20th Jan 1928 - Annual Treat

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Annual Treat

Mr and Mrs H.C. Marshall, of Longmead, kindly invited the children of Baldock Road to a New Year's Treat on Tuesday. The event was held at the Ex-Service Men's Club, and the room was beautifully decorated for the occasion.

A Christmas Tree stood at one end of the room, and the tree was heavily laden with every description of toys suitable for boys and girls. Over forty sat down to an excellent tea, which was supplied by Mrs H. Mead, of Buntingford.

Tea over, the room was speedily cleared for games, &c., which went on amid much noise and merriment. In the amusements and games assistance was kindly given by Mr E.J. Totman and Mr B.E. Thody, while the following ladies assisted Mrs Marshall with the tea and refreshments - Mrs H.H. Williams, Miss Ward, Mrs Totman, Miss Lewis, Mrs Rustead and Mrs B.E. Thody. Mr Marshall arrived during the evening, and was greeted with vociferous cheering.

The Christmas Tree was then lit up with coloured electric lamps and each child received a present. The grown-ups, too, all received a suitable gift from the tree.

At the close the children partook of sausages rolls, cake and lemonade. God Save the King was sung, and hearty resounding cheers were given for Mr and Mrs Marshall and all the helpers. The children dispersed highly delighted with the treat they had so much enjoyed.

20th Jan 1928 - Buntingford Ex-Service Men's Club

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Buntingford Ex-Service Men's Club

Annual Treat to Members Children

For upwards of seven years the children of the members of the Buntingford Ex-Service Men's Club have, during the Christmas season, been entertained to a tea and Christmas Tree.

Those who attended the treat given on Wednesday last were unanimous in their praise for the excellent arrangements. A Christmas Tree, lit up with electric lamps, was at one end of the room, and by it stood a huge clothes basket full of neatly wrapped parcels.

The entire room presented a scene fitting to the festive season - evergreens and paper decorations being used on a lavish scale.

About forty children sat down to a sumptuous tea, consisting of bread and butter, cakes, &c., huge plates of which speedily disappeared, whilst the helpers were also kept busy in filling the cups with hot tea.

Following the tea, the long tables were cleared away and games went on merrily until 7 p.m., when the arrival of Father Christmas was the signal for an outburst of cheering. He immediately went to the Christmas Tree and commenced distributing the presents. After this, the noise of drums and various wind instruments can better be imagined than described.

Before leaving each child was handed a National Savings Card bearing two 6d. savings stamps. The cards were distributed by Mrs H.H. Williams, who thanked the helpers for their excellent work.

Winnie Winters then call for three cheers for the ex-service men, which was heartily given.

Mr Scarborough Taylor proposed a vote of thanks to Mr and Mrs H. Clarke for their work in connection with the arrangements, and this was carried amid cheering.

The National Anthem was then sung, and each child was handed a bag of sweets and an orange.

Those responsible for the excellent arrangements were Mr and Mrs H. Clarke, Mr and Mrs E.C. Clarke, Mrs Warren, Mrs S. Smith, Mrs S. Howlett, Mrs Davies, Mrs Starr, Mrs Hall and Mr E.E. Dennis.

Visitors during the evening included Mrs Williams, Mr and Mrs Scarborough Taylor, Mr G.H. Maughan, and Mr and Mrs B.E. Thody.

Ex-Service Men At Supper

Hardly had the last child left the children's party when the ladies who assisted with the children's tea set to work on an equally important job - the preparation of the tables for the ex-service men's supper. This was the first event of its kind to be held in Buntingford, and judging by the number present and the success of the evening it promises to become an annual event.

About forty ex-service men and their friends sat down at daintily laid and prettily decorated tables, doing justice to an appetising spread consisting of roast beef, boiled beef and ham, cheese, pickles &c. Mr A.E. Mayes, a former honorary secretary of the club, presided, and a very enjoyable evening was spent.

After the loyal toast had been honoured, songs were contributed by Mr S. Daniels and the whole company joined in the singing of well-known Army choruses and songs. Mr Dennis worked extremely hard at the piano throughout the evening, and kindly lent song books.

At the close, the Chairman proposed the toast of "The Ladies." Everyone was very grateful to them for the excellent service they had rendered, not only at the supper but also at the children's treat.

The ladies were then accorded musical honours.

Musical honours were accorded Mr Dennis for his valuable assistance at the piano, and votes of thanks to the Chairman for presiding, and to Mr H. Clarke, the hon. secretary, for the excellent arrangements, concluded a day which gave great pleasure to the members of the Club and their children.

