16,328 should provide for quite
a VE Day Party

The Heritage Lottery Fund are giving Chippy 16,328 to spend on their VE Day celebrations. That seems quite a generous stash of loot. Should be a good party! We look forward to seeing the programme. Craft Fairs, Marching bands, Art competitions, Jive Dancing Classes are all mentioned. Hopefully beer, noise, paper hats and streamers will also feature - which is all I remember about VE Day seen from my dad's shoulders! Should take our minds off the election for a few days. Further news of the events is to be announced soon on a special website. If I said that I could think of lots of better things to do with 16,000 in this town I would be accused of sneering and even worse by all the do-gooders in the Forum. So I won't say that. I'll congratulate the people who were smart enough to land this grant and suggest we all concentrate on enjoying ourselves with the money. Other deserving causes will just have to wait.

"Chipping Norton Town Council in Oxfordshire has received a grant of 16,328 to host a 'VE Day in Chipping Norton' event, which will include a six-week lead up to the VE day, filled with community activities such as Jive dance classes, historic talks and an art competition. The VE day celebration on 1 May will include re-enactment groups, historic and military vehicles, a special VE Day market, food stalls, a craft market and a retail window competition. The day will end with a Victory Dance to 40s and 50s style music. Tickets for the dance will be available from Chipping Norton Town Council offices and The Bookshop in West Street. A Website has been developed to keep everyone up to date with the event (www.chippingnortonVEday.co.uk).  The event will be advertised around the community and through Tourist Information Bureaus in the area. Lyn Sinclair-Parry, Chair of the VE Day in Chipping Norton Committee said: The funding received today from the Big Lottery Fund will allow the people of Chipping Norton and its surrounding villages the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences in ways which otherwise would not have been possible. We feel very strongly that our sense of community will be greatly enhanced by this event and we are keen that as many people as possible can attend and enjoy the day. We encourage people from all over the country to come to Chippy on 1 May. It will most certainly be a day to remember the past and cherish it for the future.

The sun shone and the crowds came to Chippy's slightly premature celebration of VE Day. There was a display of German Iron Crosses in the Town Hall, a simulation of the Dam Busters on the Common and a dead ringer for Vera Lynn doing "White Cliffs of Dover" on the Town Hall steps. An Ealing Studios feature film, lots of bands. plenty for the kids and some splendid vintage cars. The pubs and cafes seemed to be heaving. All this and the big Victory Dance still to come. Even the politicians joined in the mood of armistice. No doubt just a lull before the storm. Sincere congratulations to Lynn and Caroline who organised it all. Quite a feat.

VE Day events

A service to commemorate the 6Oth anniversary of VE Day in Oxford is being held in July. The service, organised by the Royal British Legion in Oxfordshire and Hugo Brunner, Oxfordshire's Lord Lieutenant is being staged at Christ Church Cathedral at 3pm on July 9. Fred Farley, president of the Royal British Legion in Oxfordshire, said he expected the event to be well attended by veterans from across the county. In Woodstock on May 7, the Rotary Club is marking the anniversary with a performance by the Waterloo Band of the Royal Green Jackets at Marlborough School sports hall, with the bar opening at 6.30pm.

National VE Day celebrations are being held on Sunday, with thousands expected to gather in London's Trafalgar Square for the free open event called A Party to Remember. There will also be footage of the original Trafalgar Square VE Day celebrations from 1945.

Veterans in Chipping Norton marked the anniversary in style on May 1 with a 16,328 party, thanks to a Lottery grant. The town council was given the cash boost by the Home Front Recall scheme, which provides funding for events which mark the part played by people on the home front during the war. The event ended with a Victory Dance to 1940s and 1950s-style music in Chipping Norton Town Hall.