October 2007
OVERTON ORACLE
Overton’s Free Newspaper - issued
monthly to over 600 homes in Overton
October 2007
The Editorial Team David Burton - Euan Stevenson - Sean Clarke - Jackie Maskall - Cynthia Davies - Maxine Palmer Our reporters cannot be everywhere. EMAIL YOUR STORIES TO
EDITOR@OVERTON-ON-DEE.CO.UK |
| Party!
Party! Party! As
winners of the North Wales Calor Village of the Year 2007
Overton has been awarded prize money to hold a village party! Please come and join in, this is a day like the fete, on which we can join together and celebrate our community! 4.00 to 6.00pm (approx) Presentation & Press coverage. Teas with home made cakes & scones, string quartet and other musical entertainment for the adults. Circus entertainers, Face Painting, children's disco and games, Beat the Goalie, Football penalty shootout competitions, Ice cream available. 6.00 to 8.00pm
Hot potatoes and ‘fillings’ and hot-dogs, bar available,
Disco. Offers
of help gladly accepted!
Thousands of homes in Wrexham will soon be much warmer thanks to the Bringing Warm Homes to Wrexham scheme. Your local council, npower and National Grid together with the Welsh Assembly Government have put together this groundbreaking scheme which means that many homes will qualify for this special FREE service. Warm Wales will be running the scheme on behalf of these organisations. If you qualify, your home could benefit from improvements like cavity wall and loft insulation. You may even qualify for improved heating. Every home will be offered free energy efficiency and benefits advice. This could save you money and add more money to your household budget. One of the assessors will call at your home and fill in a short questionnaire to see what grants and help you may be entitled to. All the Assessors will wear distinctive red and black uniforms and carry an identity card showing the Warm Wales logo and their photograph. Always ask to see the identity card before you answer any questions at the door. And telephone Warm Wales on 0845 0261135 if you have any doubts. It will only take a few minutes to talk to the assessor and could mean a much warmer home for you in a very short time. Everyone who completes and signs the form will be given free low energy light bulbs courtesy of npower. Ramblings
From the Rectory Dear friends, There is a lovely Celtic prayer entitled ‘Tides and Seasons’: Creator
of the tides, give to me Creator
of the Seasons, give to me I like that prayer because it encapsulates everything that is needed for a happy and fulfilled life. We all need space in our lives to think and contemplate. We all need secure homes and people who love us. We all need purposes in life, whether it is in our work or personal lives. But the prayer also tells us that for a happy life our spiritual side needs to be fed. Without attending to spiritual things our lives become out of balance. God wants to be a part of our life. He wants us to know his love and joy in our lives. By repeating the words of the prayer quietly and slowly, we can open our hearts to our creator God. And then we will know for ourselves his wonder and his beauty. Your
friend and Rector
COUNTRY BEAT You may have read or indeed seen the news this week that North Wales Police are one of five pilot forces to issue the 50,000 volt Taser to front line / non-firearm trained officers, at this time my role dictates that I'm not to receive one just yet; however a number of my colleagues in Rhos have been issued with the Tasers and will carry them when on duty during the twelve month evaluation period. North Wales Police have made some dramatic changes in respect of uniform and equipment over the last few years, with the introduction of the more practical uniform, including base ball caps... and now Tasers, which I believe all front line officers will be routinely issued with within the next five years, or sooner. Personally I welcome the new uniform and would happily carry a Taser; although I recognise that opinion is divided. Below
is a link to the North Wales Police website and it should take you
directly to a video clip of Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom explaining
a little more about Taser, interestingly the Chief Constable decided
to feel the effects of the device himself, not that I take any satisfaction
from this!!! but I have to admit to viewing this clip a significant
amount of times... I am sad to report this month that our area has seen a slight rise in the number of thefts / burglaries, I'm sure you’re all aware we live and work in an area that has very little crime and when incidents like this occur it is very upsetting and worrying for all those involved and living in the same community. Unfortunately we have been the victims of our own success in many respects as it appears that a significant number of residents are not taking the simple steps to prevent themselves becoming the victim of opportunist criminals, as a number of the recent thefts have occurred from unsecured vehicles and unlocked houses. As mentioned previously please take the time to secure your vehicles and property, never leave valuable items on display, and always report suspicious activity to the police control room as soon as possible, your help in this matter is much appreciated. Officers at Overton also offer a range of services to help keep your home, vehicle and property safe, this includes FREE Cycle Marking, FREE Sat Nav Marking Kits, FREE home or business security assessments and general crime prevention advice. Telephone: 0845 607 1002 Overton
crime figures for month of August KID’S
PAGE ! Hi guys,
hope you are all enjoying school! This month we will be celebrating
Halloween! Jen’s Reviews A very
good book with twists and turns in every chapter Fun
Stuff with Lucy and Rbeccs Joke:
Last months answer was: Post Office
