PEACE POSTER COMPETITION

Two local schools have supported the Lions Clubs International Peace Poster Competition this year. The two schools are Crispin School, Street and Millfield Prep School in Glastonbury.

The competition is truly international with entries from Lions clubs around the world and the theme this year was "Peace Without Limits". The competition is open to students aged 11, 12 or 13 as of November 15 in the year of the competition.

Each club has its own competition and that winner goes forward to the District (South-west) competition and the successful poster then goes to the national competition, the winner of which represents the UK in the international competition.

Glastonbury and Street Lions Club had a number of entries this year and the winning poster was by Elliot from the Millfield Prep School and the two runners-up were Beatrice from Crispin School and Alena also from the Prep School.

A spokesman for the club said "We would like to thank the students who entered our competition this year and we hope that they enjoyed taking part. Over the last few years entries from our club have been very successful at the District level so we are keeping our fingers crossed for this year."

MID SOMERSET MUSICAL SPECTACULAR

In early June Glastonbury and Street Lions Club together with Somerset Music put on the Mid Somerset Musical Spectacular at Strode Theatre.

This series of concerts features young people from local schools, music groups and dance groups performing on a professional stage, often for the first time.

It is three years since the last concerts and it was a delight to be able to welcome back talented young people from our area to showcase their skills and to share their enthusiasm and enjoyment of music, song and dance.

Once again the audience on each evening was able to marvel at and appreciate the capability and mastery of these children in their singing, musical instrument playing and dance.

The Lions Club and Somerset Music would like to express their grateful thanks to the children and their tutors for supporting these concerts and a big thank you to all the parents, families and friends who formed the enthusiastic and supportive audience on each evening.

The concerts raised in excess of £1000 and these proceeds will be donated to children related causes in our area.

The Mid Somerset Musical Spectacular is back and we look forward to the series in 2023 with renewed excitement!

MID SOMERSET MUSICAL SPECTACULAR

Strode Theatre in Street hosted the 31^st Mid Somerset Musical Spectacular recently. Organised by the club together with Somerset Music it attracted over 220 youngsters to entertain an appreciative and enthusiastic audience.

The Junior Orchestra from COSMIC began the evening with a rendition of some familiar numbers. Ashcott School Choir followed with two sympathetically performed songs and their whole class Ukulele Ensemble then joined the choir for two beautifully sung numbers. Later in the evening the school band played three numbers that got everyone’s feet tapping.

Ashcott Primary School

Charlton Mackrell School entertained with both their Chamber Choir and the school orchestra whose piece Monolithic Madness was composed by pupil Alfie Carie.

Charlton Mackrell Primary School

Topaz Dance Studio displayed a number of skills during their performance including a superb solo by one of their members and the dancers wore some magnificent costumes. Walton Clarinet Group brought a bit of blues to the evening playing under the direction of Louise Palmer.

The School Choir from St Joseph and St Teresa sang three songs clearly and melodically with plenty of action in their last number, Let’s Go Fly A Kite, gaily waving their coloured kites.

St Joseph & St Teresa Catholic Primary School

St Aldhelm’s School Year 4 Whole Class Brass under the direction of Keith Thomas took to the stage playing five numbers demonstrating their improving skills that included a solo by Olivia Comer.

St Aldhelm's Primary School

The South West School of Dance came up with a polished set with strong vocals and contemporary choreography starting with a beautiful solo by Olivia Kerton and two familiar and upbeat numbers that included solos by Martha Gilby and Mariella O’Connell. The costumes were particularly colourful and added to the performance.

A school not recently represented at the Mid Somerset Musical Spectacular, Priddy and St Lawrence’s Federation, introduced their choir who sang three songs, some melodic and others more upbeat. They produced a very sharp and polished sound under the direction of Katrine Reimers.

Priddy & St Lawrence's Federation

A wide age range of youngsters from Stagecoach Performing Arts sang and danced their way through two lively numbers that provided a suitable finale to the evening sending the audience home happy.

A spokesman for the club said “It was disappointing this year that fewer schools were able to support this concert but the quality was in no way affected. Remarkable talents of our local youngsters were on shown and together with Somerset Music we are delighted to be able to give so many of them the opportunity to perform on a professional stage. We thank them all together with their teachers, tutors and parents”.

PRESENTATION TO SOMERSET MUSIC

At a recent club business meeting the Lions Club of Glastonbury and Street presented a cheque for £756 to Somerset Music.

