Dear Editor,

Thank you to the Gazette for running the art competition with us, we were delighted to see so many faces smiling up at our worthy winners Eleri, Jessie and Jane as they turned on the Christmas lights. All the entries were amazing but we were bowled over by each of the winners’ superb designs, each of them depicting the Market House. Thank you to Rossiters Books, Tudor Sweets and Caffé Eleganza for their prizes.

Thank you so much to all the amazing stall holders, we had over 50 stalls on offer, as well as the refreshment area in the St Mary’s Hall, admirably run by the British Legion with The Horizon Group and Hope Services. Thank you to St Mary’s Church for coinciding their beautiful Christmas Tree Festival with the Fayre.

This Sunday’s Fayre was the largest so far and we were really pleased with the warm welcome that the introduction of the street of food had, as well as St Joseph’s School Choir, who were delightful, as were Allegra Ladies Choir and the Ross Town Band. Thank you to Ben Abbott, our compere, who kept us all entertained. Thank you to X-entricity Theatre Group who ran the grotto - this year they brought numerous costumes to ensure the children had a chance to dress up and have photos taken with Christmas characters.

Thank you to Mo and Peter the donkeys, and their owner, Charlotte Sullivan, who stayed for many hours to make up for the missing miniature donkeys who were unwell. Hill Top Birds of Prey were a big hit with owls being held by many happy shoppers. Thank you to Ross Community First Responders and Ross Lions for keeping us all safe. Thank you to Town Mayor Nigel Gibbs and his wife, Gill, who walked through the Fayre with me. They met and thanked all stall holders for coming, I was very grateful that the Mayor chose to take his time meeting all those in the community who made the Fayre such a success. Thank you to Rotary for the Christmas tree and to Cllr Craig Morgan for arranging the lights going on with the fire service and Ermin Hire - no easy task.

The tree may now be decorated with baubles by residents, kindly overseen by Katie Fowler whose idea it was to have them added in memory of loved ones.

The day ran smoothly due to the hard work of Caroline Bennett and Daniel Lister and their team of superb stewards, who started work before 6am and stayed long into the night to tidy up. Community spirit is well and truly alive in our town and what a wonderful way to mark the start to the festive season.

The Christmas Fayre takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes and I was very proud of the committee and everyone’s effort. Thank you all for attending and, despite it being November, dare I say Merry Christmas one and all.

Cllr Hannah Lerego

Ross Town Council Events Committee