Nordelph Parish Council

November 1st 2007 -- A Celebration

For most of the UK, November 1st was only memorable for the possibility that it might be the date of a snap General Election. Given that such an election would have occupied the Village Hall, it was with a great deal of relief that a secretive band of past and present Parish Councillors from both Nordelph and Downham West, together with representatives of the Dole Charity, learned that the Hall was after all to be free that evening.

For November the 1st was an auspicious date. No less than 55 years previously, a young man called Ron Stannard had appeared as Clerk to the Nordelph Parish Council for the very first time. The Council (and the other bodies he supports) have enjoyed an uniterrupted period of service for over half a century -- an achievement made even more remarkable in that during this period, Ron has never missed a single meeting!

Perhaps even more amazing was the fact that (as our snatched photograph on the left shows), until the moment he stepped into the Village Hall, Ron had not the slightest inkling that a celebration had been arranged. The fortuitous coincidence that November 1st is his wife Muriel's birthday, and the expectation that they were going out to dinner kept Ron totally in the dark.



Of course there were speeches. Left above, Dick Balls, present Chair of Nordelph Council pays tribute to Ron, watched by the Mayor of Kings Lynn, Katy Mellish and our District Councillor, Vivienne Spikings. On the right, Ron and the Mayor are talking with Geoff Cosson, the immediately past Chair of Nordelph Council. We were also addressed by Ian Massingham, Chair of Downham West Council -- and Ron was pressed into replying.



There were also presentations -- of flowers, but also of an ornate inscribed silver paper knife. You can see the presentation below. A letter from our MP was also read out.
That the event happened at all is down to a lot of hard work and scheming by a lot of people. The catering was delightful, but we're afraid to name names, because it clearly wasn't one person's work and this way we offend no-one. But thank you to everyone!

And congratulations to Ron (and thanks to Gordon Brown!).