belle Vue, Tel 108, e-mail nev_dev@btinternet.com
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