On Saturday 5th July, Little Voices took their place on an outdoor stage as part of a line up of Live Music provided by local musicians brought together to celebrate the 50th Anniversay of the Market Drayton Community Sports Club.
The celebration was proclaimed open at 10am with the unmistakably booming tones of our wonderful town crier, who then gave the cue for a group of eager runners to set off on a 5K run around town organised by the Market Drayton Running Club.
I was very impressed with my son-in-law who finished in second place with an incredible time of 22:55. Well done George Murray!
Throughout the day, the sports fields was a hive of activity with other local sports clubs affiliated with the Community Sports Club providing exhibitions and opportunities to try various activities. The children’s football coach proved particularly popular.
St John’s Ambulance volunteers were there teaching people how to administer CPR. Fortunately, noone was called upon to put their new skills to use in a real emergency.
There was a lovely festival atmosphere with the food and drink provisions and most importantly, the Live Music.
My role during the course of the day was in providing free face painting, which I like to think added to the festival atmosphere too. I hadn’t actually face painted for years and things have moved on a lot since the days when sponging a base of orange and yellow and adding a few feline features to create a tiger or lion was considered the pinnacle of the face painter’s craft! I was amazed when I searched online, for some ideas I could use, at the sophistication and beauty of the designs that the professional face painters now offer. I am under no illusion that my designs were either sophisticated or beautiful but they were quick and almost foolproof and they worked with the limited colour palette that my new face paint set included. I had a steady stream of customers throughout the day and it was lovely to see the smiles of the children and their parents that my efforts brought.
I did have an hour away from my face painting station to join the alto section of Little Voices to perform our set of up beat songs that seemed to be appreciated by the people milling around or sitting in the sun to listen.
After many more faces in want of paint, I took another break to watch the band with two Amdram members, Charis and Maisie (who also happen to be my daughters!) They had joined forces with their sister Emily to resurrect a band that they formed when they were in their teens. With Charis on keyboard, Emily on guitar and Maisie on the drums, they performed a range of covers, the majority of which were selected from female artists. The final song, a cover of Queen’s “Somebody to Love”, was (in my opinion) a spectacular way to conclude the set.
Another Amdram musician, Graham Richardson, was next in the line up with his band Still Here. I enjoyed every minute of their set.
For the faithful who remained to the end of the day, there was an absolute treat in store with the Headline act. Colin Browne, who was a regular guest musician with Barclay James Harvest, was phenomenally good. With his smooth vocals and jazzy style, it was a perfect accompaniment to a summer evening.
It was a fantastic event with lots of local people pulling together to make it happen. I was proud to play my part, and especially proud to be singing with Little Voices Choir.