Strictly Showtime
What a fantastic day Carnival day was!
The procession floats were awesome and must have taken hours and hours of work. There were 27 in all and at one point the procession was over a half-mile long. The bands and music and dancing brought a great buzzy air of community togetherness to the streets of Crowthorne with young, old, very old and disabled people lining the streets to cheer and wave. The procession really gets the day off to a cracking start. But even before the procession begins the local traders festooned the procession route with 900 red, white and blue balloons – a fabulous display which gave a great air of expectation.

Procession
The Carnival floats and entries were judged by a team of the influential people of Bracknell Forest and Wokingham comprising:
Dr Phillip Lee MP
Cllr Alan Kendall Mayor BFC with Mr Andrew Whitehouse
Cllr UllaKarin Clark Mayor WBC
Cllr Bob Wade Chairman CPC
Cllr Gerry Brown, Vice Chair WWPC
Vincent Paliczka Director BFC
Cllr J Finnie Carnival President
Mr John McNab Edgbarrow School Governor
Mrs Yvonne Hattersley
Mr Tony Lee
Miss Sue Hester Crowthorne Good Neighbours
Cllr Clifton Thompson BFBC
PC Steven Botwright
They had the hardest job of the day to which was to pick out the best float in each of the five categories. They were all so very good that the judges were wishing to make them all winners. The winners in each category were:
Schools: Hatch Ride
Pre-schools: Flying Start Nursery
Youth Groups: 1st & 2nd Crowthorne Scouts
Community Groups: COATS
Trade/commercial: Sarai Hair and Beauty
The overall winner was Hatch Ride. And a very well done to their interpretation of The ‘eco’ Lion King.
During the procession we had the best street collection ever which collected a massive £2,220 (10% more than in 2012) and with a bit of luck on our costs we hope to be able to distribute a lot of this to local clubs and charities that have applied.
At the end of the procession was the Carnival Fete on the Morgan recreation Ground with over 94 pitches with a huge variety of types of stalls to cater for all interests. As well as the fun fair there was the high rope walk way, activities for teenagers including a dunking pond and graffiti art, the Arts Pavilion for the younger children, the Raven Haven with tame wild birds, chess and football, golf and tombola, motor bikes and Buckler cars display, and many stalls presenting aspects of the village and community. WE also had many food and drink outlets from burgers to cakes, and of course a beer tent.
In the evening of the Carnival there was a live music gig at the parish hall with Threeofortenpounds doing the honours.
We had an absolutely jam-packed week of events, with something for everyone:
Monday 7th July – Schools Music Festival, Wellington College chapel
Wed 9th July – Line Dancing, Royal British Legion
Thursday 10th July – Pool Competition, Crowthorne Inn
Friday 11th July – Derby & Joan Tea Party, Woodmancote day centre
Carnival Quiz Night, Morgan Centre
Crib Challenge, Royal British Legion
Treasure Hunt, Royal British Legion
Saturday 12th July – Carnival Treasure Hunt, Wellington College grounds
Dance night ‘Strictly Crowthorne, Strictly Fun’, Edgbarrow School
Crowthorne Symphony Orchestra, The Old Gym Wellington College
Flower Festival, St John’s Parish Church
Sunday 13th July – Flower Festival, St John’s Parish Church
Songs of Praise, St John’s Parish Church
Darts Competition, Royal British Legion
Monday 14th July – Flower Festival, St John’s Parish Church
The Carnival Committee put a great deal of effort and months of work into organising some special events for the local (and wider) community to enjoy and many of you came to enjoy them.
A huge thanks to Bewitched and Whimsical and, for the dance, also to Playhouse Cleaners for selling tickets for us.
Competitions
There were lots of entries to the competition and the standard was very high. The judges had real difficulty in choosing their favourites. But choose they did.
Front Garden Competition
First Joan Woodage
Second Barbara Bowyer
Third Methodist Church
Window boxes
First Joan Woodage
Second Carol Zuccaro
Third Carlyle Court
Hanging Basket
Carlyle Court
Shop Window Competition
First: Whimsical
Second COATS
Third Newmans
Commended Dopsons Butchers
Photographic competition
First: Lisa Paine
Runner-up: Joan Newland
Carnival Princess
Carnival Princess was Eve Taylor aged 9 of Oaklands Junior School.
Carnival Princess Attendants were Amy Croll aged 10 of Wildmoor Heath Primary and Lucy Price age 8 Crowthorne C of E.
Click here to see all those who entered
Our 2014 Carnival Committee
James G Finnie President
Ken Newland Chairman
Maggie Wade Secretary
Linda Kilvert Treasurer
Roger Fox Procession / Carnival Plan
Sarah Whelan Fete
Caroline Rozycki Fete
Joan Newland Judges / hospitality / Carnival Dance
Sue Thompson Judges / hospitality / Carnival Dance
Cathy Valentine Entertainments
Ellen Tims Programme / Advertising
Patricia Walmsley Princess / Publicity
Sheila Tims Affiliated Events / Advertising
Helen Ricketts Shop Window
Gail Robertson Front Garden
Plus unstinting support from:
Mark Tims – Website / Social Media / Databases
Neil Tims – Programme
Barbel Fox – Procession
Russell Goodburn – Carnival Day