That was something that struck me when we went to see Santa on his tour of the village last night. Let me explain.
Santa and his attendants (elves and assorted animals) left the King's Head at 4 pm on a journey around the village that took well over an hour. Back at the pub from 5 pm people enjoyed mulled wine, beer and then food supplied by the owners. Families were asked to make a small donation in aid of the Hethersett-based Finnbar's Force charity.
There were lots of families there and it was the kind of community event that we did so well before lockdown struck. It did people good. There was carol singing led by members of Hethersett Singers and it almost felt like a new beginning - except for one thing.
There is a fear that once Christmas is over we will be in another lockdown. I don't think that many people's fragile mental state could take that, not to mention the affect it would have on businesses and the economy as a whole.
Having weathered the storm once it is almost unimaginable that we could see it happen again. I do so hope that the pre-Christmas community event is not the first and last. Hethersett has spent the last couple of months working to get back to some kind of normality, let's hope we don't have to slide backwards once more.
I would like to thank the organisers of the event - Annabelle and Heidi - for all their organisation. Very often the most important people don't receive the thanks they should and I know from experience how much organising such an event as this takes. Not everyone could get Santa to break into his hectic schedule to visit us!
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Sometimes I come across something that makes me laugh out loud. I have been talking about politics quite a lot recently and thought I would lighten the gloom with reference to the leader of the Monster Raving Loony Party who goes under the delightful title of .Howking Laud Hope. His real name is Alan Hope. He took over as party leader on the death of the party's founder Screaming Lord Sutch. He was elected joint leader alongside his pet cat Catmando. He took on the mantel as sole leader when Catmando died in a road accident (sorry this bit made me laugh although I know it shouldn't)
You might say that this man is unelectable but actually that's not true. He has twice been elected to office. First time is when he was elected unopposed to a seta on Ashburton Town Council in Devon in 1987. He subsequently became the Mayor of Ashburton in 1998. He was later elected to Fleet Town Council in Hampshire.
So the next time you feel like deriding the Monster Raving Loony Party just remember that the leader is an elected councillor who suffered the tragic loss of a political pet. The party even changed their rules for him - rules that stated that no member could ever be elected to any public office.
Hope you enjoy some of the photographs.