As mayor I have the great honour in laying the Poppy wreath on Remembrance Sunday at our Memorial Hall. I do this on behalf of the town and to give thanks to those who served and continue to serve. The sale of poppies by the Royal British Legion helps finance aid to personnel and their families who continue to need assistance after their official service is over. I hope as many of you as possible will join me on Sunday 8 November and support the cause.
The day before I will be joining ex-service men and women for one of their regular breakfast meetings. On Armistice Day itself I will be meeting the GWR Poppy Train to hand over a wreath to be placed at the memorial at Paddington and will then join students and staff at Frome College for their Remembrance service at the Merlin Theatre. I am also sending wreaths to our twin towns in France and Germany so they may be included in their own Remembrance services.
Speaking of twinning, the Remembrance service will be the final official act of Frome Twinning Association. After 50 years their committee has made the difficult decision to dissolve the association, but I am sure friendships formed over the last half-century will endure and we will see visitors from our four European partners visit Frome in the years to come. I was honoured to speak at the quadripartite celebrations in Frome last time I was mayor and thank Justin, Sue and the other committee members for all their work over the years.
We have a rule in my house that we do not discuss Christmas until after my birthday on 23 October. So, my thoughts must now turn to the festive season. We start the celebrations in Frome with the 10th anniversary lantern parade on 27 November and workshops are being run to help you create your own lantern. This year’s theme is Alice in Wonderland so do get involved and join the parade. More details can be found on Discover Frome.
Every year the mayor sends hundreds of Christmas cards to partners and other friends of Frome. We now send them digitally to be as sustainable as possible. This year I am running a competition for Frome school age children (up to age 12) to design my card. The theme is ‘Caring for our Town’ and I will be giving prizes for the top three. Entries close on Monday 16th November and they can be dropped off at, or posted to, the Town Hall. I’m really looking forward to judging the entries so get artistic! Find out more about the Mayor’s Christmas Card competition.
