Westbury Mayor's Civic Reception

Around 100 people attended the Mayor of Westbury's Civic Reception and Awards evening held in The Laverton, Westbury, Wiltshire on Friday 26th February.  I was delighted and honoured to be the Toastmaster for the evening, where my role was to meet and greet guests as they arrived, announce the hosts and honoured guests into dinner, announce the Loyal Toast and run the prize draw for the Mayor's charities.  The evening was hosted by Councillor David Bradshaw and his wife Myra, the Mayor and Mayoress of Westbury.  Among the honoured guests were Lady Gooch, the High Sheriff of Wiltshire and her husband Sir Arthur Gooch, along with 9 of Wiltshire's town Mayors, accompanied by their Mayoress', consorts and Deputy Mayor's.  

The event was treated to some beautiful music from harpist John Dalton who played before and during dinner, and made the Loyal Toast extra special with his version of the National Anthem.  

The catering was provided by Eynon Catering with flowers from Andrea's Flowers and other decorations from Cards Plus, both of Westbury.  

In addition to the civic awards presented at the end of the evening, the night also raised over £650 for the Mayor's Charities for the year; Crosspoint and Care for the Elderly (Westbury) through envelope donation, and a competition to 'Name the Mayor's Bear'.  There was also a fun quiz to name all the faces who had the first name David.

As Toastmaster it was also my role towards the end of the evening, to co-ordinate the presentation of awards.  We started with an award to recognise the service to Westbury of Sean Price, who has retired from the role of Town Crier after 20 years, and several competition wins to his name.  Next there were presentations of 2 awards for Cadets from 68 (Westbury) Squadron of the Air Training Corps.  The Cadet of the year went to Cadet Eland Frost, while the NCO of the year went to Cpl Eve Beckett.  Finally we concluded the evening with the presentation of 3 civic awards, one to Crosspoint for its work helping those in need around the town, and then awards to Lily Mundy and Carole King for their outstanding work and service to the town of Westbury, its people and its community over many years.

It was a pleasure to be the Toastmaster for this occasion, with some great sums raised for charity and a good night had by all.