Saturday arrived with the Art Exhibition at the Community Hall which, as usual, was a fascinating mix of local talents including a cute little duck picture which we purchased. The coffee and cakes were great too!
It was also time for the Scarecrow Festival – which was interrupted by a vigorous hail storm – but we did manage a few photos.
Moving on, the STMA Family Fun day began around 2.00pm with lots of play equipment for the kids in the main hall and outside an inflatable bouncy castle, an ice cream van and an NSPCC gazebo with more games. For adults inside were the bar and food.
Shefford Amateur Radio Society SADARS had an interesting welcome evening with many people at the Community Hall to extend their knowledge of making world wide connections via radio using speech, morse code, digital codes and even TV images.
Elsewhere at the Brewery Tap – Nicola Burr was talking about the environment and how to encourage people to think more and be more active about the planet. The lively group, including MP Alistair Strathern, discussed everything from Plastic Free Shefford to climate change and the place of these issues in todays society.
There is a lot on today to look forward to – from the beginners Line Dancing at the Community Hall to Jo Jingles at the STMA in the morning. Then in the evening a quiet meditation at the Baptist Church otherwise an exerting run or a session of Full bottle Fitness at the STMA.
Nicola Burr will be talking on People, Planet, Pint at the Brewery Tap – which sounds interesting – alternatives being the STMA Crib League or the Shefford and District Amateur Radio Society (SADARS) at the Community Hall.
Checkout the program here
So today there was a late entry to our program – but one we were delighted to include – the ALL ABLE team now based on the Henlow Road out of Shefford teamed up with the Library for an art exhibition. This was an Exhibition featuring a wide selection of works by artists with learning disabilities, and/or autism, who attend the HFT Herald Resource Centre in Shefford. The exhibition is on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
In the evening there was a wonderful meeting of the Community Choir at the Methodist Church Hall. This began with a calming and relaxing guided preparation followed with a warm up with Kazoos and then with everyone in the mood and relaxed the choral practice started. The evening was fully attended and energetically led in a way that really took everyone forward.
The weather was lovely and the Greenspace Conservation Group took full advantage to get on with some ditch clearing. The group take care of many of Shefford’s spaces – at the moment they are also involved in haymaking on Bellcote Meadow and the Easton Field adjacent to the outdoor gym where a Green Flag for excellence is displayed.
Elsewhere St Michael’s Church were opening their Community Cafe where all are welcome for a chat with tea/coffee and cake.
After lunch Tuesday offered a session of the Art Society at the Community Hall where members were preparing for their exhibition on Saturday and Sunday.
For the younger generation, the evening provided Tumbling and Cheerleading at Shefford Lower School to improve fitness, strength, co-ordination and balance – while similarly at the STMA Shefford Majorettes were working with local youngsters from the town and surrounding villages.
Later in the evening Shefford WI had one of their monthly meetings with humorous poetry readings and a variety of stalls including fruit and veg, flower arrangements, environmental issues, and cakes. There was also discussion of the other activities run by the WI through the month.
On Saturday 14th September, Barnwell Music ran a taster session day at the Shefford Baptist Church. They started with choir in the morning followed by piano and guitar taster sessions that were enjoyed by those who attended. The Barnwell team will be providing further taster sessions in guitar at their studio on Bedford Road on Saturday 21st September. If you would like to join, please contact admin@barnwellmusic to book your place.
Today was a quiet day – I visited the community Space at the Baptist Church – a number of people were there to share games and chat – I went for a quiet few minutes in the meditation area!
Then later I met with students to take my Tai Chi class in the Community Hall for gentle exercise and a cup of coffee with biscuits.
Saturday came with the Community Market wonderfully attended and developing a community spirit and character of its own – this is one regular event that just keeps getting better and better with so many stalls around Pamoli Square and along the High Street. In the thick of it were the team from Acorn pre-school and Mighty Oaks doing interesting activities for kids.
This was complimented by a range of activities with Barnwell Music including group singing, plus guitar and keyboards.
On Sunday morning there was a fun wellbeing event at Millennium Green run by Emily from The Campton Clinic. This free event started with a walk and or run around Millennium Green and finished with a taster relaxation and mindfulness practice. This event happens every week with gathering attendance.
Over at the Baptist Church there was a Messy Harvest led by Erica Bowler in celebration of the Harvest this year and the renewal of the environment for coming years. There were activities, stories, songs, prayers, a community lunch and scarecrow making.
The opening ceremony was brilliant – not only did we have two local luminaries cutting the ribbon i.e. our Mayor Ken Pollard with MP Alistair Strathern, others participating included the Shefford Prince and Princess, plus an adult Elsa in fabulous costume and character from her adjacent Be Our Guest Palace. There were sponsors there from Country Properties and BEST Academies, Nicola Burr represented Plastic Free Shefford and Erica Bowler showed up from the Baptist Church. Lesley Whiteman was active taking photos and representing the Garage Sale Trail, as well as the Shefford Mind Body Spirit and Craft Fair at the STMA next Friday.
All in all it was a cool gathering of Shefford people active in the community. Later that evening activity focused on the Community Hall AGM where a small but effective group gathered to see the newly refurbished hall with improved Heating and Air Conditioning as well as a new suspended ceiling for acoustics and insulation making this very central hall a very desirable venue for anything from a kids party to a town meeting, line dancing or Tai Chi.
There is so much on this week and I obviously can’t get to everything – so I would love to receive contributions with photos (with subject approvals) from event organisers to [email protected].
