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News	Margaret Tostevin retires from the Music Group		Back
		Sunday the 8th January was a bit special for Margaret Tostevin. After the Eucharist the Rector presented her with special gifts following her rather reluctant retirement as conductor of the Vale Church Music Group. For the past 22 years or so Margaret has been very much the stalwart of the group and has only very rarely missed either a practice or a performance. She will be sadly missed not only for her dedication which has been an example to us all, but for her approach to what she was doing. We will never forget one of her frequent phrases “For goodness sake – SMILE, we are here to enjoy ourselves”

	When we look back over the years to when Margaret took over the job, she replaced Sue Plant as Conductor and Sue used to go to Margaret’s house for assistance and words of wisdom in what she should do. When we first started in the days of Peter Simpson, we had about 8/10 youngsters and we sang for 10 minutes or so before the Family Eucharist started. We then moved on with the Sunday School – as it was then – and started musicals, such as “The Pied Piper”,” Witnesses”, “Music for Every Christmas”, “Easter”, “Occasion”, Harvest”, “Easter”, “Are We Nearly There Yet?”, “Whoops a Daisy Angel”, and many more, all of which were Christian based. Next we performed Roger Jones musicals. The first one was “Snakes and Ladders” a full musical lasting nearly one and a half hours. The Choir joined us and we sang in four part harmony. This has been followed by more of his musicals “While Shepherds Watched”, ”Mary Magdalene” and “The Inn Crowd”. On occasions we have visited other Churches to sing. DeLisle Methodist, Bordeaux Methodist, on the occasion of their Centenary celebrations, Castel Church on a visit by the Bishop, and St. Matthew’s Church. We’ve sung at the Douzaine for the W.I. and the various Old People’s Homes, at Weddings, with Roy Sarre’s choir when he visited the Vale Church and many others. We have moved forward a great deal under Margaret’s guidance. The gift of the clock and other items has shown what a popular figure she is. Donations came not only from the Music Group but also from other Church members. Duncan Loweth baked and decorated a cake. I hope that she will continue with fond memories of the Music Group and will be justifiably proud of what she has achieved. Certainly the numbers who turned up last Sunday to join with us and in some cases, sing with us and who wanted to be there for her says it all! We all enjoyed the delicious cake and the drinks Thank you Margaret! John Bichard

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Last reviewed 28^th January 2012