Be thankful that a disaster like this only occurs once in sixty years!
From the outset, it was inconceivable that – despite all the national goodwill towards the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee – Boston Borough Council could do anything other than cock the celebrations up.
Calls for the town to be bedecked in red, white and blue resulted in a tawdry monochrome affair.
Businesses were heard lamenting the non-arrival of the £45 floral hanging baskets ordered from Boston Business “Improvement” District.
Even Boston Borough Council’s website – that bastion of gung-ho which repeatedly makes mountains out of mouse holes – was forced to concede that only “hundreds” turned out to “enjoy” Boston's “Big” Picnic in the Park, which cost we taxpayers £5,000.
£12.50p a head
“Hundreds” is less than a thousand – and an unofficial
figure we heard quoted by a councillor who ought to know was that across the
day the turnout totalled four hundred - an effective subsidy per head of twelve
pounds fifty.
That works out at around 65 people coming and going each hour of the event – probably fewer than attended some private parties around the place.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, bearing in mind that people were expected to supply their own picnic and accessories.
And what did they get for our money?
A bit of karaoke, some school sports day stuff for the kiddies, and a knockout tournament to find the first World Bowling Greens champion playing with cabbages instead of balls.
That works out at around 65 people coming and going each hour of the event – probably fewer than attended some private parties around the place.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, bearing in mind that people were expected to supply their own picnic and accessories.
And what did they get for our money?
A bit of karaoke, some school sports day stuff for the kiddies, and a knockout tournament to find the first World Bowling Greens champion playing with cabbages instead of balls.
Cosy
The competition result gave a good clue as to the popularity
of the contest with the visiting public.
How much cosier can you get than this … from the borough council’s website?
“Newly-elected Boston Mayor, Councillor Colin Brotherton had a go at cabbage bowling, losing in the quarter finals. And Jubilee Queen Zonnita Haw made it all the way through to the semi-finals before being knocked out by immediate past Boston Mayoress Sue Donaldson. Tye Holmes-Parker, 12, played his way to the final …
“In a closely-fought final Sue's white cabbages rested closest to the red (jack) cabbage and she was declared the 2012 World Bowling Greens Champion. It was a real family affair as she received the winner's trophy from her mother, immediate past Boston Mayor Councillor Mary Wright, sponsored by her in memory of her husband and Sue's father.”
Truly a People’s Party.
And guess what. In a couple of other “world record” attempts, Tye Holmes-Parker won a gold medal for his attempt to balance the most coins on his face in one minute - and Councillor Wright's “quick reflexes and steady hand” won the challenge to stack the most 2p coins in 30 seconds.
We were highly amused by some video on the Boston Standard’s website of the closing ceremony, when the “crowds” sang the national anthem. For a brief second, the camera panned to the left, then realised that there was no-one to photograph, and rapidly returned to the main scene.
How much cosier can you get than this … from the borough council’s website?
“Newly-elected Boston Mayor, Councillor Colin Brotherton had a go at cabbage bowling, losing in the quarter finals. And Jubilee Queen Zonnita Haw made it all the way through to the semi-finals before being knocked out by immediate past Boston Mayoress Sue Donaldson. Tye Holmes-Parker, 12, played his way to the final …
“In a closely-fought final Sue's white cabbages rested closest to the red (jack) cabbage and she was declared the 2012 World Bowling Greens Champion. It was a real family affair as she received the winner's trophy from her mother, immediate past Boston Mayor Councillor Mary Wright, sponsored by her in memory of her husband and Sue's father.”
Truly a People’s Party.
And guess what. In a couple of other “world record” attempts, Tye Holmes-Parker won a gold medal for his attempt to balance the most coins on his face in one minute - and Councillor Wright's “quick reflexes and steady hand” won the challenge to stack the most 2p coins in 30 seconds.
We were highly amused by some video on the Boston Standard’s website of the closing ceremony, when the “crowds” sang the national anthem. For a brief second, the camera panned to the left, then realised that there was no-one to photograph, and rapidly returned to the main scene.
Beacon … be gone!
But the final ignominy came later in the day.
More than 4,200 beacons were lit across the United
Kingdom , the Channel Islands, the Isle of
Man , as well as Commonwealth and Overseas UK Territories in celebration of
the Jubilee between 10pm and 10-30pm on Monday night.
As for the town itself …
Boston Eye reader Darren Ruck sent us this photograph with the comment: “Just
thought you might like a picture of Boston
“It’s on Skirbeck Road
Darren, who knows whereof he speaks, having built a beacon for Caistor’s
jubilee celebrations, added: “I was gutted to see ours not being used.”
