British Empire Medal for Bon Marin skipper

SARK cricket skipper Gary Clarke was flown to Southampton on Saturday with a broken jaw after being struck in the face with a cricket ball.

I understand that he underwent surgery there to have a couple of plates inserted but he and his wife Vanessa – who is the cricket club's official scorer – were able to return to Sark on Monday afternoon.

No doubt he'll be in pain for a while yet but I'm sure everyone here wishes him a swift and complete recovery and hopes he'll be fit and well for the start of the 2013 season.

*

On a happier note, it was nice to see a number of Sark residents travelling to Guernsey earlier this week to attend the presentation of the British Empire Medal to John Bougourd for services to Sark and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

John is at present skipper of the Bon Marin and also serves as relief skipper on the other Isle of Sark Shipping Company's vessels. He joined Sark Shipping 40 years ago having first worked for Herm Express Ferries.

His service with the RNLI started in 1980 and he was made coxswain of the Guernsey lifeboat in 1996. He received a number of RNLI awards – including the bronze medal and the institution's thanks on vellum – and retired as coxswain just over five years ago.

In both capacities he can be described as a true friend of this small community and this latest recognition of his service to both Sark and the RNLI is extremely well deserved. I am sure that it was with people like him in mind that the annual sea service at Creux Harbour to pay tribute to and give thanks for those who maintain our lifeline links was instigated.

*

Sark's Chamber of Commerce hosted an open forum at the request of Chief Pleas' General Purposes and Advisory Committee on Wednesday to discuss the island's marriage laws.

My difficulty is that my deadline for this column – as is invariably the case with Chief Pleas itself – actually precedes the discussion but I hope the forum brings forth some positive ideas about how any proposed legislation will benefit the people of Sark.

I have already heard – the word on The Avenue, as I usually describe it – that such discussion may well be interpreted as Sark trying to be the first place in the British Isles to legalise gay marriage but those who seem to know about such things tell me that this is not what anyone really has in mind.

As one member of Chief Pleas put it, this is really an exercise in establishing whether there is any demand for, for example, licensing certain venues in order that they may hold marriage ceremonies, rather than the vast majority of such occasions being held in churches or a registry office, which in Sark's case is the Chief Pleas Assembly Room.

The other ideas likely to be discussed are reducing the period of notice for weddings as well as a relaxation of the residency requirement for the parties involved when neither is a Sark resident.

While the introduction of such legislation might not be the most important measure Chief Pleas members have on their collective plate at present it is nonetheless an indication that – perhaps at long last, some may contend – our legislative assembly is contemplating change which could benefit Sark's economy.

No bad thing, it seems to me.

• The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.