A small item of village history was made in the final Potterne Waterways Duck Race at Little Mill on Saturday, 20th July 2002. Margaret Davie, who won the same race in Millennium Year, again took the Cedric Duck challenge trophy, which she will hold for one year. Margaret also received the first prize - a valuable studio portrait sitting - kindly donated by John Bigglestone of the Wharf Studio, Devizes.
The Sail Boat Competitions attracted 41 entries. The judges made first and second place awards for DESIGN, SPECIAL FEATURES and APPROPRIATE JUBILEE NAME, in each of the four categories. Many Commended and Highly Commended Awards were also made. There were gold and silver medals for first and second in each category race and although many were imaginative and well thought out, after the races it was a pretty bedraggled fleet which lined up in the marquee to be reviewed by HMQ. Graciously presenting all the prizes, HMQ (aka Margaret McLuskie) handed the day's final JUBILEE TROPHIES to Dominic IVISON, who won the last race with STAR TRAVELLER and Carl GREENALL for his boat KON SIGNIA. Naturally, we take pride in this second visit to Village Hall events by HMQ in this Jubilee Year. Thanks, Ma'am.
Our sponsors for the boat races were - Young Mutineers (up to 12 years), The George & Dragon, Gibson and Tina Kemp; Jubilee Sailors (12 years to Seniors), Potterne Post Office, June and Chas Boyack; New Age Sailors (conventional, up to 12 years), Inner Space, Diane Robinson; Ancient & Modern Mariners (conventional, 12 years to Seniors), an Anonymous Donor. The "all in" final race was sponsored by Catleys - George and Ian Day. We are most grateful to all our sponsors for their support and hope that they, in turn, will be supported throughout the village.
There was a good attendance, our entry on the Village Website brought in some additional families. The BBQ, bar and raffles were well supported and our thanks go to all who donated prizes. The TOTE was also well supported and Nigel Ellis and Doreen Wiltshire were busy throughout - perhaps the caution in some bets reflected the state of the boats after their pounding in rough water!
With bills still to pay, at the time of writing we look like taking about £600 for Village Hall funds - a very reasonable return for a lot of work put in by Hall Committee Members.
Without the use of Little Mill the event could not be held. Thanks again to George Day and his family - not just for the use of the grounds - but for their evenings spent in preparation of the field, lawns, stream and marquee.
A young lady of eight was asked, on leaving the Regatta, what she thought of it - "I liked the Veggie Burgers and it was good fun". Not a bad report perhaps, but her brother (3 years older) simply said, "No comment". However, this was believed to refer to his sister's taste in burgers, rather than the evening's entertainment.
All photos can be seen here.
C JONES
