ST. MARY'S

ST MARY THE VIRGIN FINEDON PARISH MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 2009

From the Churchwardens We thank God for the many generous gifts that have been bestowed on us over the past months. The Churchwardens and PCC are most appreciative of the warmth and kindness of everyone.

Thank you all so much for the excellent response in the little harvest boxes. The junior school and church raised almost £300.00. This year’s money will go to help children in developing countries providing health care and education, etc. A big thank you to Janice Pinnock for the brilliant idea.

Another ‘thank you’ to David Watts who has made and presented the church with the beautiful replica of the Coronation Chair which as dedicated to his late wife Pauline by Father John Beaumont on Flower Festival Sunday, the Church’s birthday.

Mr & Mrs Webb who had the very attractive stall of turned wood at the Flower Festival donated all their takings, which was a considerable sum of money, to the General Fund and we thank them also for this very generous gift.

November 1st, at our monthly Evensong which is proving to be popular, we have invited people who have been bereaved over the past year and whose loved one’s funerals were held in church. We will light a candle for each person who has died and remember them in our service. Please support these people at Evensong. Light refreshments will be served afterwards.

A reminder to you all if you wish to have a candle lit on Christmas Eve at Midnight Mass in memory of a loved one please order your candle from Denise Pruden. They cost £2.00 each and come in two colours, red and white. We only have a limited amount of candles in stock and when ordered they take a while to be delivered.

Nearer the time labels will be available to put on the candle with a name and message.

Don’t forget the lovely Advent Service on the last Sunday in November at 6.00 pm and this year we will be having a Carol Service the Saturday before Christmas, 19th December, at 6.00 pm, so you can go to your parties afterwards. The Christingle service is on the following day, so put the dates in your diaries so you do not forget.

Although all appears to be quiet regarding a new priest, I can assure you that the PCC are active in this direction and the final copy of the Parish Profile is in the process of being produced to send to the Archdeacon. Keep praying for the right person.

Jane & Neil

From the Registers Holy Baptism 4th October Nathan Ryan Sharman, Bethany Sharman Georgia Morris

Holy Matrimony 9th October Emma Smith & Terence Putman

Marriage Blessing 17th October Elizabeth & Paul Toseland

Remembrance Sunday 2009 The annual Remembrance Day Service will take place at the War Memorial on Sunday the 8th November 2009 at 10-50am.

Those wishing to take part in the Parade, would you please assemble at the Mulso School for 1030am ready to move of at 10-40 am.

We will again be observing the 2 minutes silence on Wednesday 11th November at the War Memorial, this year we will be joined by pupils from the Junior School who will be planting crosses and laying a wreath. Every-one is welcome to join us on this occasion.

Michael Shipton, RBL

Diocesan Choral Festival at Peterborough Cathedral After a summer of learning and practising beautiful and challenging music, often with other Choirs in the Diocese, St Mary’s Choir and many friends set off on Saturday 10th October for the annual Festival of Evensong at the Cathedral.

Enjoying pleasant Autumn weather we shopped, lunched and arrived for our practice at 2.00 pm.

Andrew Reid, Director of Music at the Cathedral, an inspiring teacher, always helps us to achieve our full potential. This does involve some hard work on our part, it is an amazing feeling when we sing with almost 300 other voices.

After two hours of singing and a welcome cup of tea we assembled for the service at 5.45 pm. The service itself was very moving with lovely hymns and a particularly rousing anthem by Haydn, ‘Insanae et Vanae Curae’, sung in Latin.

The sermon was given by the Precentor of Leicester Cathedral, The Reverend Canon Stephen Foster, who was himself a professional singer before he became a Priest.

During the service the Royal School of Church Music Awards were presented, two members of the Choir received their Dean’s Award, Gill Dunn and Oliver Grigg.

Congratulations to you both.

The service ended with the hymn ‘Sun of My Soul’.

Choir members wish to thank Jonathan, Bryan and Karen for all their help at practices. Thank you also to Christine and Bryan for arranging transport on the day and to members of the congregation and friends at Finedon for supporting us on the day.

Singing can be rather exhausting and quite a number of us ended the day with a visit to a local hostelry for some refreshment (and the traditional chips), on our return.

The Choir are now looking forward to working on the music for the candlelit Advent Service.

