Cowling villagers came to the rescue of their annual gala by putting their names forward to help organise the 2000 event.

Crunch time came when several members of the gala committee had to resign due to other commitments, leaving only a handful.

Nineteen people turned up for the annual meeting, including some committee members, and everyone put their names down for membership of the committee to secure the future of the gala for at least the next 12 months.

Gala committee chairman Richard Benson thanked everyone who had helped out at the 1999 gala. And treasurer Yvonne Medley reported an increase in takings over the year and on the day of more than £1,000.

A free prize draw will be in the December issue of the Cowling Newsletter for ideas about the theme of gala day 2000.

The next gala for Cowling will be on Saturday, July 29, 2000, and the committee will next meet on Thursday, November 11, at 7.30pm in the village hall.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.