20th Jan 1928 - Young Britons Entertained

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Young Britons Entertained

The members of the Buntingford Branch of "Young Britons" were entertained to a treat by the President, Mrs H.H. Williams, on Saturday last.

Long before 4.30 - the hour arranged for tea - there was a strong muster of Young Britons waiting admission to Foresters' Hall, where the treat was held. A bountiful tea was provided, and the sixty children present appeared to have good appetites.

After tea, bon-bons were distributed, and after a few games there was a lantern lecture given by Mr B.E. Thody and Mr R. Butler. In addition to many local slides, there were several showing various British possessions overseas, and these were explained to the children by Mrs Williams.

Before leaving, very hearty cheers were given for Mrs Williams for her kindness in entertaining such a large gathering, and to all the helpers. After the National Anthem had been sung, each child received gifts of chocolate, cake or oranges.

The arrangements throughout were excellent, Mrs Williams being assisted by Mrs Bonness, Mrs Darton, Mrs Parker, and Miss Olive Poulton. The two monitors, Horace Darton and Cyril Kimpton, were very much in evidence; their chief task was to call the roll - not a very easy one under the circumstances.

26th Oct 1928 - Buntingford Congregational Church

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Buntingford Congregational Church

Silver Tree & Entertainment

On Tuesday evening, October 16th, a large company assembled in the Buntingford Congregational Schoolroom for a social evening, the chief features of which were a "Silver Tree" and an entertainment by members of the Buntingford Women's Institute.

In his opening remarks the Minister said that whilst the idea of a Silver Tree was by no means new in itself, having been carried out with marked success in neighbouring Churches, it was certainly an innovation where the question of raising funds for the Buntingford Congregational Church was concerned.

He explained the idea, which briefly was as follows: Fancy paper bags having been made, they are distributed to the friends, who, by contributions of silver, &c. (notes not being unwelcome) from themselves, their own friends and relatives, do their best to fill them. These are returned on the day when the "tree" is to be held, each containing a quotation, either from the Bible, or from a hymn, prose or poetry (sometimes the sender's favourite text or motto), and hung on a tree or trees. The bags are opened, the verses, &c., read out together with the individual amounts, the whole constituting a very interesting item in an evening's social programme or a pleasing part of an afternoon's outdoor event.

The Minister remarked also that they had now installed the electric light in the Church, vestry and schoolroom, at a cost of some £30 to £36. A certain number of subscriptions had in the summer been forthcoming in connection with that part of the Special Appeal Fund, and he was hoping that the proceeds of this social evening, which was in aid of this fund, would result in the balance of the money being obtained. The bags had been taken not only by the friends at the Congregational Church, but also by others in the town and country who were interested in its work; and for this wider response to the appeals also he expressed his warm thanks.

The bags were then opened by Mr H. Cutts and Mr R.F. Dellow, and the reading of the amounts of the contributions and the quotations, &c., by the Minister was proceeded with. Though this item took some time, it was nevertheless followed with much interest by all who were present, many Biblical texts referring to the "light." The tree was kindly loaned by Mrs Squires.

During a short interval refreshments were served, Mrs Camp and Mrs Blaxill being in charge of this stall, they and their helpers being kept quite busy satisfying their customers' hunger and thirst.

The Minister then welcomed Mrs Ralph Scott and Mrs B.E. Thody, who, together with a number of fellow members of the Women's Institute, had in response to his request, very willingly come along to help in the evening's entertainment. Their contribution to the programme was the acting of a charade, the word taken being "Institute" in its three syllables. This was provocative of much amusement, was exceedingly well done, and included, on a minor scale, an admirable representation of Madame Tussaud's Exhibition. A number of miscellaneous items of entertainment by the same ladies followed, their entire programme being very much appreciated.

During the evening there was also a Jumble and Work Stall, Mrs Benstead and Mrs Cornwell being in charge, and they and their assistants did very good business. Mr Anderson did duty at the door, exacting toll of all comers.

The Minister, at the close, expressed his thanks to the members of the Women's Institute; to all who had sent along gifts towards the refreshments; and to one and all who had in any way, by time, service, &c., before and during the evening, helped to make it so successful.

The results of such an occasion are always two-fold - a social: it was "a very enjoyable evening"; and a financial: this too was very satisfactory, for the tree proved to be of a very productive nature, and has continued to yield "fruit" to the value now of £16 4s. The total proceeds from the evening's effort to date amount to £20 19s. 8d., and it is expected that by the end of the present week they will amount to £22 10s (approximately). It is gratifying to note that the electric light account has been settled, and is now a thing of the past.

The singing of the Doxology brought to a close a very pleasant and very delightful evening.