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Dec. 7th, 2006 10:58 pmOn the Christmas civic circuit all day. This morning we attended the local pre-school's Christmas concert, then at noon it was off to a junior school for Christmas lunch. At tea time came the main event : the town's Christmas light switch-on.
I was chauffeur driven to the Town Hall for 4 pm, when my mother and I were due to lead a party of junior school kids carrying lanterns in procession down the High Street. While my mother was getting her mayoral robes on, the Town Hall staff decided I should ring the old handbell during the procession. And so I led the parade merrily ringing the bell, while the kids yelled "Merry Christmas!" to all the passing shoppers. One boy asked if he could have a go ringing the bell; I gladly let him, and next thing we knew all his friends were getting a turn. Near the end of the High Street we turned round to walk back, and my mother got the kids all singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells". We met another school party coming the other way; they came round behind us and joined us marching back to the Town Hall. When the bell got handed to a boy in a Portsmouth FC jacket, one of the school teachers said to me "I think you'd better take the bell back, or we're going to have 'Play Up Pompey'." When I looked forward, though, another teacher had the bell. I tried to start "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", but no-one else knew it.
We arrived at the mobile Quay Radio stage that was set up by the town hall side entrance. The choir from another junior school came on; they were billed as singing carols, but 'Christmas songs' would have been more accurate. Of their set only Silent Night was a carol, the rest were pop songs like Mistletoe And Wine and Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - and I Have A Dream! Now I love Abba as much as anyone, but I Have A Dream isn't even particularly Christmassy, let alone a carol. During their performance it started to tip down with rain. The kids sang very well though! :)
My mother, I and the town hall staff led all three groups of schoolchildren up to the Mayor's Parlour for orange squash and biscuits. After they'd had their fill, we all went back outside where young Lucy Machin was on the stage performing - till a power failure cut her short in the middle of Son Of A Preacher Man. While the Quay Radio crew and town hall keepers busied themselves trying to fix the fault, Smiffy appeared and told me ma that Keith Harris had arrived, so we went up to the Parlour to meet him.
We had a cup of coffee and a chat with Keith and his roadie Kiwi till 6 pm - time for us all to go outside ready for Keith and Orville to go on. By now, thank goodness, the rain had stopped, and a hip-hop group called N-Dubz were rocking the house. When they finished their song they asked the audience whether they wanted one more song: all the kids screamed yes, so N-Dubz obliged.
Then the Quay DJ introduced Keith and Orville. Keith did his routine, including calling the little lass who had the lucky star in her envelope, then my mother, to come on stage, timed perfectly to end at 6.25, the time he'd been advised that the lights would go on. Alas, while he was on stage the organiser came up to my mother and me and told us the lights were to go on at 6.30. They must have subtly got the message to Keith pronto, because at 6.25 he seamlessly cued the DJ to play Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody and got all the crowd singing along. That nicely filled the time gap up, but just as I'd begun singing along with Slade while happily standing in the wings, what does my mother do? Waves me on to go on the stage, for no other reason than that I like singing the song. As Keith was by now rushing to and from the crowd handing out luminous Orvilles, for much of the record I was in full view, centre stage. Thank you very much, mother! During the final chorus I did my Noddy yell of "It's CHRIIII-STMAAAAAAS!", Keith put his hands over his ears, and I returned to the wings.
Keith led the audience in a countdown from 10, first a practice one then a real one, at the end of which my mother and the little girl with the lucky star pressed the button on the pretend 'device' together at more or less the same moment that the Christmas tree lit up. Me ma drew raffle tickets, enlisting my services to hold the winning numbers, count how many had been drawn and even supervise the handing-out of prizes. Then I was swept aside by a tidal wave of kids, as they rushed my mother and Hannah from Quay Radio who were giving out goodie bags. When, at last, the last one had been claimed, we retired to the calm of the Mayor's Parlour for sandwiches, sausage rolls, wine and mince pies.
Keith and Kiwi stayed with us a little while, talking to a couple of lucky kids who'd been invited up to meet him; each of them had their photo taken with my mother, Keith and Orville by the Parlour Christmas tree. Two girls and a guy from the hip hop group, Hannah from The Quay, little Miss Machin and her parents also joined us, as did Smiffy and the organiser. As Hannah left, I was sent to accompany her down to her car to fetch the gifts she was donating to the Mayor's Charities, to save her a trip back upstairs. What a charming lady she was.
When they'd all gone, my mother invited the two St John Ambulance men who'd been on duty to come up, and we all talked for about half an hour. After they left us, I stood in the Parlour, starting to feel worn out, leaning against the wall closing my eyes, while me ma and Arron the keeper busied themselves putting cling film over the leftover food and taking it to the kitchen fridge.
