Page 42 - Phonebox July 2013

From the Mayor’s Chair
Councillor John Smith, Mayor of Newport Pagnell
Hi, it’s Cuckoo time
again!
To coincide with the Newport Pagnell Carnival, Cuckoo in the Nest, will run from Friday 21st June to Monday 8th July 2013.
The Rules:
• Be between 1 and 100 years old to enter •Buy you 50p entry form from either Bluebell Flowers, 43 High Street, Newport Pagnell; Cambourne Travel, 52 High Street, Newport Pagnell or The Flower House, 116 High Street, Newport Pagnell. The form will have a full list of windows you
need to look in.
•Look for the yellow cuckoo lea et in
participating shops and businesses. Test your observational skills in nding the ‘out of place item’ in the windows in and around the High Street, Newport Pagnell
• Return your completed entry form to the Post Box in Cambourne Travel by 5pm Monday 8th July.
Some of the cuckoos are easy to spot (at least for some people!) but others are more dif cult and require extra time and skill to identify. The young are particularly adept but an increasing number of ‘grown ups’ have been known to get hooked and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The competition is organised by the Business Association. Cash prizes totalling £40 will be awarded at the judges discretion. All money raised from the entry forms will be donated to Willen Hospice.
So come along and have some fun!
Hello everyone. I am Councillor John Smith and I am the recently elected Mayor of Newport Pagnell. This is the rst of a series of monthly articles explaining the role of the Mayor, both within the Council chamber and out and about in the community. As Mayor, I can nominate a charity which people can donate money to. I have two this year; both are very close to me as I am a Type 1 Diabetic. The rst is Diabetes UK that researches a cure and better control of the condition. The second is the Insulin Dependant Diabetes Trust which gives help and support to the families of diabetics, which is much needed. There is no cure; you have it until you die. Quite daunting and very real. Don’t believe what you read in the newspapers. Diabetes is for life.
A potted history of who I am proves that anyone can be Mayor. Money, status, business, none of these things matter. Just a passionate belief in caring for the community in which you live. I was born in Northolt in Middlesex and moved to Milton Keynes in the early 1970s and, shortly after, moved to Newport Pagnell, as I was working for Aston Martin at the time. I am married to Yvonne and have two grown- up children, Nikki and Matt. My interest in our council came about because, like a lot of people, I thought that I could make a difference to where I live. A bit sel sh, but if I bene ted by what could be done, then everyone else would also bene t. A bit naive but that is what I thought then. To a certain extent it has worked. Enough about me. On to the good bits.
Essentially, the Mayor is chair of the council and keeps order in meetings and, with the Town Clerk, ensures that due process is carried out
properly to the items
on the agenda. This is
quite a daunting task
for me in particular, as
I am a fairly mild person not used to being rm with others. Some may say otherwise. The more enjoyable part is attending all the events that the Mayor gets invited to. Since my accepting the chain of of ce, I have been to a few events. The rst was the annual meeting of Milton Keynes Council, to see Brian White become the Mayor of the borough of Milton Keynes. The very next day, along with Cllr. Ian Carman of our council, I went to Stantonbury School to take part in their ‘City of Diversity’ forum. This is where the students ask questions as to what Milton Keynes means to you. A very interesting time, telling them about the early Milton Keynes without a hospital, city centre shops, etc. For them, very hard to believe.
The Milton Keynes Broadband Roadshow came to Newport Pagnell and it was down to me to give a few words of welcome to the event. It was very informative but poorly attended by the public. A pity, because there is much to learn about the provision of fast communication.
My wife and I, joined by ex-Mayor Wendy Egan, went to the Open Day at Meadow View Day Nursery in Westbury Lane. We were very impressed by everything that we saw. The staff are well trained and the facilities are superb. The latest event that I have attended is the annual fete at Castle Mead Court Care Home. I had the honour of opening the fete and then spent time looking around the stalls. I came away with a carrier bag full of ‘goodies’.
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42 Phonebox Magazine