Constable thanks parish helpers for making Liberation 80 a great success

Two stand-out events were arranged by Vale Douzeniers to mark the 80th anniversary of the island's Liberation from enemy occupation in 1945 and Mr Leale said everyone was very pleased with the way things had turned out.

"Firstly, the day as a whole was a great success, with incredible numbers of people turning out for it, and our own involvement was very well received."

The parish was represented in the very successful Liberation 80 cavalcade and chose to commemorate the estimated 90 or so islanders who managed to escape the island in small boats and made it to safety in England. The float, above, named each of the small craft islanders used to make the perilous crossing, some of which came from the Vale itself.

The second event was a very popular Liberation 80 tea party at the Vale Douzaine Room, which was attended by more than 50 parish seniors and was popularly declared a great success by those who attended.

The douzaine room was decorated in red, white and blue for the tea party, which also featured entertainment and a raffle for those attending.

Lovely afternoon
"Thank you for a lovely afternoon remembering our parish involvement in the Liberation and meeting many interesting parishioners to chat with over afternoon tea," one lady told us after the party ended. 

Mr Leale said he and douzaine colleagues were very pleased with the way the day unfolded and how their efforts to celebrate Liberation 80 were received.

"This was a tremendous team effort all round," he said, "and shows the strength of community in the parish and island despite the passage of time. There are too many to thank individually but I'd like to specially mention Geomarine for the loan of the trailer and James Piprell for lending us the boat, which we based the float on, and Jeff Martel, of Signrite, for all of the lettering which added a professional touch to it. I'm also indebted to John Niles, our junior constable, who risked his new 4X4 towing it all!"

Mr Leale said organising the tea party had also been a team effort but thanked douzenier Victoria Robinson for coordinating the event and ensuring it had been such a success.

"All in all, I think we and the whole island can be proud of the way this special Liberation anniversary was commemorated," he said.