The donation was made up of part of the proceeds of the 30^th Mid Somerset Musical Spectacular that took place at Strode Theatre in June and was widely featured in this newspaper at the time. Organised by the Lions Club of Glastonbury and Street and Somerset Music it attracted in excess of 300 youngsters to entertain appreciative audiences over two nights.

Somerset Music offers a wide range of services to children and young people across the county, including instrument hire, whole class tuition, progression through large group tuition at key stage 2 and music therapy.

The youngsters aged between 5 and 18 who performed at the concerts came from fourteen schools and music clubs in the Mid Somerset area entertaining the audiences with music, song and dance.

A spokesman for the Lions said “The concerts were superbly supported once again and as a result we were able to donate half the proceeds to Somerset Music and the other half will be donated to various youth related projects in our area. We are very grateful to Somerset Music and in particular Keith Thomas for organising this series of concerts with us.”

This year’s Mid Somerset Musical Spectacular will take place at Strode Theatre on Monday 17^th and Tuesday 18^th June.

PEACE POSTER COMPETITION

The club is delighted to announce the winner of our Peace Poster Competition this year is Katy Farmer of Millfield Prep School.

Pupils from Crispin School, Millfield Prep School and St Dunstans School took part in the competition that had a theme of "Kindness Matters".

Katy's poster goes forward to the district competition featuring entries from Lions Clubs in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. That winning poster will then be judged against others from Great Britain with the final choice going in to the international competition.

The international competition is open to over 45000 Lions Clubs in over 200 countries around the world.

CHILDREN'S CONCERTS CHEQUE PRESENTATION

Left to right Lion Chris Ford, Jackie Foley of STAR, Lion President Rod Speed, Keith Thomas of Somerset Music and Liz Leyshon Manager of Strode Theatre

Memories of the Mid Somerset Spectacular Concerts were rekindled recently when the proceeds of the series of concerts at Strode Theatre were presented to two local organisations.

The concerts spread over three nights saw more than 500 youngsters from across Mendip showcasing their musical skills. The concerts covered all tastes from traditional to contemporary, classical to pop plus a samba band from Coxley Primary School playing recycled instruments.

The beneficiaries of the concerts this year were Somerset Music and STAR (Somerset Trust for Arts and Recreation). The former jointly organise the concerts with the Lions Club of Glastonbury and Street and their service aims to inspire young people from all of Somerset to make music together. They deliver music lessons to all group sizes and ensembles and arrange events, conferences, workshops and bespoke training for all musical tuition needs. STAR’s aim is to provide opportunities through music, art, sport and recreation to some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people in the county.

A Lions spokesman, Lion Chris Ford, said “This series of concerts has been firmly established in the local school’s calendars for many years and we never cease to be enthralled by the talent of our local children. As ever the club is indebted to Keith Thomas of Somerset Music and Liz Leyshon of Strode Theatre for their support and expertise in helping us put on the three concerts.”

CHANNEL SWIMMERS

A group of young swimmers from the Street area are in training to swim the English Channel next summer. The six youngsters who call themselves the Channel Swimmers are currently raising £3600 to cover the costs of the escort boat and all the safety procedures that have to be undertaken for the crossing.

They received a boost to their fund raising efforts when the Lions Club of Glastonbury and Street recently presented them with a cheque for £500.

The group are being trained by Paul Chillingworth and Kat Baker, who has herself swum the channel so, brings plenty of experience to help the team. They train indoors at Strode Pool and are appreciative of the support of Fusion and undertake open water training. The latter is especially important to build up their confidence and technique as they will be swimming in relays in the Channel and have to swim in standard swimming costumes.

They are undertaking their own fund raising campaign that started at Merriman Park Fun Day with a stall offering lots of games and activities and they have other activities planned including a cake sale. The surplus money that they raise prior to and after the swim will be donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. If anyone wants further details or would like to support the Channel Swimmers please contact Paul Chillingworth of Street Swimming Club on streetanddistrict@gmail.com.

Peter Cole of the Lions said “We were very impressed by the attitude of these six youngsters to their task of raising the funds to achieve their goal of swimming the English Channel. We wish them every success and look forward to hearing about their completed crossing next summer.”

AVALON SCHOOL

The club invited pupils at Avalon School, Street to take part in our own peace poster competition this year. The school used it as an opportunity to get all pupils sharing their ideas and thoughts on peace in the world, including having a special assembly to promote the theme of "power of peace".

The President Rod Speed and youth officer Ian Kindon visited the school for an assembly to present certificates of appreciation to the youngsters who had participated.