All of the hard work preparing for the visit from our “twins” from Ballon St. Mars proved well worthwhile culminating in another successful year.
The programme of events was as below:
Wednesday
The French bus arrived at approx. 5.00pm. at the Village Hall and after light refreshments, our visitors spent the evening with their host families.
Thursday
This was a busy day starting with a trip to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster, Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and saw some amazing animals at close quarters especially the ring tailed lemurs.
Fortunately, the polar bears were kept at a distance!.
The day was rounded off with an excellent meal at the Olde Barn, Marston.
Friday
Friday was designated as a free day with families, but part of the time was spent preparing North Kyme Village Hall for the Gala evening. Everyone had wined and dined before the event but this did not prevent the tables heaving under the weight of the “nibbles” and drinks brought for the occasion. After the usual thankfully brief speeches, everyone enjoyed dancing to the music of TwoSmooth. Once again Nigel Kent made a guest appearance with his accompanying Dance Troupe. Several recommendations were made after their performance (mostly complimentary) and it would not be a surprise if they appeared on “Britain’s Got Talent”. (I have not been paid to write this)
Saturday
This had already been designated as a free day to allow everyone to recover from the excesses of the previous evening. However, it appears that groups of people went as far afield as Newark and Skegness in search of entertainment. Despite an early start the next day most families stayed up to the early hours celebrating another excellent trip.
Sunday
An early morning departure was planned and although the time was not actually adhered to, the French got away with ample time to catch their Channel Crossing.
The general consensus was that the arrangements had worked well and that this year’s trip had been a great success. This was in no small part due to the hard preparatory work put in by the Committee who should be warmly thanked for their efforts.