Community spirit wins the day!
Ian Clarke It was a perfect end to a rollercoaster week - and proved community spirit is alive and well.People in Yaxham, near Dereham, were distraught on Monday when they discovered vandals had hi-jacked plans for its autumn festival by damaging a number of scarecrows put around the village, including some being put beside the main A47.
Ian Clarke
It was a perfect end to a rollercoaster week - and proved community spirit is alive and well.
People in Yaxham, near Dereham, were distraught on Monday when they discovered vandals had hi-jacked plans for its autumn festival by damaging a number of scarecrows put around the village, including some being put beside the main A47.
But that motivated the community to ensure the event would be extra special.
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And that proved to be the case on Saturday as beautiful autumn sunshine was the icing on the cake.
“It has been tremendous,” said Liz Hollis, of the Friends of Yaxham School, which organised the festival.
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The number of scarecrows in Yaxham reached about 60, and many were made after the vandalism.
That typified the attitude of local people to ensure the vandals would not win.
“We always ask parents to bring in cakes just before the fair and this week they kept coming and coming. The whole thing has been brilliant.
“It was very upsetting at first after the vandalism but now we look back and we are thrilled with the response locally.”
Mrs Hollis said it could also have a long-term benefit for the community.
“Lots of villagers are saying it has brought people together and they have spoken to people they do not normally talk to.”
The festival - which had a harvest theme - included a range of fun events including apple bobbing, welly throwing, hook a bottle and guess the weight of the pumpkin.
CDs of pictures of the scarecrows around the village have been produced and are available from the school at a cost of £1.
