As the Church enters the Lenten period of contemplation and self-denial, the Friends of All Saints held their annual evening together on Shrove Tuesday to symbolically ‘clear cupboards’ and eat up all the tempting goodies!
To start the meal with a reminder of its symbolism, Canon Michael Wilson wrote, and read, a Grace in couplet form, especially for the evening. Wonderful sweetmeats, chutneys, a range of cheeses, quiches, chopped carrots and celery, dried sweet fruits with grapes and breads were ‘finished up’, with a big thankyou to Pamela and her team for the imaginative buffet for 62 people, and afterwards we were indulged with small pancakes. Patsy ran an amazing raffle, with a range of interesting and varied prizes. Then came the much anticipated annual ‘Friends Challenge Quiz’, devised and written by Gordon, delivered by him to each table group with a wry smile. This year appropriately the theme was ‘Food’ as reflected in names of towns or places. The question that beat most was: ‘Food for a Pensioner?’ No problem now, of course, as we know the answer is a Chelsea Bun! Ahhh… And there were 26 questions like that! Well done the winners!
Winding down we all stayed on a while to chat, clear up, and generally be convivial until nearly 10pm. Liz, and her team, Richard, Brenda, David and Janet coordinated the preparation in the Church Hall – tables, crockery & glasses, flowers, donations etc. What a delightful evening to mark our place in the church year, in our community of Oakham. JH.