My trip to Denmark I would like to thank everyone who contributed to sending me to Denmark. I had a truly amazing time there. We had an International camp for 8 days near Aarhus in the north. We met Girl Guides and Scouts from all over the world and celebrated the 100th year of scouting with a sunrise ceremony. Princess Benedikte attended and I carried the Welsh flag. The event was massive 3,200 girls in total and despite the obvious language barriers everyone had a great time. We then travelled to the capital Copenhagen. We stayed in a hostel and went sightseeing around the city, including Tivioli Gardens and the National Museum. Twinning
news - The 2007 visit to La Murette This year we had our return trip to Overton’s twinned village of La Murette, travelling by planes, trains and automobiles. Eleven of us set off in the last week in July. The welcome we received as we met up with our old friends and many new ones was as ever jovial with lots of cheek kissing, good food and wine in abundance. The activities they had planned were kept a secret till we arrived when we were all given a Quicksilver rucksack containing the brochures for the week’s entertainment, a hat, small bottle of aperitif, pen, paper and a magazine of our weeks itinerary including, as ever a varied selection of days out, evening buffets and even a day off!! We visited abbeys, castles, and a wonderful cruise at Aix-le-Bain, a town similar to Bath with a therapeutic health spa, casino and an amazing underground car park with murals on all the walls—a sight to behold. After a picnic we took a cruise across the lake down the river to a tiny artisan village were we were able to buy a selection of cheeses and sit outside the bakery with fresh bread, mouth-watering cakes and coffee galore, a feast fit for the Welsh. We visited mountain areas in Saviore with a walk through a gorge, an incredible sight called ‘the secret garden’ which looked like a derelict old farm on the back road to nowhere, but once through the gates, opened up to the most beautifully restored farmhouse complete with indoor pool, Moroccan lounge, Austrian bedroom and Apothecary room, as well as a number of intimate gardens all designed by the family who still lived on site. The evenings were spent at home with the family or in groups of 6 or 8, a mix of French and Welsh. A BBQ was held at the tennis courts one evening and about 70 of the locals turned up, and a meal in a restaurant brought out a selection of the village too, some of whom had hosted families over the last 12 years. Some who ,just liked to join in with their twinned village. All the shops had Welcome Welsh posters in the windows and the 3 mini buses hired had Welsh flags on their windows and tooted the horn at every exit and entry to the village. This year was the first visit for my father, Cliffy. He stayed with a family who had visited here last year but he didn’t know and he was in awe of not only the scenery as we drove down south but with the food and hospitality shown by our French families. We are now starting to fundraise in anticipation for the visit in 2008 when up to 25 French will visit us here in Overton. If you are interested in being part of the Twinning and perhaps visiting France in 2009 with us, look out for our forthcoming events or speak to someone from the committee. Glynis Farley 01978710455, Cath Starkey 710322, Kay Lawrenson 710537 or Geoff Mason 710486 .The visits are open to all from the village and you are not expected to host. Many, many villagers over the years have visited La Murette but there are still many who haven’t! Cedric
Bellan, Chairman of the La Murette Twinning Association said: A great friendship has been developing for several years. We now need to maintain the relation and make it grow. The city has prevailed in keeping this relation alive and I would like to thank the mayor and his collaborators. Beyond the summer festivities, we need to develop other relations all through the year. I would like to thank Glynis and Kay for their proposal on a school exchange. As soon as the new scholar year starts, I will meet with the director of the elementary school Mr Pitet. Jocelyne Mouchet who is the newly appointed director of the kindergarten already agreed to establish some form of exchange with her Welsh counterparts. The exchanges could be emails, mails, webcams or maybe even trips. It is essential that our children start interacting when they are young: they will develop a spirit of exchange and will be the foundation of tomorrow exchanges. These exchanges should only represent a first step. I have a dream - where elementary school would end with a trip to Overton and where we could meet during winter at the Foulee blanche (cross-country skiing in the Vercors) or at the Stade de France or at the Millennium stadium to watch a game of the Six Nations tournament. We need to lead the way to have anybody and everybody involved and in all fields. I would like to conclude by thanking all our hosts for coming and also the group of volunteers who work all year long to make this week a privileged event. WELCOME Welcome to Katrina Chalk the new Clerk to Overton Community Council. Katrina has lived in Overton for 5 years, is married with 3 children and is looking forward to this new challenge. She can be contacted on clerk@overton-on-dee.co.uk The Maelor Youth Club The Maelor Youth Club has now been open for nearly 5 months. It meets every Tuesday in the Overton Scout Hut 6.30 till 9pm and welcomes all young people aged 11 and over. We have enjoyed games of rounders, quizzes, music nights, dancing and discussions on The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the Welsh Assembly Government’s Extending Entitlement, which led us to write a letter to the Community Council regarding the Basket ball hoop. We have also been ice-skating, shopping at Cheshire Oaks, and bowling. Currently we are planning a trip to Manley Mere, and an outdoor pursuits residential visit for next year Some of our members are interested in visiting a youth project in Gunjur in the Gambia. We have also attended a conference in the Ramada Hotel where the www.youngwrexham.co.uk website was launched ,we learned more about the National Participation Standards, Funky Dragon and the proposed Youth Parliament for Wrexham. If you are interested in helping at the Youth Club please contact Helen on hfernee1-help@yahoo.co.uk. Some interesting websites you can find out more about the above are: http://www.unicef.org.uk/tz/rights/convention.asp or http://www.funkydragon.org
