The weather in the weeks leading up to the May Day Fayre had been excellent, warm and dry and lots of sunshine. So of course the weather changed because it was a Bank Holiday!

There was quite a strong breeze blowing across the Rec and more than one gazebo was damaged while being set up in the morning. There were several rain showers and one hail shower for heaven’s sake while the Nicholas Hawksmoor pupils were performing their May Pole Dancing. However, the children completed their dance like true professionals and this typified the general attitude throughout the day, we all enjoyed ourselves regardless of the weather.

The Rotary Duck Races, (Children’s and Adults’) which are now incorporated as an essential part of the May Day Fayre took place in the Silverstone Brook alongside the Recreation Ground.

We tried something new this year, a Fun Dog Show and it was very successful for our first attempt and will be part of next year’s May Day Fayre.

Over 35 local groups and individuals ran stalls on behalf of charities and other local “good causes”. The feedback from them has been uniformly positive and there were more people on the Rec until after 4pm than were there at any time last year, with lots of anecdotal evidence that the general public enjoyed themselves.

So, we think it was a successful venture because it achieved our two aims and all of the Rotarians present thoroughly enjoyed themselves, which is not a bad thing, enjoying what you are doing while working hard.

My thanks go to everyone who ran a stall, visited the May Day Fayre or participated in any way over the weekend to make it so enjoyable.

Rotarian David Reed