December certainly was an amazing month in Steventon. The Christmas Fair on 30th November, which was a huge success after a very slow start, was a wonderful way to see in the following month. The following morning of the 1st was the Children’s Christmas Party. Such a special time was had by all the children, organisers and of course Santa! Rachel and Susie’s Art Exhibition from 6th to 8th in the village hall was brilliant. Sunday 8th Steventon Singers led a festive sing-a-long at Oak Lodge, enjoyed by all. That evening, the Benefice Choir joined Deane for their carol service, the first one of the month, so lovely. Huge Thank you to Richard & Kara Gnodde for inviting all back after the service, a wonderful way to end the evening.
Thursday 12th the Book Group met in the village hall for their very special Christmas lunch meeting. Delicious home cooked food, wine, good company, everywhere looking incredibly festive. Well done Susie for organizing everything and to all those involved in any way, a great time had by all. We did actually discuss the book!!! ‘Call of the Wild’ by Jack London. It was set during the Klondike Gold Rush between 1896 & 1899 when an estimated 100,000 prospectors migrated to the Klondike region of Yukon in north western Canada. A score of 7 was given overall. Monday 16th at last arrived! The Senior’s Christmas Lunch. The village hall looked amazing. What can one say except, Exceptional. Superb. Everything about it from start to finish was brilliant, ending with festive carols and songs accompanied by Paul on the keyboard. Huge Thank you to all those who contributed in any way. The following evening, Steventon Singers had a marvellous get together of song, carols, mulled wine and nibbles. What a great way to end a year of singing, thank you Paul & Marilyn. Friday 20th from 9.00am, the flower ladies arrived to sweep, dust, polish and make our gorgeous church look so incredibly beautiful for Christmas. Thank you, Emma for providing welcome hot coffee and delicious cookies. The Carol service that evening was wonderful, candles aglow greeted everyone, Amelia & Jemima both sang a solo during the service, quite beautiful. Afterwards we all gathered outside to continue to enjoy each other’s company, mulled wine and nibbles. The church and trees aglow with soft coloured lighting adding to the whole ambience of the evening, so very, very special. The Crib service on Sunday 22nd was a joy to behold, a new script written by Charlie, who never ceases to amaze us! Well done all, wonderful to see so many children along with the adults. That evening the Benefice choir joined North Waltham for their carol service, yet another special evening to be enjoyed by all, thank you also for the refreshments afterwards. Thank you so very much Simon & Harriet for inviting all villagers and families for Christmas drinks on the evening of Monday 23rd. What a wonderful gathering of smiling faces, young and not so young! all enjoying each other’s company, thank you. Tuesday evening 24th, outside the village hall, carols on the Triangle took place. Lights twinkling on the tree set the scene amongst villagers with their children, fabulous, all very excited with it being the night before Christmas! Some excellent singers coming along, marvellous. A very jolly hour was spent together before slowly wending our way home. Thank you, Paul for braving the cold playing the keyboard and Marilyn for ever encouraging us all. Christmas Day service was lovely and well attended, the promise of delicious aromas at home to greet us spurred us on our way. What a truly wonderful month it has been. There have been too many to thank individually for everything that anyone has done, however, you all know who you are so, Thank You from us All.
Here we are now, 2025. Back to normal, singing starting up with the Lord Mayor’s Charity Concert coming up on the 1st March at the Anvil to aim for. Will be a brilliant concert; do hope you can make it. Also, most important, we have the village Quiz Night on the 1st February to look forward to, Yippee. Most stunning sunrises and sunsets have been seen, all sorts of different weather have been experienced, the good thing is the shortest day has passed, brilliant. Spring not too far away! Time for a cup of coffee, maybe a slice of Christmas cake! Yummy. Enjoy.