I am trying to encourage getting the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme back up and running in the Overton area. Neighbourhood Watch is the largest voluntary organisation in the UK. Over a quarter of homes across the country are members, and they work with each other and the police to reduce crime and increase community safety. Neighbourhood Watch consists of Street Co-ordinators - there should be one for each street, unless the road is quite long and then two, or even three people from different parts of that street should work together as Co-coordinators to reduce the opportunity for crime in that area. I am aware that there are still a number of people who are street coordinators in Overton and I will be making contact with them soon. An application form has to be completed to become a Co-ordinator, and once this is returned to me, I can then arrange to get the Neighbourhood Watch packs for all the households in the scheme - these will be sent to the Co-ordinator, who in turn will disseminate the packs to each household in his/her street. If anyone is interested in becoming a street co-ordinator or even an area co-ordinator (First point of contact for all street Co-ordinators) then please get in touch with me and I can go through the scheme in more depth and give out the relevant forms that will need to be filled in. You can contact me by phone 07854 400812 or e mail Emily.Williams2@nthwales.pnn.police.uk. Anyone can join this Scheme and everyone can play a part in its achievements. OVERTON MEDICAL PRACTICE Flu Clinics start on 8th October. Over 65 years of age and those at risk automatically qualify. There is still the one off Pneumonia Injection for 65+ but if you need any further information just ask at reception. The problem
of non-attendance for appointments has the effect of empty appointment
slots, patients having to wait longer, frustration for all concerned
and a waste of resources. From 1st September 2007, the following policy
will apply:- The
Maelor Tapestry The
Maelor Tapestry project is now complete and has been framed. It is
at the moment residing at the home of Mrs Corrine Evans who is guarding
it until November, when it will be transported to the Maelor School
as part of their Golden Anniversary celebrations.
Mosquitoes
and Myxomatosis Myxomatosis is a viral disease of rabbits which originated in Sth America, but found it’s way to Britain accidentally from France in the 1950’s when around 99% of wild rabbits were killed. The disease is spread by fleas and mosquitoes and can be spread from wild rabbits to pet rabbits either by direct contact e.g. wild rabbits coming into the garden near pet rabbit cages or runs, or by fleas picked up from wild rabbits by dogs or hedgehogs and then spread to pets. Myxomatosis
leads to a range of agonising conditions before causing death. There
is no cure. However, a vaccine is available which will protect against
the disease and make any symptoms treatable. Only about 1 in 10 of
Britain’s pet rabbits are currently vaccinated. Tips to keep
your pet rabbit myxomatosis free: If you
have ever seen a wild rabbit suffering from myxomatosis you will know
just how awful the symptoms can be. Make sure that you do everything
possible to keep your child’s pet rabbit healthy! Overton Village Open Produce Show
The
35th Annual Show held in the Village Hall on Saturday 1 Sept. THE
WINNERS Next year's Show is 6th September 2008
Overton Amateur Dramatic Society “he’s behind you” “oh no he isn’t” “oh yes he is” Yes, we are getting into PANTO mode again. Am Drams are planning to perform a version of the old favourite Dick Whittington in January 2008. It is some 15 years since this particular panto was staged in the Village Hall. The cast in 1993 included 2 members who are no longer with us – Sue Williams and Kelvin Davies. Can anyone remember how much Kelvin loved the little rats !!!!! Many of the cast of the chorus & rats are now in their mid-twenties and if I remember correctly this was the first ever Pantomime delivered by the society and we have endeavoured to perform a variety of scripts since then. If any one out there fancies putting their talents on the stage (or off the stage) we would welcome you to come and join us in what promises to be an exciting and fun experience – till the producer throws a tantrum. If you would like to get involved contact Sue or James. WANTED
FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS Congratulations to Clarice Grace Macdonald-Brown on your baptism on 28th October. Congratulations to Ian John Burke & Lucy Jayne Hughes who will be married in St Mary’s on Saturday October 27th, to Andrew Perrin and Amy Evans who married on 22nd September, and to Helen & Duncan Rennie on celebrating their Ruby Wedding. Happy
October Birthdays to Flora Williams, Kathleen Dorey, Thomas Dorey
6yrs, Charlotte Clarke 8yrs and Barbara Watkin. Congratulations to John Eve for winning the Welsh National Veterans Clay Court Doubles Championship held in Swansea. Condolences to Mrs Cryer and her family on the death of her husband Eric. THANK YOU Richard
Jones would like to thank everyone that joined in the Walking Treasure
Hunt around Overton village and particularly those behind the scenes
for all their help. |
