Seal Christmas in the Chronicle

It was good to see a lovely double page spread of pictures, and something on the front page too, from our Christmas event in the Chronicle . I'm not at all convinced that the rather long quote from me was actually what I said (more of a creative reconstruction of a Monday morning conversation with the reporter...) however, the tone was right - a good time was had by all. And the children looked lovely!

Know Your Neighbours will all be meeting in January to discuss the plans for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Seal, so we look forward to seeing you then. (Dates to follow!)

Christmas Concert at Seal Church on Thursday Dec 22

There will be a concert at Seal Church on Thursday Dec 22 at 7.30pm.

It will be given by The Cambridge Consort, a group of former Choral Scholars, now mostly professional singers. Also performing will be several professional instrumentalists, including Florence Cooke, who teaches the violin at Russell House, and Vicky Hunt, former oboist with the Philharmonia Orchestra .
The concert will be in aid of the church and Crisis at Christmas, which works with homeless people in London and in other parts of the country.

The programme will include a beautiful Bach Cantata, no. 132 and plenty of seasonal music, much of it familiar, but including some less well known. It will  be a lovely occasion, perfect for the run-up to Christmas! Previous concerts this group have given in the church have been absolutely wonderful.Tickets are available in advance from Seal General Store, or on the door. If you would like to reserve tickets in advance and pay on arrival, (cash, or cheque payable to 'Cambridge Christmas Consort') then please e mail Hannah Cooke hannahcooke@gmail.com.

I hope very much to see you there.

Village Christmas event - well done!

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make our Village Christmas event such a success yesterday evening. Last year we battled against snow and ice, this year it was roadworks, which made getting up to the church very difficult, but there was a good turn out, and the atmosphere was great.

Special thanks to: Linda Montgomery and the children from Seal School, who led our singing with enthusiasm and didn't seem to mind the chilly weather in their nativity costumes; John and Roz at the Five Bells who found some room at the inn for our nativity players; all those who helped at church whether getting ready for the event, manning it during the evening or packing up at the end of a long day. Thanks, of course, also to Father Christmas who helped us out so splendidly, even though it is his busy time of year...

I only managed to take one picture (I was kept busy with the children's activities in the chancel - but one child commented, with a slight air of surprise, that my colouring in was "really very good", so I was glad that I seem to have found my forte at last...) If any of you have any other pictures, send them along and I will post them here.

Planning meeting notes Nov 10

The notes from the Know Your Neighbours planning meeting last night (Thursday 10th Nov) can be found by clicking on the link in the right hand sidebar, under the "Pages" heading.


Planning for the Christmas Village event on Friday Dec 2 is well underway, starting with Seal School Christmas fair from 3.30pm, followed by a procession up to the Five Bells pub at about 5.30 and carol singing there. We will then go onto the church at about 6pm for a couple more carols, and there will be stalls, activities, a BBQ and bar, and a special, red-coated visitor in the tower... We will pack up at 9 pm, so that those coming home from work can join us.

If you can give this any publicity, there is a poster available to download here.

olympic flame tv clip

And here is the Meridian report on the olympic flame

http://www.itv.com/meridian-east/follow-the-flame27674/

There's a little snippet featuring Seal school about 1 minute 45 seconds in!

Olympic Torch

Did you know.... The Olympic torch will be coming through Seal on Friday 20th July...
I'm sure we will mark this somehow!

Planning meeting Thurs Nov 10

Don't forget the planning meeting in Seal Church Hall - 7.30pm on Thursday 10th Nov. We still need lots of offers of help with the Christmas event. Come along and see what you can do.

VILLAGE CHRISTMAS EVENT

Friday December 2nd

Plans are afoot for a similar (though slightly improved!) event to last year's extravaganza.

It will start with the school Christmas fair in the afternoon (at Seal School). The children will then process, in nativity costumes, up through the village to the Five Bells Pub, where there will be carol singing. We will go on from there to the church, where there will be stalls and activities, refreshments (a BBQ in the churchyard, drinks, mince pies etc),  and a special red-coated guest who will set up his grotto in the bell tower...

The events in the church will take place from 6-9pm.

However - WE NEED HELPERS!
If you can do anything - help run a stall, help set up, help clear up - we will welcome you with open arms!

We also need everyone to spread the word so we get as many people this year as last - and preferably even more. It was great fun last year, and we would like it to be twice as much fun this year.

The next planning meeting is on THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10 at 7.30pm in the Church Hall (on the other side of the road from Seal Church, in Church Street. Just turn up if you'd like to get involved!

IF YOU BELONG TO A LOCAL ORGANISATION AND WOULD LIKE TO HOLD A STALL TO RAISE YOUR OWN FUNDS, PLEASE CONTACT CHRIS ON 01732 763585.

Seal Village Fete Sept 10 2011

Some pictures of Seal Fete and Dog Show in September. Many thanks to Royal London Society for the Blind who took these pictures and passed them on to us.

Delicious food from Tandoori nights

Seal School provided a barbeque...

and it was much enjoyed.

Dogs in all shapes and sizes strutted their stuff...

A treasure trove of a stall

Many thanks to our local PCSOs for organising the dog show, and to Kerry's pet shop for providing prizes.

Ok, so all the rosettes said "Seal FATE" instead of "FETE" !
We used them anyway, figuring that the dogs couldn't read...

Seal's intrepid village belly-dancing troupe!

We couldn't hold the rain off forever. Revd Anne Le Bas, the parish priest, sharing an umbrella with Kim Silver, chair of Seal School governors.