Church Choir Children’s Choir practice - Fridays 6.45pm to 7.30pm Full Choir practice - Fridays 7.00pm to 8.00pm New members are always welcome. Several of the children are currently working towards their white level of the Voices for Life RSCM vocal award.

Children from age 8 upwards are welcome to join the children’s choir or come along on a Friday to join in the choir practice.

Choral Evensong on Saturday 14th November at 4pm We are delighted to welcome the Oriana Singers for this special service of Choral Evensong which has been arranged in conjunction with the Northampton & District Organists' Association.

The music will include the hymns Angel voices ever singing, Glory to be my God this night and Praise my soul the King of Heaven, as well as settings of the service

by Smith and Walmisley and the anthem God so loved the world by John Goss. The organist will be Jonathan Harris who is currently President of the association.

The service will be led by Canon Hilary Davidson.

Donations received at the service will be given to church funds. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Advent Candlelit Carol Service This year’s Advent Candlelit Carol Service will be held on Sunday 29th November at 6.00 pm.

EVERYONE WELCOME. After the service, please join us for mince pies & mulled wine.

Mothers Union The Mothers Union will be holding a Bring and Buy Sale at the Mission Room on Tuesday 3rd November at 2-30pm.

There will be handbell ringers to provide entertainment and we invite you to come along and join us for a cup of tea and a fun afternoon.

All proceeds of the afternoon will be donated to church funds.

Church of St Mary the Virgin invites you to Evensong on Sunday 1st November At 6.00 pm Remembering all those who have died over the past year.

(Followed by light refreshments) Afternoon Tea - 4.30-5.30 pm Tickets £2.50 Everyone welcome

St Mary’s Thursday Club We are organising a Christmas shopping trip to Leicester on Saturday 21st November.

We leave Rose Hill at 8.00 am and return from Leicester at 4.00 pm.

The cost per seat is £7.00.

If you would like to joins us, please contact Christine Chapman on 01933 398818

Flower Festival 2009 Blessed with beautiful weather, many people came and enjoyed our Flower Festival.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank many people for their help and support given to make this weekend possible.

Our stewards for welcoming visitors and directing them around our Church.

Jean and Tracey were very busy with their team of helpers, supplying refreshments to everyone.

Thank you to our Guides and Brownies who worked hard helping with refreshments and giving our buttonholes and Gemma, our May Queen, who helped with the raffle draw on Sunday afternoon.

We were pleased to welcome Mick and Monica Webb with their stall of wooden gifts and thank them for their generous donation of £700.00 for General funds.

Thank you to all my committee for their hard work during the year. With all your support we made £2,500 over the weekend for the Church Restoration Fund.

Christine Chapman

Concerts during the Flower Festival Weekend Thank you to all those who supported the concerts that took place during the Flower Festival. The concerts raised £150 towards church funds.

Grand Christmas Raffle Our Christmas Draw will take place on Friday 4th December 2009.

If anyone could take a few books of tickets to sell or can donate a prize please could they speak to Colin or Jo Needle or leave any donations on the table near to the coffee table in Church.

Tickets will shortly be available to buy, please support us and help us raise as much money as possible.

Many Thanks Colin Needle

Finedon Mulso School PFA is holding a Christmas Fair in the school on Tues 8th December from 3.30pm to 5pm.

If anyone would like a craft table at the fair please contact the school on 680433.

There will be a Santa’s Grotto , and places can be pre-booked by contacting the school office.

Further details to follow next month.

Finedon Senior Citizens Friendship Committee Christmas Parcels This year’s house-to-house collection raised a record amount of £2,369, which included a kind donation of £50 made by Wendy Ehoff, being part of the proceeds of her Great North Run. The top three collectors were Mrs June Farrow (£132.45), Mrs Christine Felce (£132.05) and Mrs Kath Bivens (£128.26).

