Don Parkinson celebrated his 90th birthday recently, and to no-one’s surprise decided to hold his big birthday bash in his beloved village hall.
Don invited friends from around the village and members of his extended family to join him at a birthday party to mark his significant milestone. More than 70 people joined Don for the evening, and it was a chance to recognise the contribution that he has made to the village, but in particular to the village hall.
Don was a key member of the team that came together over 25 years ago and had the energy and initiative to rebuild the hall. The old building was the centre of the social life of the village and had been since it was built in the 1940s but the wooden building was in need of replacement. Don and his colleagues set about getting a design and raising the funds to attempt the rebuild. There were huge challenges around the planning and affordability of the new structure, as well as trying to avoid any disruption to the many activities taking place there. The new Hall was eventually built around the old structure, which was then removed. Don continued to be involved in running the Hall for the next 25 years, as a Trustee, Chairman and Secretary. Don recalled the many happy times that he and his beloved wife Maureen spent at the hall over the years. As a great grandfather, he was also able to share the evening with the 3 generations of family that stay close to their very special head of family.
Congratulations to Don, who thanked everybody for the lovely cards and the gift voucher for the Bulls Head which he tells us will be much used for lunches with his friends over the coming weeks.