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searching for a good book

Marion on the bric-a-brac


cake stall with lots to tempt

Raffle stall with lots of prizes

Margaret Parker wins Olivia

refreshments table

slight shower outside

chilli jelly and lemon curd

Nhora collects prize

Summer Fair 16 June 2018

Story and photos Jim Paterson

Tea time at the Summer Fair

A great crowd visited St. Mungo's church hall on Saturday 16 to be tempted by the wide range of items on display. Though the clouds gathered and a shower or two occurred it did not stop the numbers arriving. Home baking, bottle stall, knitting, books, jigsaws, tombola, birthday and special occasion cards, plus of course the raffle. A special 'guess the teddy bears name?' saw a few heads being scratched! Refreshments always at hand.

Avis Anderson welcomed visitors at the door before they headed for the tables full of home baking, with a great selection of cakes and home made jams, including Chilli Jelly (that will wake you up!), and marmalade.

The bottle stall, with Mary Paterson and Barbara Sprott, once again had a wide selection of wines, spirits and soft drinks just asking to be won. At 3 tickets for a pound someone was sure to be a happy winner. Unfortunately it was not to be me this year, with a complete washout selection. 

Recent additions of books, CD's, and DVD's attracted interest too. Mark Wells held the stall, displaying a great selection of novels, travel books, even a set of jigsaws to keep someone occupied on a rainy day. 

The home baking stall was laden with a wide variety of cakes and delights, with individual cheesecakes, fruit loaves, sponge cakes, cup cakes, empire biscuits, snowballs, and a selection of scones. Joyce Hunter and Margaret Black were on hand to help choose something from the display. I bought early as they always disappear quickly.

Jars of home made marmalade, lemon curd, and this year chilli jelly made by church members, promised to brighten up any slice of bread or toast at breakfast time.

Visitors Audrey Marchant and
Jill Kane displayed a wide range of knitting, including some every unusual pictures that Audrey is a dab hand at creating.

Isabel Donnachie sat beside the biggest white Teddy Bear in the world. Guess the name of the bear was the challenge. I tried my luck but was nowhere near the right name, which in the end was chosen by Margaret Parker whose choice of Olivia was closest to Olive that Agnes Ovenstone had chosen and hidden in a sealed envelope before the event. Margaret tells me that Olivia will be heading to one of her young granddaughters.

Susan Duns was in charge of the Raffle Stall, and what a selection of prizes were on offer. It was a full time job  selling tickets during the event. The winner selection at the close of the event took quite some time to clear all the prizes.  St. Mungo's member and Midlothian councillor Debbie McCall, with the help of Agnes Ovenstone, helped with the presentation of prizes.

Marion Mathers helped out on the well stocked bric-a-brac stall. I was trying my hand at spotting a bargain that would be worth a fortune at Antiques Roadshow. Sadly nothing jumped out at me. Better stick to Bargain Hunt! 

It was good to see Heather Boyle again, displaying her range of self made birthday and special occasion cards. With a number of birthdays coming up I took the opportunity to select a few and solve that problem. 

Jenny Ramage was helping out at the tombola stall with more prizes for lucky winners to take home.

The big attraction was the strawberry tea included in the ticket price. There were strawberry tarts, and bite size tartlets, cream buns, pancakes, or is that drop scones? Fruit loaf slices, buttered or plain also adorned the refreshment counter. Coupled with an endless supply of tea or coffee, brought to your table, made for a spectacular spread..

Soon it was time to draw the raffle prize winners. Debbi McCall, one of our new Midlothian councillors in Penicuik, joined us to draw the winners. With Agnes Ovenstone keeping the bag of tickets well mixed, no cheating here then, Debbi called out the winners with Margaret Black handing out the prizes. Lots of happy faces.

Agnes Ovenstone announced to the congregation at the service on Sunday 17 that the summer fair made £834, plus a 10 Euro note. By Sunday 24 that had risen to £904. A new record amount for our summer fairs.

Well done to everyone for your support, be it donating, baking, making, buying, or helping set it all up. Thanks too to the social team for all their planning. It all looks as if it just happens. That's the result of a lot of planning and work behind the scenes, and the weeks of preparation.


Tombola almost sold out

Searching for that special occasion card

Audrey and Jill knitting

Published - 17 June 2018
Updated 26 June 2018
Penicuik: St. Mungo's Parish Church (Church of Scotland). Scottish Charity No SC005838