This story is likely to go into Betteshanger's history as one of those mysteries, which will be the subject of learned debate for years to come.
The band recently purchased some very nice fleeces, in band colours of course, with our logo on the chest. Bearing in mind that these are green with a bright yellow collar they are quite distinctive and were purchased by the majority of the band from Handley's.
Anyway, it would be fair to say that Sue Holland wore hers with pride on a journey she made from Kent to Alfreton in Derbyshire where she stayed at the Travel Inn. During the evening she went next door to the local hostelry to sample their wares and at the end of the evening was horrified to discover that the fleece had disappeared….as if by magic!
Rumours are unconfirmed but it is understood, from reliable sources, that Sue made a few Anglo Saxon comments with regard to the matter and returned to the hotel, sans fleece, to go to bed.
The following morning she asked at the aforementioned hostelry if anyone had handed in a fleece and, unsurprisingly, they had not.
At the band's next practice my husband, Steve, who plays 3rd cornet with the band upset Sue further by saying 'it's not as if it was a Black Dyke fleece is it`….no loss to the diplomatic corps! At least he made the necessary arrangements and ordered her a nice new one.
Two weeks later Sue returned to Alfreton and, on the off chance, mentioned the fleece at the pub and was very surprised to find that it had been handed in! Even stranger is the fact that Sue's name, which she had written onto the collar to avoid confusion at practice had completely vanished. Weird. (Play theme from the 'Twilight Zone'.)
Anyway the band now has a spare fleece and if you know of anyone who wants one, and they are apparently very popular in the Alfreton area, please give me a call.
Other news is that Betteshanger Welfare Band has been quite busy of late and we have been fortunate to have some wonderful audiences who have clearly enjoyed the bands performances. Recently we played a charity concert for the Martha Trust and the handicapped adults, children and their families were entertained in a lovely garden designed and built by TV's Charlie Dimmock and a good day was had by all, despite typical 'summer' weather! Jobs like these are good for the soul and show the true worth of brass band music spanning, as it does, all genres of music and appealing to all age groups.
We are very much looking forward to the Deal music festival and will be playing at St George's Church, Deal on the 27th of July. This is the first time in the festival's 21 year history that the band has been invited to play and can guarantee that we will do our bit for the brass band movement.
I will be sure to let you know how we get on.