Tree-mendous effort!

Saturday, 28th November, saw the main Christmas tree erected in the centre of Audlem; a poignant moment in a year full of unsurpassed trials and tribulations for one and all, an appropriate moment to pause and reflect.

This year's tree has been kindly donated by Nikki Dakin and, I think you'll all agree, this tree is one of the finest we've had, so, many thanks to Nikki for her generosity.

The ADAS team set to around 8.30 with the felling of the tree and transportation to the village centre and consequent trimming, setting into the base and light dressing to complete this year's Christmas tree display which has been completed in record time and within the distancing rules to boot! The main tree installation could not have been completed without the assistance of Pete Hollinshead, who felled the tree, and Richard Furber who loaded and transported the tree to the village centre.

Jonathan Gleave skilfully off-loaded and manoeuvred the tree into its base with his Manitou whilst traffic was directed around the site by Bill Consterdine, Mike Hill, Neil Goodyear and me. Ferreting away out of sight, Pete carefully trimmed the trunk and applied the holding wedges and, after several adjustments, the tree was set. The electrical connections and light dressing were completed by Pete, Phil Baker and Neil over the next few hours. The light dressing was nearly scuppered until Jim and Jody Roberts stepped in with a cherry picker to aid the team.

Our thanks also go out to the dedicated team of ADAS volunteers who gave their time and effort to ensure this year was not going to be without our full spread of decorated trees. The small trees were collected by Paul Couchman from VDUB, and Andy McClintock and were stored securely thanks to Linden Huckle.

Given the strict Covid rules, we were eternally grateful to Allan and Jo Brown for the use of the Lord Combermere outside marquee where we could dress the trees prior to installation. This years switch on was not the grand event we like to provide, but it was still a sponsored event, which was kindly supported by Mike and Daleta Harthern.

We hope the Christmas spirit will be lifted by our efforts and you all have as good a Christmas as any of us can hope for.