Harvest Festival - Down on the Farm by Denys Fell
A harvest festival took place on Sunday, September 21. After very challenging weather during harvest, the day dawned with blue skies and light winds. All the grain was in the barn and straw bales were used to provide most of the seating. We had assembled a great team for the service. The Archdeacon of East Yorkshire was our main speaker; the local primary school sent their head teacher and choir and a group known as the Hull Evangel Singers co-ordinated the celebration. And believe me, it was a celebration to get this year’s harvest in the barn!
Harvest Festival on the Farm on Sunday, September 21st.
We had sent out lots of invites to the service which had been featured in two of the local papers. One neighbouring farmer whom I personally invited said: “I’ve never been to a harvest festival in my life and I’m not starting now.” Bearing in mind that the average age of Mr British Farmer is 58 and this one had a few more runs to his innings than that, it was with particular gravity he said those words. Happily, however, another farming neighbour described the service afterwards as ‘rip-roaring’. I had to consult the dictionary on this word and it said ‘Noisy, Lively, Exciting.’ I’ll say amen to that.
Of the 80 or so people who came to the service I couldn’t help but note that some whom I had expected to be there weren’t and some whom I thought would never be there were.
We had a lot of positive comments about the venture including this one from the local Methodist magazine: “In Great Hatfield the harvest festivals in the now closed chapel are just a distant memory but happily this year Denys Fell, one of the farmers in the village, turned his barn over to a harvest festival which was widely advertised and well attended. God bless you Denys and family. How things do change!”
The next major event is on Sunday, April 5, 2009, when we will be hosting the Hornsea 1/3 Marathon preceded by a special ‘runners’ service.