onionbagblog

To the Rectory! [Oh Lordy] …on Sunday afternoon for the formal Open Gardens cheque presentation on behalf of the very fine folk of the Wivenhoe Society.

I say formal, but for a Sunday lunchtime, I scrubbed up as best as I could, forgetting about the 5, 6 and 7 ‘O clock shadow, and robustly trying to remember my P & Q’s in the splendour of such Saintly surroundings.

@AnnaJCowen arrived half-laced from the night before.

Only joking.

Just.

Wivenhoe Open Gardens 2011 was a huge success. It’s hard to quantify the magnificent feats achieved. Hard facts speak for themselves though: an incredible £3,400 was raised over the weekend.

The more qualitative angle (and I am a man that appreciates angles that are easy to qualify) would make more of the sheer delight of Wivenhoe folk allowing strangers to wander around their form and fauna for one weekend of the year.

The event on Sunday lunchtime was a celebration of this, as well as an opportunity to distribute all the dosh that had been raised. It was fitting therefore to stage the ceremony in the family home of the good Reverend Erwin Lammen, who very kindly welcomed folk into his patch on what must be a busy time for him back in the day job.

Food, as ever, is always the great socialiser; a generous pouring of something slightly stronger also added to les bon temps roulez.

Chin chin.

Whilst @AnnaJCowen was still dragging her best party frock around the lower end of the Sunny Colch nigh time entertainment circuit, the good ladies of the Wivenhoe Society were busy buttering their bread. And the rest.

I’m told that a 5am start was needed to lay the spread that would later feed the 150 (ish) in the back garden of the good Reverend’s family home. Fine work.

And then just as the bruising skies of Sunny Colch came blowing up the Colne estuary, the equally big and booming voice of Mayor Needham called to order the gathering, before giving way to the good Chair of Wiv Soc.

The funds raised from Open Gardens were divided equally between St Mary’s and Wiv Soc – who in turn very kindly handed over its £1,700 share to the very deserving Wivenhoe Helping Hands.

As well as Open Gardens, this year we were recognising the achievements of the Front of House competition. Entrants were initially slow, but a bit of active informal praise and prodding of the many Wivenhoe homes with charming hanging baskets, soon extended the competition to just over thirty locations for the judges to consider.

Prizes were passed on; photos were captured, more plonk followed.

Events such as Open Gardens and Front of House can only survive with the goodwill of the locals entering, as well as the tireless work of the Wivenhoe Society. The weekend still remains the genuine highlight of our Year in Wivenhoe.

Here’s hoping that we’re still around to sample the Sunday afternoon refreshments come next September.