Burns Night 2012

Tartan, Pipes and Haggis can only mean on thing, its the time of year to celebrate the life and works on one Scot - Robert Burns.

Each year the Mayor of Tamworth is invited to the Tamworth District Scottish society Burns night held at Drayton Manor and for a few weeks prior it had been suggested that I should wear a Kilt. So with a quick phone call to my father the lending of a kilt was arranged and accompanied my Dinner Jacket and black tie for this event.
On entry were were piped in with the president of the Scottish society and her honoured guests to sit at the top of the table ready to enjoy a fantastic traditional meal. however this could not begin without the traditional Selkirk Grace.

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

And of course during the festivities the piping in of the "Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!" or haggis as we know it.

The food whilst a high point was not the only highlight of the evening, this year we had a Scottish lady who had lived in Tamworth for 6 years give a speech to "Tamworth the town of our adoption" which was a real treat and acknowledgement of how Tamworth had welcomed her and her family. the speech pointed out Tamworth's many attributes  and it was refreshing to hear this from someone who has relatively recently arrived here and not hearing this from another politician etc. As mayor of Tamworth I was called upon to respond to this speech (and on this occasion had minutes to prepare) Whilst speaking I did reflect on the evening a great way to celebrate peoples history and heritage, not many cultures or communities do this as often as they should nowadays and it was fantastic to  celebrate this with the.

I was not aware at the time the next treat in store, this was the fantastically funny and slightly sexist Toast to the lassies and Toast to the laddies. we where treated to some great humour as a husband and wife team introduced the speeches, loads of laughter and mild offence made for two brilliant speeches.

for those who have not been to a burns night and don't know much about the Scottish poet don't worry and get yourself to a burns night supper as there is the speech to the immortal memory, during this speech I learnt more about the poet than I have in the rest of my life.

I had a great night and really enjoyed it.

Aladdin, Tamworth Pantomime Company 2012

Well where do I start, Tamworth Pantomime Company produced a fantastic show and had the Assembly Rooms packed.And so the music volume went up and the lights went down ready for the performance to begin.
I'll be the first to admit that I have not been to any of the local pantomime company's previous pantos but have seen some of the cast perform elsewhere in other roles so knew I was in for a treat and with such names as Alex Ferrall, Ian Gibbon, Lee Bates I wondered whether I was going to be the butt of any jokes.

With a relatively small cast and team these enthusiastic locals turned the assembly rooms into a theatre with all the atmosphere of a professional outfit.

The next few hours flew by with some fantastic performance and amazing singing which had everyone joining in with the traditional panto banta as well as plenty of laughter. It's always great to see kids enjoying pantomime (which is why I returned the following day with mine) but its easy to forget how real a play can be for a small child. One of the lines delivered from the panto baddy was that he was going to melt the snow dome which caused a chuckle in the audience but for one young boy this was serious, during the interval the young lad was hiding I the toilets tears steaming down his face because the snow done was going to be melted. A really sweet innocent moment that summed up the great performance we were watching.
It's difficult to mention all the great per danced because they were all fantastic, but I must mention you younger cast members including the evil side kick gaga who put in a great performance.

It was a truly great show and when I returned the following day with my chasten the audience was really into the panto spirit almost drowning out the cast, it was a fantastic experience. There was a great family feel and community fell to the show and it's a credit to all those involved that the audience felt a part of the show, this production kept hold of all the traditional elements of Pantomime including the essential Dame.
Great show well done all.

Amington Band Christmas Concert

I've just got in from tonights Mayoral duty and I'm that excited about it I have had to turn the computer on and write this blog entry.

So I have seen Amington Band before and would recommend them to anyone especially if you have not seen them before. Tonight was a fantastic treat, we had the band playing a variety of pieces and playing backing to a great Tenor Richard Lloyd Owen as well as the Birmingham Citadel Timbrel Brigade.

