New Archive 2002

	NEWS ARCHIVE 2002

	The following has been received from the Garden House Hospice. Thank you to all who came and sang and to those who gave so generously. Thank you for coming into the hospice earlier today to bring the collection tins following the carol singing in your village of Rushden Your collection has raised £231.41 for hospice funds and I hope it will be possible for you to pass on our thanks to the carol singers and those who so kindly donated. Raising sufficient funds in order to provide hospice care for our local community is a constant challenge, we are therefore very grateful to you all for choosing to support Garden House in this way. With our very best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year. Jenny Lupton Hospice Administrator

	On Friday 15th November the Rushden playgroup did their bit to help Children In Need with a sponsored obstacle course around the village hall. We raised £410.00 and would like to thank everyone who contributed to this great total. Click here for some photos.

	Villagers who knew the Thompsons of Old Well Cottage, Southern Green will be saddened to hear of Trevor's death on 4th November. He has been ill for several years , but has fought valiantly and was able to meet with old friends this summer at John and Sarah's Pearl Anniversary party on the Green. Our thoughts go out to Maureen at this time.

	Slow Food. Saturday 16th November proved the perfect evening for gourmets and gourmands alike. It sometimes proved difficult to distinguish between the two. Chris Whitton excelled himself with a wonderful feast of French food from the Auvergne. Different wines accompanied every course and conversation flowed as did the guests on their journey home!

	Tony Rook treated listeners to a fast paced and very enjoyable talk on the History of Hertfordshire on Saturday 9th November. Four thousand years passed in a flash and left the audience wanting more, the ideal way to end a talk. Afterwards people enjoyed a Hertfordshire sausage pie meal and a chance to chat about the evening. £227 was raised for the church. Next Church fund raising is the Semantics Quiz (look that up in your dictionary!) in February.

	The Sandon Flower Festival was, as always, a great success. The theme this year was gold in honour of you know who and as always the ladies of the village had proved themselves well able to rise to the occasion. Stalls, rides and games on the Green plus delicious food in the Hall added to the general enjoyment of the weekend and it was good to see our gallant marchers returning mid afternoon with sore feet but a feeling of a task well done to join in the fun.

	The Village Committee and the PCC gathered at Mill End Nursery on Saturday 24th August to bid farewell to Tony and Mary Glaze from the village, though not from participation in village events. Members raised a glass to them as they were presented with two pot grown shrubs to grace the entrance to their new house.

	John and Sarah would like to thank all those who came to their Picnic on the Green and those who sent best wishes. Also to thank all those who, in spite of being told not to, gave such wonderful presents. We cannot get over your generosity. Click here for some photos taken by John Dingemans

	The Summer fete made over £3,400. Thank you to everyone who helped make it so successful.

	The Rushden Fete 22 June 2002 Well it wasn't quite glorious sunshine, but it was a definite improvement on last year's weather and judging by the number of people in the Hall for teas, it was very well attended.Everyone appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. One person said it was her first visit to the village and she wanted to come back.Watch this space for how much was raised. Click here for photos.

	Congratulations to John Dingemans who has now raised £150 with his sale of videos of the Jubilee.

	If you have enjoyed our Jubilee Celebrations why not tell us in the guestbook. Comments from visitors to Rushden's Jubilee. What a peaceful village. Are you doing this again? You are so lucky to live here. What a wonderful community. We have really enjoyed ourselves. We want to come back. The Jubilee Concert saw a packed church and a very receptive audience to the wealth of talent that Rushden has to offer. Who'd have thought that we had such wonderful singers as Isobel, Jane and Wendy and Chris Whitton as Topol was a masterpiece. John Lever and Chris Thomas with their rendition of Oh no John will be long remembered and Lyndsay Jones' Litter from America (he said it was a load of garbage) was a real high light. Tony Glaze and David Coles are extremely talented trumpeters. We look forward to hearing them again. The Jubilee Singers rose to the occasion and the Jubilee Pageant performed by Chris Whitton and Sarah Lever gave us a chance to relive happy and sad memories of the last fifty years. Chris Garrett was a first rate MC and Elspeth was a brilliant pianist. Many thanks to Betty for conducting and particular thanks to Chris Thomas for organising the concert. Click here to see some photos or visit the Photogallery. Thanks to John Dingemans for supplying them to us.

	The Jubilee Quiz raised £261.55 towards the Jubilee Barn Dance. Everyone enjoyed themselves and Chris and Linda Hill and friends proved their knowledge of the last fifty years (well the rest were too young!) by winning Jubilee calendars, though it was a close run thing. Thankyou to everyone who helped, particularly Dulcie, Eric and Sue.

	These are messages for Neighbourhood Watch in North Herts. Further to the broadcast this morning (19 April) regarding the distraction burglary at Crabbs Close in Hitchin, the offenders are described as follows: white male: 30 - 40 years, 5'10" heavy build, round face, shaved hair, wearing a Sam Brown reflective belt. White male, late 20's, blond curly hair, white knitted pullover with black trim. Two distraction burglaries have taken place this morning Friday 19th April in North Herts. One was in Chiltern Road Baldock where one of the offenders was a white male with dark hair, 5'6" and dressed in black. They told the victim that they were repairing a gas main.The other was in Crabb Close Hitchin but no further details are available at this time.

	North and East Hertfordshire judged Ace of Herts winning the Jim Balance Composts Marketing Award as a feather in Rushden's cap, not only to have won it but to have had the foresight to allow the green waste recycling. For those who don't know Ace of Herts operates from Cumberlow Green Farm, so if your garden's looking jaded you know where to go.

	The Occupations Quiz made £361.30 for the Church. Thank you to Dulcie and Eric, Sue and Elspeth for all their help and to all the kitchen helpers. Click for photos

	Rushden welcomes Ben Hawthorne, its newest resident, weighing in at 7lbs 6oz and congratulates Kay, Rob and sister Emma.

	WI NEWS All those not on a diet had a non calorie controlled evening on Thursday 21st February at Rushden and Wallington WI, when served with a mouth watering selection of goodies from the Tesco bread department. All voted it a body enriching experience!

	There was a short meeting at Sandon Village Hall on Thursday 6th December 2001 to discuss the increasing air traffic over the villages. We were told that Luton will be doubling its capacity in the next three years and that aircraft were now flying 1000 feet lower than formerly, leading to increased noise pollution. Stansted planes are also affecting the area. If you are concerned about any of these things or want to report a particularly noisy aircraft get in touch with Neil Thompson, Environmental Director, Percival House, Percival Way, Luton , Beds LU2 9AY or Email noise@london-luton.co.uk The phone number is 01582 395000 and fax 01582 395313. You can also let us know how you feel on the subject by putting your views on our discussion page.