News and What’s On

20, 21,22 SEPTEMBER 2019 with a PREVIEW on 19 SEPTEMBER
“All The World’s a Stage”
Apuldram’s Autumn Fair and Festival of Flowers celebrating the opening of the new St Mary’s Meeting Room
To be held at St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Apuldram
St Mary’s PCC and the Apuldram Parish Meeting have joined forces to stage this exciting event. We didn’t want it to be a ‘church’ only affair and wanted to include the whole Parish whether they go to church or not. Our small community has deep roots and belongs to us all and we sincerely hope that you will support us in September. The new meeting room is not just for church use, it is for the whole community and we need to equip it. We now have a kitchen and toilet; there is easy wheelchair access to the new building. Tables and chairs, cups and saucers, dishwasher, fridge and cooker don’t come cheaply. Sponsorship will help to pay for the festival flowers and the hidden costs of staging an event like this allowing the overall profit to be spent on equipment that has had to be purchased. It is not being spent on the church fabric and upkeep.
Our fund-raising for this project started with a flower festival in 2007 and it is apt that it should conclude with one. Even more of a celebration is the fact that the Parish Church has been at the heart of our rural and seafaring community of Apuldram and Dell Quay for ten centuries and so we are very pleased that the present Dean of Chichester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Stephen Waine, has kindly agreed to be the Patron, maintaining the continuity from the 12^th century to today between our church and the Cathedral. We hope to have, if time allows, a small exhibition on the history of our area.
The Designers for our flower festival are parishioners Jose Morum-Pound and Tessa Cox. Tessa is a member of both Apuldram and Fishbourne flower teams and like Jose has her G&G floral qualifications. Jose has for the past six years been working with the Chichester Cathedral Restoration and Development Trust designing two of the last three flower festivals and was Vice Chairman in between. Both our designers have been working on the overall design since last September, with theatre as the theme and it promises to be spectacular. Jose has brought together over 40 of her team from the cathedral flower festival along with her home team and all are busy creating 23 individual designs for us, ranging from musicals to plays and opera to ballet.
There will be stalls at the Autumn Fair with cakes and preserves, posies and poppies as well as a Grand Raffle and Bottlebola with a special Tree of Treats. We even hope to have an Apuldram Recipe Booklet. Local clubs and charities have been invited to have a stand to promote their group. Di Sawday’s original Rose Garden at Apuldram Manor Farm and part of Ryman’s Garden will be open at set times over the weekend and Apuldram Roses will run a ‘Rose Clinic.’ Some local musicians have already promised to come and entertain us. “Tea for Two,” a pop-up café, will be serving delicious refreshments all day.
Just as the village came together for the Queen’s Jubilees in 2002 and 2012 we are asking that you will all come together again for this event and offer your help to make it a memorable weekend for our communities of Apuldram and Dell Quay.
Please can you help with any of the following.

• • Maybe you would like to sponsor an individual design in full or in part? [Contact Graham Pound] Your name will be acknowledged in the programme as a Sponsor.

• • Do you play an instrument or sing? We would like to entertain the visitors in the church and perhaps in the gardens. Visitors love music.

• • We would like to have an exhibition on the history of the area. Does anyone have any information? Or would you like to help co-ordinate it? IT skills good for this one!

• • Do you make cakes? We need them to sell on the stall. Cakes are always good sellers and donations will be very welcome.

• • Do you make jams and jellies, chutneys or marmalade? Could you make an extra pot or two? We’d love some. As we are selling to the public no wax discs or cellophane tops. New lids can be supplied for the jam jars. [see Hilary Caine]

• • If any of you have pretty china cups and saucers, china mugs, small jugs or teapots surplus to requirements we can recycle them.

• • Help on staging days (Tuesday 16, Wednesday 17 September) helping arrangers unload, sweeping up, fetching water, making tea and coffee for the arrangers (our home flower team will be busy arranging flowers!)

• • Stewarding over the weekend (2 to 3hr stints max – Friday 20, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September) in church or in the gardens when open to the public.

• • Help in the café – [see Maureen Clake]

• • Help on the flower stall selling Posies in Teacups or making them.

• • Help on any stall selling.

• • Help selling tickets for the raffle / bottlebola.

• • Waiters / Waitresses needed at the Preview (Thursday 19 September 5.30pm)

• Does anyone have a pair [or 2 pairs] of ballet shoes we could borrow please?
  Contacts: Hilary Caine, 789899: Maureen Clake, 784195 or
  Sandi McCartney, 784197
  

Upcoming PCC Meetings can be found here.