A beautiful autumn day welcomed hundreds of visitors to the Landmark Centre yesterday to celebrate all that Deal has to offer. Our first 'Celebrate Your Deal' event, was classified an unprecedented success by both stall holders and visitors who were given the opportunity to buy from and network with, an amazing range of local businesses, artists, community groups and craftspeople. The two large halls in the Landmark centre hosting stalls were packed with people almost from the time the doors opened and the atmosphere was one of fun with a huge helping of community spirit thrown in.
Children were entertained with pumpkin design competitions by Rippledown Environmental Centre, creative writing workshops from Gary Studley of Deal Writers and face painting and portrait sketching by local artist Penny Bearman. The theme for food was definitely “local” with Kent Produce showcasing their locally sourced fruit and veg, Bistro Oregano putting on a delicious spread of home made goodies and Petham Vale promoting local honey and cider. Delicious locally made chocolates were also available from Kieran Renihan of Chocolution while Vicky Feldman spoke about the clear benefits of keeping whole grain in your diet- benefits that were ably supported by her wonderful range of whole grain bakery items.
The community was well represented with amongst others, stalls from North Deal Community Partnership, the Astor Theatre Group, Deal United Nations Association and The Deal and Walmer Lions. People could learn the arts of spinning, fabric making, pottery and stained glass and there was entertainment inside and out by the Hoodeners, Bill Howarth and Mac Mckean and Driftwood.
Helen Reeve-Stoffer who co-ordinated the event said “The aim of the day was to demonstrate that you don’t have to go far to find everything you need and that supporting your local community is hugely important to long term sustainability”. “Everyone seemed to have a smile on their face which to me indicates that the day was a success.”
Click on the link below to see photos of the event. To see them in slideshow format click the screen icon in the top right after clicking on this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43967078@N03/
