Beer Hackett

BEER HACKETT REP: John Parker johnwincanton@gmail.com DISTRIBUTOR: Susan Ferdinand

News from St. Michael’s Church

Outdoor Carol Service

Being prevented by Covid regulations from singing in church and reluctant to forgo our annual Christmas carol service, we decided to hold our service outside in the church grounds. Our neighbour families Keene, Whitman and Johnsen kindly provided hot welcoming braziers and John Derrick loaned us a small guitar amplifier with microphone which we used to amplify the bible readings. The heavy rain on the morning of 16 December gave way to a clear afternoon and a short heavy rain shower just after the service began at 6pm didn’t dampen our spirits. Richard Mentern’s enthusiastic organ playing

Photo: John Parker

carried successfully outside and Rev. Tony Gilbert led a welcoming and enjoyable service which everyone appreciated, to put us into the spirit of Christmas. It was even suggested we should hold the service outside every year! We thank Folk South West for joining us again this year and for singing two anthems – Blissful Theme and Shepherds Rejoice.

Church Opening

We plan to continue opening the church for private prayer and reflection on Wednesdays and Sundays between 10:00 and 16:00 as long as the lockdown regulations permit this. For information on future services when permitted, please keep up to date on the Three Valleys website www. threevalleysteam.org

John Bingham

Friends of St. Michael’s

Notice of AGM: 20 February 2021

Despite 2020 having been a washout as regards activities, “Friends” is still alive and kicking and we look forward to easier times later in the year post-vaccination roll-out! For now, the Trustees are pleased to announce that the rescheduled first AGM of Friends will now take place via a Zoom meeting on 20 February 2021 at 6.00pm. An invitation to participate in the meeting will be circulated by email to members during the next two weeks. The invitation will include the agenda and voting instructions. The meeting will also be open to nonmembers provided that they register their e-mail addresses with Olive Davison, Hon Secretary of Friends (email address: firemoon2015@hotmail.com) by 15 February 2021. The Trustees look forward to seeing you on the 20th .

Why you should pick it up

(this extract is produced by kind permission of Jenny Gibson MRCVS of Kingston Vets, Sherborne)

Picking up after your dog not only prevents smelly surprises on your walk but is also crucially important in reducing the spread of a nasty parasite called neospora. Neospora Caninum is a protozoan parasite that causes disease primarily in cattle, potentially causing abortions, stillborns and weak calves. Cattle can become infected by ingesting oocysts (the early egg stage of the parasite) from contaminated pasture and feed. The oocysts originate from dog faeces and can survive for a long time in the environment. Dogs can become infected when they ingest meat/tissue containing the parasite and feeding raw meat to dogs can be a common source of infection. The parasite eggs are then shed in the dog’s faeces for two to three weeks.

There is no treatment for neospora in cattle so if they tested positive, they may continue to abort or pass the disease on to their offspring – with culling from the herd advised if the cattle are to be used for breeding. The public’s role in reducing the spread of neospora is: • always carry dog poo bags with you on walks so you can pick up your dog’s waste promptly • place dog faeces in allocated bins or take it home • spread the word, not the neospora, on why it is important to pick up after YOUR dog(s) PLEASE