A Birthday Party in The Village Hall

As a child I must have attended many brthday parties for my young friends but in November 2011 I was invited to celebrate the 80th birthday of a friend!

My friend Mike (known as "Lank" - he is quite tall!) Broughton lives in nearby Sundon Park and he and his wife Mary hosted a party to celebrate his great age! He is an accomplished musician for Morris Dancers and I have played my accordian alongside him on many occasions since first meeting him in the Watford Pump House in 1980 and numerous other times at folk festivals in the Whitethorn Morris Band.

The Harlington Village Hall makes a perfect party venue and we filled the main hall with guests - mostly dancers and musicians from the Morris sides in which we have performed together over the last three decades. We squeezed a dozen Morris musicians onto the stage to make up a "scratch band" and organised an impromptu ceileidh. Mary and her daughters put together a party buffet and we had some silly party games even though we were celebrating an 80th Birthday!

Our friend "Lank" blew out the candles on his birthday cake and we finished the evening with a Circassian Circle dance. In consideration of the average age of the party guests, we finished before 11pm so all the pensioners present could get home in time for cocoa !

Harlington Village Hall is a lovely venue and the local people are fortunate to have such a smart place for their functions - it was a happy occasion to remember!