From March through to the weekend of the Jubilee, events have been
held and extremely well attended by villagers and many friends from our
area.
These and other donations funded a lively family barn dance held on
the Saturday evening at Bicton College home farm. The Principal of the
College generously gave use of the barn, arranged for clearance of
stored agricultural machinery and even lent another barn for the hog
roast. This was a great bonus when the deluge of rain set in! The
impressive new Earth Centre was also made available to revellers to take
a quiet break.
Suitably bedecked with bunting, Union Jacks and balloons - see photo
gallery - the barn proved to be a great venue. All generations, from
toddlers to octogenarians, energetically and with great hilarity, danced
to the music and calling of the well known Mrs Midnight's band. A
delicious hog roast, supplied and served up by Kenniford Farm was
enjoyed by all for tickets at just £2 per adult, thanks to the funds
raised.
Sunday started with a Jubilee Songs of Praise in Otterton church, led
by the 20 strong choir. As the Rev. Anne Charlton said, it was good to
see representatives from all corners of the Raleigh Mission Community
present. They tapped their feet and bobbed around to the choir's rousing
boogie woogie rhythm of "Jubilate Jazz".
The next event was the picnic on The Green which had been decorated
with bunting, flags and colourful tables. Some 250 villagers sat down
with their own picnic spreads and enjoyed lemonade, cider and ice creams
for children, provided from the funds. There were babes in arms and
several people in their 90s. Commemorative mugs were presented
individually to each child under the age of 12. Various traditional
country games, including stocks, added to the fun and we even escaped
with only a couple of light showers of rain.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday a couple of hundred people visited the
remarkable exhibition of photographs and digital displays in the village
hall depicting life in Otterton throughout the last century until
present times. Many people placed orders for individual photographs and
the commemorative digital photo booklet of "Otterton Throughout the
Reign, 1952 to 2012".
The preparations and celebrations for Otterton's tribute to our
Diamond Jubilee Queen brought the community together.