The rest of the collectors were Mr Gabe Desroches, Mr Bob Clent, Mrs Jaqui Hawkes, Mrs Sheila Oliphant, Mr Brian Ager, Mrs Janice Childs, Mrs Libby Webb, myself, Mrs Doreen Pettit, Mrs Eleanor McGibbon, Mrs Cynthia Foster, Mrs Janet Millington, Mrs Carole Heywood, Mrs Tracey Hawkes, Mrs Sheila Pearson, Mrs Emma Baker, Mrs Janine Polllio, Mrs Pat Sharpley, Mr Stuart Cooper, Mrs Barbara KendallTorry, Mr Ray Ogle, Mrs Maureen Church, Mrs Barbara Bailey, Mrs Madeline Mayes, Mrs Marjorie Wood, Mrs June Miller, Mrs Sheila Brown, Mrs Lesley Miller, Mrs Mary Skellington, Mrs Vi Waller, Mr Shaun Cooper, Mrs Lesley Callnon, and Mr Bob Gotch.

The Committee offer their heartfelt thanks to all of them and also to the Thursday Club for distributing the envelopes.

The parcels will be distributed during the morning of Saturday 12th December.

John Bailey - (promoter) Thank you

Please may we say a big thank you to all the kind people who left jam jars for our chutney making. It really was appreciated. We now have enough to keep us busy for quite a while.

Joyce and Bryan Williams

Townswomen’s Guild The November meeting will take place at 7.30 pm on Thursday 5th November in the Town Hall when the Reverend R Farmer will talk about his Sabbatical in the USA. The Scrabble Group will arrange the Social Half Hour and the competition will be for something made in the USA. Visitors will be very welcome to join us for a small fee of £3.00.

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Finedon

Meat Bingo on Friday 13th November at the Mulso School, Wellingborough Road at 7.30 pm Admission Free Refreshments available, Raffle Everyone Welcome Transport available.

For details please telephone Andrew Weatherill 682212

The Finedon Sessions - Good News We are looking forward to another big night with a full house following the success of the “Julie Felix” Concert. The good news is that “Daniel Smith” booked for 6th November, as a solo act, has agreed to bring his full band to promote his new album. Last time the “Daniel Smith Blues Band” played at the Centre we had a wonderful night on a Wednesday evening, that was over 4 years ago.

Please note as for all our “Finedon Sessions” nights again we have two supporting acts, they are “Steven Finn” a fantastic new blues talent on guitar and harmonica, and local band “Cinqui” providing more folk/blues/roots support.

We look forward to hearing from you to reserve tickets £7 each please book as soon as possible, if the “Julie Felix Concert” was your first taste of the “Finedon Sessions” I do hope we will see you again in November, as I can assure you of another memorable night with three super acts.

Remember doors open 7.15pm show starts 8pm and we have a real ale bar as usual.

Don’t forget to checkout our website www.myspace.com/thefinedonsessions and to phone me on 01933 398377 to book your tickets.

Phil Wilton (on behalf of Finedon Community Centre Management Committee.

Finedon WI This month’s meeting will be on Monday 9th in the Mission Room at 7.30 p.m.

As always there will be refreshments, a raffle and a bring-and-buy stall.

This month our speaker will be Dave White whose subject is Bees and Honey.

Members free, guests £2.50. Guests and prospective new members are always welcome, so if you want to find out more about your local WI please come along on the 9th and ask any Committee Member.

1st FINEDON SCOUT GROUP Will deliver your cards Only 15p CHRISTMAS POST

1st - 18th December Finedon only Look out for posters in local shops

Musicals Quiz The winner of the Musicals Quiz, was Mrs Jean Axford of Earls Barton.

We apologise that some of the sheets had incorrect spacing on Questions 4 and 8 and so, to make it fair to everyone, those answers were not included in the marking.

Finedon Local History Society The Annual General Meeting of the History Society will be held on Monday 23rd November in the Mission Room, Well Street at 7.30pm. This will be followed by a presentation of slides from the societies own photo archive.

Admission is free and light refreshments will be provided.

Finedon at War Exhibition The Finedon at War Exhibition will close on Sunday 15th November. Until then opening hours are from 2pm to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays at the Old Quaker Meeting House in High Street. Admission is free.

Carol Singing Around the Streets Finedon As on previous years, Finedon Local History Society will be organising carol singing around the streets of Finedon. This will take place on the evening of Monday December 21st and everyone is invited to join in. This is a community event and not for fund raising. No collection will be sought. Full details will be given in the December Magazine.

