Coningsby cowboys at Jacdor celebrations

Indoors, new parents had a chance to meet the staff and let their children play with the toys and equipment, while outside the youngsters played on bikes and other outdoor toys.

Stalls were manned by members of the committee and other helpers.

The main celebrations, a Wild West themed birthday party, started at 6pm, with the majority of guests dressed for the occasion as cowboys and cowgirls, including most of the youngsters.

Among the invited guests was Jackie Cottingham, the original “Jac” in Jacdor, with Dot Maplethorpe (“Dor”) dropping in during the afternoon).

The evening started with hot pork rolls and hotdog, cooked by Michael Atkins from the local butcher, served up by members of the school committee and helpers.

In the playground there were lots of cowboy-themed competitions and games for the youngsters including panning for “gold”, making desert cacti from cucumbers and dried spaghetti, a treasure hunt around the grounds, cowboy boot tossing, target games, a “Draw your most Wanted” poster and a colouring competition for the younger children.

Competition winners were presented with cups later in the evening.

Thanks go to Lynne Armstrong and her team of ladies who prepared all the games for the children to enjoy.

To give the food a chance to settle down, committee Chairman Marilyn Hawkins took the opportunity to present school supervisor Bev May, who has been with Jacdor for the past 20 years, with a gift to mark the occasion, and also a gift to Karen Crooks, who was leaving Jacdor after many years as the school’s cleaning lady.

After the presentations, Bev cut the special birthday cake, which had been made by Lynne Hawkins at Cake Fairy in Coningsby and featured an iced photograph of Jacdor staff and children holding up their Ofsted ‘Good’ poster and the words ‘Jacdor, where we know how to celebrate!’

After this, the musical part of the evening began.

Line dancing was led by committee secretary Mo Hawkins, who walked the dancers through the steps of a number of popular dances and was pleased with the way everyone, young and old, put in some very creditable performances once the music was played.

The other musical event came with the introduction of Lynne Hawkins, who sang a trio of country and western songs.

After she had finished, some modern dance music was played to give the children, and quite a few of the older guests, a chance to wear themselves out, ready for bedtime.

The evening finished with the prize presentations to the competition winners and then the Grand Raffle was drawn, with lots of the guests going home with prizes, which had all been donated by local friends and supporters of Jacdor.

The committee would like to pass on heart-felt thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the event such a success, and especially the mums and dads who stayed behind after the party finished to help with tidying-up and preparing the playground for when the school opened again.