Santa flicks the switch
Last updated at 10:28, Friday, 05 December 2008
SANTA strutted his stuff to Queen Elizabeth High School’s Samba Band and Hexham Middle School’s orchestra after helping switch on the town’s Christmas lights display in the Abbey Grounds.
Then he boldly strode out into rush hour traffic, in defiance of a solid line of impatient drivers.
His mission? To once again help Hexham's Mayor Coun JB Jonas switch on the remaining lights in Hexham Market Place.
The rubicund giver of gifts said: “No-one seemed prepared to stop, so I just walked out and held my hands up, on the grounds that no-one would be prepared to knock down Santa!”
Upwards of 400 people turned out for the switch-on on Friday evening, during which Santa was helped by an assorted collection of not-so-little helpers.
One of them, Batman, known during the day as Coun. Derek Kennedy, congratulated Hexham Town Council’s working group which organised the lights.
“It’s easy to see the progress the town has made with the lights, and the two main trees in the Market Place look particularly impressive,” he said.
“I think the traders in Market Street also deserve a special mention – they have put an enormous amount of effort in.”
Tributes were also paid to Egger UK for donating and erecting the main town tree, free of charge, SGS Timber Haulage, of Wark, for transporting it, and Dodds of Hexham for the loan of Santa’s limousine.
Santa was also the guest of honour at Haltwhistle’s late night shopping event on Friday, where he was joined by Roman centurion Maximus to celebrate the lead-up to Christmas.
During the evening Haltwhistle County First School pupils were presented with gifts from the Cumberland Building Society, before treating townsfolk and shoppers to a Christmas concert.
In Haydon Bridge hundreds of residents turned out on Sunday to watch schoolgirl Madeleine Vall turn on the village’s Christmas lights.
Madeleine, a pupil at Shaftoe Trust First School, flicked the switch to turn on the lights on the Christmas trees that line the old bridge.
She was picked after winning a Christmas competition at the school to design a decoration and her winning entry was made into a 3D model and placed on one of the trees.
The village’s high school steel band the Sunshine Panners entertained the crowd, and hot refreshments kept the cold spectators’ spirits up.
A carol service for all denominations is being planned for Sunday, December 21, starting at 6pm on the bridge.
Haydon Bridge’s Shaftoe Chorale is also staging a free Christmas concert tonight in the village’s community centre.
The concert will start at 7.30pm and refreshments will be served.
Also on Sunday Allendale staged its annual Christingle service at St Cuthbert’s Church attended by pupils from Allendale pre-school, Whitfield and Allendale first schools and Allendale Middle School.
Each child carried a Christingle – an orange representing the world tied with a red ribbon to represent the blood of Jesus, and skewers of fruits and sweets pushed into the orange to represent the fruits of the earth and the four seasons.
Prudhoe’s streets were lit up on Monday, but for the second year running the town was without a festive centrepiece.
Town councillors and the Prudhoe Community Partnership have been striving to get a Christmas tree erected in the Cobbles area, but have faced numerous setbacks.
The Cobbles has been revamped as part of the scheme to improve Front Street, but it is still without electricity, which will have to come from a separate supply.
Councillors were hoping funding would come from the money Tynedale Council earned for achieving Beacon status, but doubts remain over whether this is, in fact, destined for new unitary authority.
Before putting up the tree, the town council would, in any case, have to have a contract drawn up with Tynedale Council.
Town mayor Coun. Jennifer McGee said: “Obviously, we want to get it done properly. We don’t want to be seen to be making a mess of it.
“Discussions are ongoing with the legal department at Tynedale and we’re hoping to have some sort of contract drawn up that would still apply even when the unitary authority is set up.”
First published at 13:12, Thursday, 04 December 2008
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
