Coffee Break

• THE HIGH Town Crows will be performing on Saturday, May 9 at Evershot Village Hall. Tickets are £6 on the door.

• ALSO on Saturday, May 9 but in Maiden Newton Village Hall, there will be a jumble sale, starting at 2pm. You need to come early to be sure of snapping up the bargains. There will also be refreshments and a raffle. Items for sale can be brought to the hall at 1pm (no large items or electrical goods, please)
• THE IVY Club Spring Sale will take place at 2.30pm on Saturday, May 16 in Maiden Newton Village Hall. This is an excellent organisation that does so much for people in our area, so please come along and give your support to them.

• THE NEXT meeting of the poetry club is planned for 7pm on Tuesday, May 12 at Annie and Gordie’s house (Davola, Higher Frome Vauchurch). The suggested theme is ‘Song Lyrics’. Please phone 01300 320240 for more information.

• CHRISTIAN Aid Week is from Sunday, May 10 to Saturday, May 16. During this period there will be a number of house to house collections and you are urged to give as generously as you can to support the excellent work that is carried out by the Christian Aid organisation in many parts of the world.

• THERE will be a Christian Aid Coffee Morning at 10.30am on Saturday, May 9 at Chapel View, Melbury Osmond. Coffee will be served in the garden, weather permitting. There will be a draw, bric-a-brac, bring and buy, cake, plants and produce stalls. Offers of gifts for these stalls will be gratefully received. Please come and support. Everyone will be most welcome.

• THE SAVILL Hall AGM will be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday, May 12 in the Savill Hall, Cattistock. Everyone is welcome to attend, so do come along and give your support.

• MORE live music is happening at the Fox and Hounds on Friday, May 15 with Paul Anthony. Starting at 9pm, Paul will entertain with hits from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

• COME along on Wednesday, May 20 and enjoy the Morris Dancers performing their traditional dance outside the Fox and Hounds and then afterwards playing music in the main bar.

• THE NEXT Stratton Lunch Club get-together will take place on Wednesday, May 13. Please call Anne Newton on 01305 265895 to reserve your place or to find out more about this very popular activity.

• THE STRATTON & District Home and Garden Club will be holding its Annual Plant Sale on Saturday, May 16, starting at 10am. This event is open to the public, but do come along early, as past experience suggests that the plants will almost certainly be sold out within 20 minutes or so. Any spare plants would be most welcome.
• THE 4th Annual Stratton Boules Tournament will take place on Saturday, July 18. It will be a pairs competition, so find yourself a partner and get some practice in on the Village Hall piste. There will be more details nearer the time
• PLANNING is already well under way for the 2009 Stratton Summer Fayre, which is to be held on the afternoon of Sunday, June 28 on Stratton Village Green. If you would like to join the band of helpers, please call Sandra Gould on 01305 263287
• SOME Stratton Parish Councillors are extremely concerned that a few people using the Village Green are not treating the public space with the care and respect it deserves. There has already been evidence that dog fouling is on the increase and it has even been suggested that dogs should be banned altogether from the Village Green.

In addition, twigs have been snapped from the trees and thrown for dogs to retrieve. On one occasion someone was observed picking daffodils from under the trees.

Local residents are being asked to keep an eye open for such offenders and to report any incidents to the relevant authority. For the sake of everyone who uses the green, not least the children who like to roll on the grass, it is important that something is done to stop these things happening. Please pass on any information to the Dog Warden (01305 251010), the Police (01305 222222) or to Parish Councillor Tracy Hughes (01305 267480)