The Night began with the band playing Little Drummer Boy and White Christmas, then came the Birmingham Tinbrel ladies came out and performed with Amington Band providing the music, for anyone who doesn't know what a Timbrel group does (me about 4 hours ago) search them on google, but it involves some really good tambourine dancing with tassel's. When a Child is Born was followed by the Tenor singer who entertained and amazed us with his vocal talents.

Another highlight were the 2 performances by The Lichfield Players who were really good and added some great humour to the evening.

I had a great night and really enjoy listening to Amington Band but for me the highlight of the night was the last set, the audience was asked to stand and join in singing some Christmas carols. The whole of the assembly rooms were on their feet, the band was playing louder than they had all night, all the other performers joined then on stage and we raced through 9 carols with an atmosphere and volume you would not believe if you were not there, we all really raised the roof. Everyone joined in and sang their hearts out, it was truly a fantastic moment in such a great venue.

Santa comes to Stonydelph Arch

For the first time Santa and his helpers landed at Stonydelph Arch, Crossfell. any child that attended with their parent were able to sit with Santa and have a FREE gift.

Other attractions were also on hand including face painting, free craft sessions making table centre pieces and Christmas decorations, Finger printing and mug shots by the Police, a visiting Fire Engine, tombola, raffle and finally must not forget the Community cafe providing refreshments.

Throughout the morning around 100 people visited on top of the group of volunteers from the community who help put the event on. It was a great display of community togetherness, local councillors, public sector staff and volunteers all pulling together to make this free Christmas event happen for the benefit of the local area. However there were some disappointed faces when the fire engine suddenly disappeared on a shout, but all was restored on its return.

This event and the Amington one last month was supported by my Local Community Fund

No big message here just reporting on some of the fantastic work that the local Arches are doing , great event well worth looking out for next year if there is another one.

Staffordshire Performing Arts Christmas concert

A great afternoon in the warm protected from the cold by the Coton Centre we settled down to a great performance from local people young and adult who performed a wide array of pieces.

We were treated to a Christmas concert  (which this year was in December, we learnt last years was snowed off and so was held in February)which involved a rotation of 6 different groups including sax, strings concert band etc and had children as young as 8 performing.

It was a great enjoyable event.

I didn't realise (and maybe I should) that whilst Staffordshire performing arts carries the Staffordshire logo it is a separate entity and now has to bid for funding through central government. I hope that the good work of this organisation continues and I wish the friends of SPA all the luck in the world in fund raising and organising more concerts in the future.

the level of talent in Tamworth's youth is fantastic I only wish more people knew about it and not the odd few that blight out landscape

Shakespeare in the Glade. Much Ado About Nothing

English countryside, British weather, outdoor venue and a group oozing with passion, what more do you need to bring a Shakespeare play to life ? well after Friday evening I would say absolutely nothing else is required.

At the kind invite of Alex Farrell and Ian Gibbons of Turnright Productions I was joined by a number of civic heads from around Staffordshire and North Warwickshire as we traveled the very short distance to Middleton hall for a performance of Much Ado About Nothing. During my A levels I had looked at some Shakespeare but not this particular play.

The outdoor setting was fantastic in the walled garden at Middleton hall with the addition of a few gazebos to fend off the rain and nearby thunder and lightening, The rain did not put off any of the cast who took to the stage at 6pm prompt and did a fantastic performance full of passion, commitment and professionalism. I sat there genuinely wound up by the actions of some on stage, I had to keep reminding myself they playing a part and not to judge the actor themselves should I meet them after the show, they were extremely convincing. Maybe I shouldn't pick individuals out but the poor chap that Dogberry (Ian gibbons) kept smacking round the back of the head got some proper clouts. All the actors & actresses brought the characters to life in the most convincing way.

As Mayor I get to meet the "Chain Gang" (the other civic heads) regularly and so when we go to an event such as this we get to talk about it the following day or weekend. Well I can report that they all loved the performance and were full of praise for the small cast and show they did for us.

A big thank you to all who have put this on and a thank you for the contribution to the Mayor's Charity the RNLI, great evening enjoyed by all.