Church Monthly Draw Results of the October Draw Total Receipts £280.00 1st Prize £70.00 2nd Prize £42.00 3rd Prize £28.00

Restoration Fund £140.00

Winning No.245 Winning No.271 Winning No. 146

The draw takes place on the first Sunday of the month. If you would like to join the draw, please contact Kathy Hobbs on 01933 398794

Church of St Mary the Virgin, Finedon Wassail Evening & Grand Christmas Draw On Friday 4th December at Finedon Mulso School, Wellingborough Road At 7.30 pm Sing, drink, eat and be merry to a section of Christmas Carols Food included, Dress your table with a cloth and Christmas decoration Tickets £6.00

In My Day the ramblings of Hubert James In my day it was about this time of year that folk would start messing with time.

The clocks would go back and we’d all have an extra hour in bed. It would upset folk. They never knew where they was from one minute to the next. We was told it was something to do with farming but for the rest of us it was just plain confusing.

Now I’m talking about a long time ago. So long ago that when it came to occupying ourselves us kids used to use our imagination.

I know it’s hard to believe nowadays when everything is on a plate but we actually used to make our own entertainment. Give us a bit of hillside with some long grass or ferns and we’d be transported to all manner of fantasy worlds. Nowadays you’d just switch on the X Box – is it?, to get the same effect. And if we wanted to relax there was the wireless and eventually a black and white Telly.

But imagination was the thing. So we might be pirates searching for buried treasure at the Old Mill or jungle explorers exploring meeting a tribe of pygmies in the Pocket Park.

Imagine the affect on our imagination when we discovered that dilapidated old cottage at the bottom of Holly Walk. Glinda Jessop, she had the wildest imagination and she reckoned that there was an old woman living in the cottage.

“She’s got a ghostly hue,” she told us. “A greenish tint to her skin.”

The woman went by the grand name of Elphaba Thropp. Glinda reckoned she had a cauldron. My Mum reckoned she was a reclusive charcoal maker who became popular around 5th November. We reckoned she was a witch who scared kids on Halloween. Of course, in them days we never had Halloween.

Mind you we learned to stay away from her when the clocks went back or forward.

It always put her in a terrible mood. We called it Green Witch Mean Time.

In My Day If you have enjoyed reading the tales of Hubert James, we have now produced a booklet of some of his ramblings The price of the booklet is £2.00 and can be obtained from the Church or by ringing 681161.

It would make a great stocking filler for someone for Christmas.

Town Diary November 1st

4.30-5.30 Afternoon Tea St Mary’s Church 6pm Remembrance Evensong

2nd 7.30 BL AGM 3rd

9.30 Coffee morning Football Club 2.30 Mother’s Union Bring and Buy sale at Mission Room

5th

7.30 TG Town Hall ‘My sabbatical in the USA

6th

8pm Finedon Sessions, Community Centre

8th

10.50 Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph

9th

7.30 WI Mission Room, Bees & Honey

10th 9.45 Coffee morning Bowls Club 11th 11.00am 2 minutes silence at War Memorial 13th 7.30 Church Bingo, Mulso School 14th 4pm Choral Evensong sung by the Oriana singers, St Mary’s Church 15th Community Centre Christmas Market & Craft Fair Finedon at War Exhibition closes 17th 9.30 Coffee morning Football Club 21st 8am Thursday Club Christmas shopping to Leicester 23rd 7.30 History Society AGM followed by a presentation of slides from the local archives 24th 9.45 Coffee morning Bowls Club 29th 6pm Advent Carol Service

December 1st

9.30 Coffee morning Football Club Scout Christmas Post begins

3rd

7.30 TG Town Hall ‘in house Christmas Market.

4th

8 pm St Mary’s Church Wassail Evening & Christmas Draw

5th

10-2pm FIWC Christmas Bazaar

7th

7.30 BL, Woodford, TBC

8th

9.45 Coffee morning Bowls Club 3.30-5 Mulso School PFA Christmas Fair

10th Community Carol Service, Star Hall 13th Christmas Parcel Distribution 14th WI Christmas Party 15th 9.30 Coffee Morning Football Club 18th Scout Christmas Post ends 19th 6pm Carol Service St Mary’s Church 20th 4.30 Christingle St Mary’s Church 21st History Society Carol Singing 22nd 9.45 Coffee Morning Bowls Club 24th St Mary’s Church, Christmas Nativity