On Sunday the 4th we took the Exhibition to the Waveney Greenpeace Fair at Henham Park.
With the new information boards, (first seen at the Diss Corn Hall), it’s now starting to look like a proper exhibition at last.
We seem to be progressing organically, getting slowly more organised as we watch it grow. But wasn’t that how it was with the fairs? The organic way, nature’s flow manifesting itself, or something like that…
Anyway I’m digressing, I’ve been asked to say something about the Greenpeace Fair, so I should.
This is a welcome return for an end of season fair which missed out last year due to a loss of venue. It’s one that’s always been worth going to, with plenty of entertainment and shopping to keep anyone occupied for the day and with the fair spread out in an area encircled by mature trees, this year was no exception. Hopefully they may have found a new home to continue fundraising for such a worthwhile cause.
It was a good day for us. After being helped along by the lovely Greepeace crew to set up, we had lots of visitors, lots of talk. Promises of donations of photos and other material, some of which has actually been sent in, remarkably. We do get many promises, but somehow the old memory slips once the day has passed and there’s a silence as we wait for those potential gems to arrive.
Posterity over nostalgia has become my watchword recently. Handling all these memories in the form of photos on almost a daily basis has forced me find some way to prevent myself from being overwhelmed. So I concentrate on the purpose of this endeavour, which is to collect and archive as much material as is out there and make it safe for posterity before we all leave the scene permanently.
I’m always struck by the range and variety of memories that people share with us, especially in Henham Park that day, but the one thing that’s strikingly noticeable is that they are always joined by a common thread. That sense of an indefinable magic and specialness which deeply affected everyone at the time, even changed some peoples lives, never fails to be mentioned at some point. No matter whether the person is being nostalgic or not, that element is always there. It makes them stand apart from all other recollections that pile up over a lifetime.
I’m sure this is a familiar story to everyone by now.
So I can report that the day went well. Threatening rain eventually arrived to finish our part of the day and we struck camp in the wet, reluctantly leaving as the sun returned and the evening entertainment began.
Martin H.
