Joyce Lucas column: Young are a credit to county
Joyce Lucas
For my scribbling this time I would like to focus on the young people of the county.
This thought crossed my mind when I met two young primary school pupils playing quite happily on the tyre swing in Royce’s Recreational Ground in Oakham.
They were the first to smile and say “hello” (at this point I must stress they both knew me by sight).
We had a long conversation about the swing and how much they enjoyed the equipment in the play park.
One told me she was moving with her family to the south coast and the other said how much she would miss her. A true friendship.
These two young people were a credit to their parents.
They also told me how disappointed they were when the older youths twisted the swing around the supporting posts preventing anyone playing sensibly.
What a great pity.
Recently I was invited to the Jubilee celebrations of the 5th Oakham Brownies.
We talked about the Queen, judged the best decorated gingerbread man and sang the National Anthem. It was so much fun and I cannot help pointing out how much we owe to the leaders, who work tirelessly for the benefit of these young girls.
Then I met the officers of the Rutland Youth Council.
There is only one word to describe these three young ladies.... brilliant.
They gave a presentation to the older age group of our community and I came away thinking that we should harness this enthusiasm more.
Why not consult more with them about the things that really matter? Energy saving, climate change, the National Health Service, tourism, traffic and transport and planning issues. The future of our county depends on them.
At the Burghley House visit of Her Majesty the Queen I met the members of Uppingham Community College Concert Band. Not only were they a delight to listen to, they were terrific musicians and were very polite and a credit to their parents and their college.
I hope we will be able to hear more from this group in the future.
And lastly at the launch of Oakham Festival we were entertained by the Oakham Dance Studios.
Their routines were well coordinated and were pleasing to watch. The youngsters were encouraged by their families and I hope that in the not too distant future I will be able to visit them during rehearsals at the Grampian Way scout headquarters.
Well done to all our young people of Rutland.... you are a credit to our county.
So what of the future?
There is a full programme of events for the Oakham Festival, also the band concerts start at the renamed Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Bandstand in Cutts Close on alternate Sunday afternoons, sponsored by Oakham Town Council.
On July 1 there is a free concert at English Martyrs Primary School, Willow Crescent, Oakham, starting at 4pm (donations for Help for Heroes) by the newly formed group called the Rutland Songbirds
Soon it will be the Olympic Torch travelling through Rutland on July 3. I urge everyone to take time to view this once in a lifetime experience.
Next time I will be writing about “30 things everyone should try to achieve before they are thirty” - so send me your thoughts.
And finally, I have “a thing” about daffodils.
They should be yellow and tulips should be red. Imagine to my horror I now read that plants which produce white strawberry are now on sale.....Ugh!
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Weather for Oakham
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 3 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 30 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 5 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
