Competition gives paws for thought
TOMORROW is Christmas Eve, which means that virtually every business along The Avenue which is open will be offering refreshments – warm and/or wet – to customers and whoever else happens to pop in.
TOMORROW is Christmas Eve, which means that virtually every business along The Avenue which is open will be offering refreshments – warm and/or wet – to customers and whoever else happens to pop in.
I can recall getting criticised in certain quarters when I first described running the gauntlet of such munificence as The Sark Challenge – the challenge bit of it being getting as far as the Gallery Stores at the western end of The Avenue (or one of the banks at the other end, depending on where you're coming from) and then home again without falling over.
Thankfully, most people are now aware of my humour wavelength, although there remains a very small minority who take every word they read literally. As far as most people are concerned, the 'challenge' – such as it is – is simply part of what comes with living in a small, caring and extremely generous community.
Christmas for many is probably the most expensive time of the year yet the quite extraordinary generosity of this small community continues to surprise me. I wrote just a couple or so weeks ago of the appeal by ex-servicemen – and women – to raise £6,000 to restore the memorial stained glass window in St Peter's Church.
Appeal organiser Reg Guille told me that as of Monday of this week, the total donated so far amounts to over £2,400 – a considerable sum when one considers that it followed hard on the heels of the Sark branch of the Royal British Legion's Poppy Day appeal, which raised more than £2,600.
Referring to the memorial window appeal, Reg told me that without wishing to single out any of the generous donors, and thanking them all for their generosity, he was particularly grateful to Sark School for the decision to donate the collection from their annual Christmas Carol Concert at St Peter's Church – a sum of more than £170.
The appeal remains open and I am sure that all donations will be gratefully received.
Each year at about this time the Sark branch of HSBC holds a competition involving photographs. One I particularly recall involved pictures of Sark residents as youngsters, with a prize offered to the person correctly identifying the greatest number.
This year the competition involves dogs and photographs of almost 50 of them are on display in the bank's entrance lobby, along with the single caption – 'Who's the Pooch!'
Given that this demands the dog's name rather than the owner's I rather fancy that this year's competition is going to prove one of the more difficult. Having spent a few minutes looking at the photographs, I have to say that while I could name several of the owners, the animals' names are a mystery. I know that my neighbour Rossford de Carteret's dog is called Spencer but that's where it begins and ends for me.
Still, full marks to manager Pat Cunneen and her staff of Fiona Nightingale and Briony de Carteret for their efforts in making Christmas in Sark just that little bit different.
Next week I hope to find out what three youngsters really thought about Wendy Hill's new children's book, Simmie Goes to Sark. Until then, all that remains is for me to wish everyone who reads this weekly offering – whether by buying hard copies of the Guernsey Press or the online version through thisisguernsey.com – all that they wish themselves this Christmas.
* The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net
