Mayor’s Meanderings: Christmas flavour to west Lancs Mayor and Mayoress’ duties

Dec 17 2009 by Michael Byrne, Ormskirk Advertiser

JUDGING by the number of ‘fairy lights’ and other decorations adorning houses and shops, there’s no doubt that the Christmas season is well and truly under way.

And, as expected, our duties now definitely have that flavour.

For instance, Emmanuel Church, in Ormskirk, held a ‘Christmas Tree Festival’ over the weekend, which we were asked to ‘open’, and, thanks to Ruth Pollock of our Charity Committee, a ‘Mayor’s Tree’ was part of this.

Once again, despite the awful weather, we were joined by a large crowd of Scouts and their families at the bandstand in Coronation Park for an outdoor carol service.

It really was great to see so many people prepared to brave the elements and enter into the spirit of the Season, and it confirmed to us that there still are people who will look beyond the commercial to acknowledge the spiritual side of Christmas.

Regretfully, we couldn’t stay for the mince pies afterwards as we had to dash to the Civic Hall for a photoshoot to promote the Derby Players’ next panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, due out early in New Year.

Eileen had a little diversion on her own when she attended a Christmas Open Day at BDS Training, in Skelmersdale.

We both had the pleasure of attending a Christmas Party for mentally impaired children, at Aughton Village Hall, organised by the Ormskirk and Maghull Lions. It was just like one big happy family with everyone joining in and we found it most enjoyable. Regretfully, once again we couldn’t stay long as we had to dash straight from there to Ormskirk Hospital, to attend the League of Friends Annual Carol Concert. This was another congenial event, particularly as I’d never been inside the hospital chapel before.

The chapel is quite small but was a tranquil oasis in the middle of that huge, somewhat impersonal building, and it’s comforting to know that the spiritual needs of the individual haven’t been forgotten, particularly in these days of cost-cutting of non-essential facilities.

That evening saw us at Blackburn Cathedral enjoying the St Lucia Concert sung by schoolgirls from Orebro, Sweden, on an exchange visit with Hesketh with Becconsall All Saints Primary School, who’d organised the event. It was truly an almost ethereal experience, with the voices echoing and increasing in volume as the singers emerged from the crypt into the Cathedral space itself. And what a spectacle to see as the lights were dimmed. The girls were dressed in flowing white dresses, tied with a scarlet ribbon, no shoes, only white socks, so that they appeared to be gliding along. But the ‘crowning glory’ was the lead singer, who had on a head-dress supporting five lighted candles, whilst the other choristers each held a lighted candle. Somewhat hazardous the ‘elf and safety guys might claim, particularly as only recently we’d heard that our local church had banned children carrying small lighted birthday-cake type candles in oranges during the Christingle Service. An interesting difference in views on risk, I thought.