This evening I turned up to the Inauguration of the new Parish Council Chairman, Nina Fry. It was held in Strode Theatre, and well attended, with a number of chains of office to be seen around the necks of mayors and chairmen of other towns and cities. Respresentatives of various organisations were there, some uniformed; and Ann Webb was there as Chairman of the Street Society.

David Tichener was compere, and, with his experience in pantomime, certainly gave the proceedings a light-hearted feel. He introduced and commented on a Power Point show of photos of Street. The commentary was notable for many gibes against Clarks, which caused a little uneasiness. I guess the members of the Clark family who were present are used to this sort of thing.

Schools provided the entertainment, or should I say 'infotainment'. Children from Avalon and Brookside Schools gave us some of the presentation the whole schools gave in a marquee set up between the two schools in March. The children spoke up very well - I could hear it all clearly - as they told of the growing friendships between the Special School and the lowest forms of the Mainstream School. We were told that an application has gone in to the government for �6 1/2 million to amalgamate the schools. The children sang a song written for them by Charlie from Children's World, the organisation which has been working very closely with the schools on preparing for the amalgamation. The photo is poor, taken from a distance in the dark with many heads in the way, but it is better 'n nowt.

Then it was Crispin's turn. I was thrilled to recognise some of the musicians, Fran the Head Girl, Peter on violin, and others. It was interesting, having heard Fran sing Purcell songs and Peter play a Vivaldi concerto, to hear them among their peers, singing and playing a very different sort of music - with equal expertise. The high point for me was the choir, all girls, singing Gospel music. It was wonderful to hear these words of faith coming from the lively group. I have put a photo of them, and of the group that calls itself Haystack, on this blog.

David Tichener read out the names of all the Council Chairmen since its beginning in 1970, and most of them, in person or through representatives, were presented with a medal. David Pipes briefly reviewed his year in office, picking out for special mention a new relationship between the Council and the Chamber of Commerce, and the Council web site, and ending with the suggestion that Street let go its historic designation of 'village' and allow itself to be a town alongside Frome, Shepton, Glastonbury and Wells.

Then came the formal handing over of the chain of office to Nina Fry, who made what she said was her first ever public speech. You would not have known it. She mentioned things to be done, including a skateboard park and a Heritage Trail.

Revd Ian Shadwick, Baptist Pastor, led in prayer for all in authority, including the Council and Nina its Chairman.

Nina (I think it was) said she had been to the Wells Mayor-making ceremony, which went without a hitch; but they had, she pointed out, had 600 years' practice. What improvements can be made next year in Street? There certainly should be a repeat ceremony next year - now that it has begun, it seems amazing that it didn't happen before.

Perhaps visiting mayors and chairmen could be welcomed by name and given a round of applause. The slide show: it was fine that the first one should be very general, but subsequent shows, films or whatever should be more focussed on some current topic, like changes in the look of Street over the past 12 months. I do wonder whether the opening should be a bit formal - the jokes and light-heartedness would be even more effective by contrast. Everyone who speaks must remember that there are outsiders present, and use people's full names. They would not have known the new Chairman's surname if it had not been printed on the programme. And in-jokes and local references should be explained. Should someone write a form of words to be used at the handing over of the chain of office? The US President takes some sort of oath; would something very different but with the same intent be appropriate here? It was great that one of the ministers was asked to pray for the coming year. Keep that bit!

Anyway, it was a good evening. Goodnight!