Irony
Back in January – in a news release which has inexplicably
vanished from the borough council’s website … as though its removal will
somehow mean that it never appeared – Councillor Yvonne Gunter said: "We
want to see the town a blaze of patriotic red, white and blue. We want to see
all areas of the town pulling together to make this a really special time for Boston
And Councillor Derek Richmond said: "We are open to all suggestions for helping Boston stand out this summer - let's make it a right royal ‘borough’ in 2012."
Students of irony, please take note.
Mind you, had people known that the Queen was visiting Central Park in person – as the website item at the bottom of our photo montage suggests – the turnout might have been better!
But just when you thought it was safe …
A highlight of Monday’s Jubilee bash in the park was the switching on of a fountain, in what has now been renamed the Jubilee rather thanVictorian Garden
Monday’s event organiser and leisure, parks, open spaces and cemeteries portfolio holder, Councillor Yvonne Gunter, was quoted as saying: "There was real community spirit evident throughout the day. We made sureBoston Boston
And Councillor Derek Richmond said: "We are open to all suggestions for helping Boston stand out this summer - let's make it a right royal ‘borough’ in 2012."
Students of irony, please take note.
Mind you, had people known that the Queen was visiting Central Park in person – as the website item at the bottom of our photo montage suggests – the turnout might have been better!
But just when you thought it was safe …
A highlight of Monday’s Jubilee bash in the park was the switching on of a fountain, in what has now been renamed the Jubilee rather than
Monday’s event organiser and leisure, parks, open spaces and cemeteries portfolio holder, Councillor Yvonne Gunter, was quoted as saying: "There was real community spirit evident throughout the day. We made sure
Now you see it … now you don’t
Lasting?
A sharp eyed reader contacted us on Friday afternoon – just four days after the opening – to say: “The above structure, subject of many of your comments in the past, has disappeared! Taken away on the back of a council truck. Was it only hired for the weekend? Or has it not been paid for?”
Although we clearly explained the situation in an e-mail to Boston Borough Council’s Communications Department asking for an explanation, the response was somewhat baffling.
It read: “The document and article need amending since the event at the weekend has passed. I am just in the process of updating it so need to remove it to do so.”
Undeterred, we explained the case of the vanishing fountain even more clearly …
But answer came there none.
Since then, a more plausible explanation heard by a reader is that the fountain was removed because of vandalism - something you might think could have been anticipated, and steps taken to avoid it.
Should we ever receive an official answer, we’ll let you know.
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com
A sharp eyed reader contacted us on Friday afternoon – just four days after the opening – to say: “The above structure, subject of many of your comments in the past, has disappeared! Taken away on the back of a council truck. Was it only hired for the weekend? Or has it not been paid for?”
Although we clearly explained the situation in an e-mail to Boston Borough Council’s Communications Department asking for an explanation, the response was somewhat baffling.
It read: “The document and article need amending since the event at the weekend has passed. I am just in the process of updating it so need to remove it to do so.”
Undeterred, we explained the case of the vanishing fountain even more clearly …
But answer came there none.
Since then, a more plausible explanation heard by a reader is that the fountain was removed because of vandalism - something you might think could have been anticipated, and steps taken to avoid it.
Should we ever receive an official answer, we’ll let you know.
You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com
You couldn't make it up - no matter how hard you tried. What a fiasco ......
ReplyDeleteI am still trying to decipher the wording of the e-mail reply from Worst Street, concerning the fountain! Unless I am much mistaken I think the import is that the 'document' and the 'article' are separate entities. Which therefore implies that the 'article', being the fountain, is presently being amended - that is just a wild guess mind you - I imagine that the web site must be receiving the same treatment.
ReplyDeletePerhaps in fairness, the fountain has merely been carted off for another event? After all, we have been assured of late that anti-social behaviour is not an issue in Boston.
"The damage is the latest in what has become a daily catalogue of mindless vandalism"
ReplyDeleteWhat a hell of a confession coming from the Borough Council Web Site. These are the very people trying to tell us that all is good and well .... This is not what they were telling us two weeks ago.
Their idea seems to have been to brain wash us into their thinking as we are afterall only under educated lazy locals. Unfortunately for them the vast majority of us are highly motivated, highly educated people who realise that most of what our authorities sprout is a complete load of rubbish!
ReplyDeleteThat side of the park is regularly packed with people carrying blue carrier bags full of alcohol and I for one wouldn't go around there. Isn't the park meant to be in the alcohol exclusion zone - if so why don't the police enforce the rules? Maybe if they had the fountain might still be around for everyone else to see.