COMMENT
Every time the Village Hall Committee runs
an event at Bighton Village Hall, people
come up at the end and say “You ought to
have more of these events”. Which is
frustrating because we knock ourselves
out trying to get people to book, and it can
be like getting blood out of a stone. There’s
usually a deathly silence until about five
days before the event followed by a quick,
light flurry of activity leading up to the day.
We’ve spoken to organisers from other
village halls, and it seems to be a universal
problem.
No such problem arose at the beginning of
March, when well-known guitarist Gordon
Giltrap graced our stage. Tickets were
flying out of the door from early February,
and Gordon performed to a full house on
March 3rd. What a lovely man. He is
supremely talented and in addition, a very
amusing speaker. He performed alone,
with five guitars lined up on stage with him
(including one that he claimed to have
bought in a car boot sale for a bargain
price - until he had to spend £200 putting
it right.)
We had a great evening. As I have said
before, when the village turns out for an
event it turns into a grand reunion, with
everyone saying “We must do this again
soon!” Since you’ve taken the trouble to
read this, please will you now make a
resolution to come to some of the events
we run? (And thanks to our near
neighbours from Old Alresford who turned
up – it was good to see you too.)
Jill Buss
The word ‘Jubilee’ has not normally been
part of our everyday vocabulary - at least,
not until this year. But the Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee seems to be capturing
the imagination and enthusiasm of a large
percentage of the population, and here in
our own little corner of Hampshire, it is no
exception, with events and celebrations
being planned for the designated
celebration weekend in June (keep your
ears and eyes open for details!).
But what is this word ‘Jubilee’? – after all,
it has a far wider meaning than that linked
to the Queen’s ‘Diamond Jubilee’.
It has Jewish roots stretching way back in
the Old Testament, where it was a year of
emancipation and restoration that was
kept every 50 years; a year during which
slaves were to be set free, alienated
property restored to the former owners,
and the lands left untilled (pages could be
written on this Jewish background of the
word, alone!). In the Roman Catholic
Church, Jubilee is a year during which
plenary indulgence may be obtained by
the performance of certain pious acts.
Perhaps to us today, jubilee is best known
as a season or occasion of joyful
celebration; a time of jubilation… of
rejoicing, usually associated with a special
anniversary marking an event, such as a
wedding anniversary, especially a 50th
(Golden) but also a 25th (Silver), or a 60th
(Diamond).
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