A walk from Zeals with Zeal and Zest

On Thursday, 22 September 2022 by the kind invitation of Graham and Karen we assembled at the Harris’s new abode in Zeals and set off on, what had been billed as, a “walk on the wild side”.

In the outcome, we had a very pleasant late summer’s evening in which to enjoy the quiet roads, lanes and paths in the surrounding countryside, even taking in a couple of WW2 air raid shelters and a “river” crossing.

Having worked up a good appetite we returned to Chez Harris for supper and excellent conversation covering a myriad of topics as ever. Particularly baffling, yet enlightening, if not in a good way, to the “outside” team was the meaning of certain emojis. Thankfully, public decency prevents any further disclosures!

Plafest plays again.

Saturday morning witnessed the happy return of Playfest for the first time since 2019.; and what a lovely and happy event it turned out to be! The Brue Valley Rotary team were in action throughout. As always our famous griddle proved popular serving bacon baps to early visitors before moving seamlessly towards mid morning burgers, cheeseburgers and the iconic “Works”. Rotary’s involvement was not confined to the griddle – far from it. Face painting, cup cake decorating, candle making, tea light decorating plus animal colouring and drawing activities were provided by club members. Many happy children (and parents) made it all worthwhile. Our thanks to Burns the Bread for their support in providing baps and Denela’s Bakery for the bacon.

What a lot of dummies

North Cadbury Village Hall was the venue for the latest Red Cross “save a life” first aid course on Saturday, 3 September.

Whilst taken most seriously, the course was conducted with great humour and fun (not a mention a few Jaffa Cakes and Chocolate Hobnobs!). The interest and participation was manifest in the course finishing nearly an hour after the scheduled time!

Perhaps the following pictures tell the story better and explain the heading:

Fun on the Field

Oh what fun we had on the Field on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 August 2022.! The field in question being the Fairfield in Castle Cary and the fun being a community family fun day.

Brue Valley were there to provide our signature bacon baps, burgers and, of course, “The Works”. Trading was brisk from the off – particularly due to an “at stall delivery service” offered by our front-of-house” man (Mr Holt) to our fellow stall holders which resulted in some very large orders!

Our produce sold very well despite other commercial vendors being onsite. However we pushed our charity credentials along with our price competitiveness which kept the cash box and Sumup machine “ringing”. Indeed, we took over £700 on the day, thanks for some “replenishment runs”, which I believe is a record for a pure catering event.

In the pictures you will also see the new gazebo frame making its first appearance. The general consensus was that it was easier to erect than the old one – not least as the “peak” now goes up automatically.

Our thanks are due to Penny Lane Foods (for the burgers), Burns the Bread (for the rolls) and Denela’s (for the bacon).

Thanks to all those who helped man the stall, particularly the non-Rotarians who helped us with our manning crisis, and particularly David Terry for masterminding it all on our behalf.

And one final picture especially for Mr Holt (and I think this is the side we never got to see on our visit)

Jim’s Cider Shack

It might be called Jim’s Shack, but there’s a lot more to it than just a shed with some cider! Brue Valley Rotary Club enjoyed a fun evening there on a pleasant summer’s evening, first being entertained with a tour of the cider production, with explanations of how the cider is made and how the venture has grown from a hobby for family and friends to a little business producing award-winning cider. Then we were treated to an excellent ploughman’s-style supper, followed by skittles. There was also a bar, a shop and a café, all of which seemed to be popular with the locals.

Jim, Mary and Chris were great hosts, the cider was delicious and the evening got even more enjoyable the more we drank. I’m not sure it helped the standard of our skittles, but then I don’t anything would help!

The Tables are Turned.

Bruton & District Horticultural Society had a problem! There was no-one to help with the furniture layout for their Annual Show at King’s Bruton. As so often it’s a question of who you know – in this case it was Brue Valley Rotary! Sufficient members of Rotary were found to do what was needed this morning. The Society’s committee expertly directed Rotary operations and it wasn’t long before tables were being lifted, unfolded and laid out. Job done by 10:30 am – well not quite – Rotary will be assisting with the dismantling process on Saturday!  

Why not visit the Show on Saturday 20th August (2:30 – 4:30pm) at the Sports Hall at King’s School, Bruton. There’s tea and cake too! 

RW