St Martins Bonfire

[Xenth]

Secretary,
Thank you for coming on here and explaining the situation in full.

I must explain that i have been going to St Martins Bonfire for the last few years as its close to my Parish which shamefully doesn't even think about these events.

You must understand we arrived late due to being unable to find parking so we did in fact miss the majority of the start of the event we also had a small child with us that had we known the parking would be far from the event we would have made arrangements to bring a buggy with us and a torch to walk the dark roads.

In years past i know the parking has been in the field/s surrounding the area, so when we arrived we also tried to get to these fields, thinking the parking would again be there, but all roads were blocked off and the only direction available was heading to Gorey. It was only after i gave up and was heading back home that we saw a hi viz jacket in a green lane that pointed us to a parking area which was again unlit so led to us, and the family behind us, walking through the huge puddles in the pathway.

While i understand that people give up there time to arrange this event and it is for good causes, you have to understand why i was annoyed at the time.

Also you say that "people leave without prompting" but i am afraid this isn't the case, on every occaission i have been Peter Mac plays music through the fireworks and at the end he announces to all to "have a good night and drive home safely" which everyone evidently interprets as the end of the bonfire.
Also are there any events after the fireworks? anything that entices people to stay and enjoy the social aspect? because i didn't see anything there?

[Secretary]

Good morning Xenth, having just read your reply I wanted to explain a bit more of our problems trying to arrange such a huge event so you can try and understand our dilemmas.  Yes we would like to have more entertainment but try as we may it is very and I mean very difficult to get such entertainment in a small community like Jersey.  The Committee has tried every year since we took over 4 years ago to bring in more.  This year is the first time we have been able to get the fire jugglers and hopefully they will come back next year. The Committee managed to get some lighting for some areas that were deemed too dark and needed for safety reasons to be lit up but as most of the lighting equipment in Jersey is currently being used at the airport for the runway work at nights that proved to be difficult. I can understand your annoyance I am a parent myself.  I think the reason we have so few displays in Jersey now is because of the impact of health and safety legislation and it is only with the perseverance and dedication of the Committee the event takes place.  You know it is a fine balance, if we put on entertainment after the fireworks how many will stay?? A lot of the people attending bring children and dont want to stay too late it could mean a late night for them and this time of the year it can be very cold, and our permit only allows us to be open until 9.30pm. As I mentioned before we will be having a debriefing meeting next week and your comments will be considered and I can assure you we are thinking about next year even now. At an impromptu meeting with some of the Committee members after the big tidy up last Sunday options and plans were discussed.  Yes the Committee had to turn out Sunday to clean up the whole area and get all the equipment back to its rightful place, we were working from 8am until 12.30 ensuring it was all clean and tidy. I had to walk around the whole field with 3 others picking up all of the litter, bottles, dead sparklers (they damage the grass cutters even though people are asked not to bring them!) and general rubbish. But you know what the Committee enjoy it we have good fun and get a buzz from seeing so many people enjoying an event that we have organised, we work well together, have a laugh and thats what it is all about nowadays there are not many chances to say - that was fun I really enjoyed that!.  I hope my long explainations are not too long and tiresome and I can assure you we will take account of your comments.

[Xenth]

Sparklers? i thought they were a no no at St Martins, its one of the reasons i liked it there as with a small child you didn't have to worry about them picking up discarded sparklers.

[Secretary]

well we do try to stop them, but some irresponsible people just will not be told. In the word of the great Laurel and Hardy - you can lead a horse to water but a pencil must be lead!!!!! Sorry about that comment but my family were avid Laurel and Hardy fans and sometimes you need comedy to keep you going and also some comics are great philosophers dont you think??