St Anthony’s Annual Summer Fayre - A Great Big Thank you to All

By Yvonne Nielsen, co-chair of the Summer Fayre Committee

Kraainem (04 September 2005).- I can hardly believe that summer is almost over and we are now, dare I say it, in the run up to Christmas, cancel that thought it’s still much too far away.

However, it is over two months now since the St Anthony’s Annual Summer Fayre and what a wonderful Fayre it was and we were doubly blessed by the weather, no rain. Yet again, I am staggered by the great contributions and effort put in by everyone on the Fayre Committee and volunteers who come and help in the run up to the Fayre and on the actual day. The Fayre would not continue to be the amazing event that it is, in terms of fund raising and helping to continue to foster community spirit, if it wasn’t for each one of you. So please give yourself a pat on the back and accept our sincere thanks for all your time and considerable effort.

The Fayre again this year offered a treasure trove of delights. The Food Stalls were as usual of the highest calibre with lots of delicious goodies on offer. The Bar as usual rose to the challenge of quenching everyone’s thirst. The Book Stall, the Bric a Brac Stall and Clothes Stall were a great success and continued even after the day of the Fayre to sell their goods. Many thanks for this extra work. The Games, the Bouncy Castle, the pony rides and animal corner exceeded all expectations and delighted all participants from the youngest to oldest. The Bottle Stall surprised and delighted in equal measure; the lucky ones won a nice bottle of Liqueur or for the less fortunate a jar of peas, all in the luck of the draw. A special note of thanks should be extended to Liam O’Luanaigh who yet again excelled as the Master of Ceremonies on the day. He helped to keep everyone informed of what was on offer and kept the entertainment flowing with his wit and repartee.

The Entertainment was as usual superb. Mr John was as ever a true professional and delighted the crowd. All the dance troupes were excellent and displayed their talent well. Our singers and musicians were all wonderful. However, it has to be said that our own Parish Folk Group had a wonderful surprise for the crowd. Fr John not only joined them in playing the accordion but also in singing solo, to the delight of everyone, many thanks. This year as usual we had a Tug of War for the grown-ups but also for the children and boys versus girls. It seems to have slipped my mind about who won what, but I’m sure it must have been the girls!

The Tombola was also a great success and special thanks must go to Maura McGrath for taking up the challenge of organising and running this major part of the Fayre. Sadly, Maura will be leaving us to return to get married and live in Ireland. So we are already on the look out for anyone who would take on this role.

However, I think I’ve kept you waiting long enough. What you really want to know is how much we raised. Well, as always it was exceptional, we made around 24,400 euro profit, a truly amazing feat. This almost pays our first mortgage instalment of the year. So many, many thanks to everyone for making the Fayre such a wonderful success.

If you would like to join the Fayre committee please email yvonnenielsen@tiscali.be

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