We finally left at 8 pm - into heavy rain. Straight home for a cup of coffee and a sit on the sofa.
I was chauffeur driven to the Town Hall for 4 pm, when my mother and I were due to lead a party of junior school kids carrying lanterns in procession down the High Street. While my mother was getting her mayoral robes on, the Town Hall staff decided I should ring the old handbell during the procession. And so I led the parade merrily ringing the bell, while the kids yelled "Merry Christmas!" to all the passing shoppers. One boy asked if he could have a go ringing the bell; I gladly let him, and next thing we knew all his friends were getting a turn. Near the end of the High Street we turned round to walk back, and my mother got the kids all singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells". We met another school party coming the other way; they came round behind us and joined us marching back to the Town Hall. When the bell got handed to a boy in a Portsmouth FC jacket, one of the school teachers said to me "I think you'd better take the bell back, or we're going to have 'Play Up Pompey'." When I looked forward, though, another teacher had the bell. I tried to start "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", but no-one else knew it.
We arrived at the mobile Quay Radio stage that was set up by the town hall side entrance. The choir from another junior school came on; they were billed as singing carols, but 'Christmas songs' would have been more accurate. Of their set only Silent Night was a carol, the rest were pop songs like Mistletoe And Wine and Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - and I Have A Dream! Now I love Abba as much as anyone, but I Have A Dream isn't even particularly Christmassy, let alone a carol. During their performance it started to tip down with rain. The kids sang very well though! :)
My mother, I and the town hall staff led all three groups of schoolchildren up to the Mayor's Parlour for orange squash and biscuits. After they'd had their fill, we all went back outside where young Lucy Machin was on the stage performing - till a power failure cut her short in the middle of Son Of A Preacher Man. While the Quay Radio crew and town hall keepers busied themselves trying to fix the fault, Smiffy appeared and told me ma that Keith Harris had arrived, so we went up to the Parlour to meet him.
We had a cup of coffee and a chat with Keith and his roadie Kiwi till 6 pm - time for us all to go outside ready for Keith and Orville to go on. By now, thank goodness, the rain had stopped, and a hip-hop group called N-Dubz were rocking the house. When they finished their song they asked the audience whether they wanted one more song: all the kids screamed yes, so N-Dubz obliged.
Then the Quay DJ introduced Keith and Orville. Keith did his routine, including calling the little lass who had the lucky star in her envelope, then my mother, to come on stage, timed perfectly to end at 6.25, the time he'd been advised that the lights would go on. Alas, while he was on stage the organiser came up to my mother and me and told us the lights were to go on at 6.30. They must have subtly got the message to Keith pronto, because at 6.25 he seamlessly cued the DJ to play Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody and got all the crowd singing along. That nicely filled the time gap up, but just as I'd begun singing along with Slade while happily standing in the wings, what does my mother do? Waves me on to go on the stage, for no other reason than that I like singing the song. As Keith was by now rushing to and from the crowd handing out luminous Orvilles, for much of the record I was in full view, centre stage. Thank you very much, mother! During the final chorus I did my Noddy yell of "It's CHRIIII-STMAAAAAAS!", Keith put his hands over his ears, and I returned to the wings.
Keith led the audience in a countdown from 10, first a practice one then a real one, at the end of which my mother and the little girl with the lucky star pressed the button on the pretend 'device' together at more or less the same moment that the Christmas tree lit up. Me ma drew raffle tickets, enlisting my services to hold the winning numbers, count how many had been drawn and even supervise the handing-out of prizes. Then I was swept aside by a tidal wave of kids, as they rushed my mother and Hannah from Quay Radio who were giving out goodie bags. When, at last, the last one had been claimed, we retired to the calm of the Mayor's Parlour for sandwiches, sausage rolls, wine and mince pies.
Keith and Kiwi stayed with us a little while, talking to a couple of lucky kids who'd been invited up to meet him; each of them had their photo taken with my mother, Keith and Orville by the Parlour Christmas tree. Two girls and a guy from the hip hop group, Hannah from The Quay, little Miss Machin and her parents also joined us, as did Smiffy and the organiser. As Hannah left, I was sent to accompany her down to her car to fetch the gifts she was donating to the Mayor's Charities, to save her a trip back upstairs. What a charming lady she was.
When they'd all gone, my mother invited the two St John Ambulance men who'd been on duty to come up, and we all talked for about half an hour. After they left us, I stood in the Parlour, starting to feel worn out, leaning against the wall closing my eyes, while me ma and Arron the keeper busied themselves putting cling film over the leftover food and taking it to the kitchen fridge.
We finally left at 8 pm - into heavy rain. Straight home for a cup of coffee and a sit on the sofa.
