Page 41 of All Wrapped Up
‘There you go then, Bella; it looks like the town will be autumn ready for the big day.’ Lizzie laughed and Bella gave us a thumbs up.
‘Here’s hoping the rest of us are!’ I smiled.
‘We will be,’ Lizzie said quietly to me. ‘I told you that you were the perfect person for the job, didn’t I?’
‘I’m not sure if this is anything like what Moses originally had in mind,’ I smiled at her, ‘but we’re off and running now!’
Numerous sheets of paper for everyone to add their details and availability to were in circulation by the time the meeting came to a close. No one seemed keen to leave and I was delighted to see so many names, places and dates being scribbled down.
‘We’re going to come up with some autumn themed cocktails and mocktails,’ the guy from Brambles Distillery told me, as he added his details to the food and drink list. ‘We can sell them on the market as well as on site in the shop.’
‘And Grandad and I will happily host an autumn feast nightanda family gathering at Fenview Farm,’ beamed a woman, who I think was called Fliss. ‘So, you can promote your drinks there, too, Jack, if you like.’
As I stood there, trying to take it all in, my head was full of names, but I wasn’t sure how many of them I could match to the right faces. Hopefully, having the next day to go through the lists would help me make sense of everything.
‘I’m Hayley,’ said another woman, who had been keen to share her ideas all evening. ‘I’m the housekeeper at Wynthorpe Hall.’
‘Wynthorpe,’ I repeated, latching on to the name I had heard before. ‘That’s the hall owned by… the Connelly family, isn’t it?’
‘That’s it.’ Hayley nodded.
‘I’ve seen some photos of it online,’ I told her. ‘It looks like a magnificent place.’
‘It is,’ she agreed. ‘And the woods would have been perfect for hosting some events, but the site is currently out of bounds, I’m afraid.’
‘Is everything okay?’ asked Lizzie who was standing next to me and had heard what Hayley had said.
‘Yes,’ said Hayley. ‘Everything’s fine, but when the festival idea was originally shelved Angus and Catherine decided to forge ahead with their improvement plans for the Winter Wonderland because the woods weren’t needed.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Lizzie nodded. ‘I know they’ve been thinking about making some changes for a while. Are they having much done?’
‘Tree work and path laying mostly,’ Hayley explained. ‘Hence the lack of access. They’re gutted that they can’t help out now.’
‘Maybe next year,’ Lizzie said and then rushed off because Jemma was beckoning to her.
‘It is a shame,’ I said to Hayley, thinking there could have been scope in the woods for a fungal foray. ‘But please tell them not to worry. Like Lizzie said, it will be great to have them onboard next year. It always helps keep momentum going with this sort of thing if you’re offering something new, so I daresay this was all meant to be.’
I knew Lizzie and I were getting ahead of ourselves,suggesting the festival would be happening again, but I wasn’t going to put off any potential future interest in it.
‘You sound like Molly,’ Hayley laughed, but I didn’t know who that was. ‘Next year for sure then. And the hall isn’t a total loss in terms of help, because I think I might be able to do something.’
‘Oh?’
‘I’m an artist as well as a whizz with a vacuum cleaner,’ she told me. ‘So, if you want any posters drawing up to advertise the festival in general or even any individual events, I’d be happy to come up with some design ideas.’
‘Oh, yes please,’ I said, turning to a fresh page to jot her details down. ‘That would be great. I’m going to set up online festival pages as soon as I can. Possibly even tomorrow, and if you could come up with something like a logo or banner to give the event an identity across every platform, that would be great. Though I appreciate it is very short notice…’
‘No, it’s fine,’ she said helpfully. ‘Leave it with me. I had already been doodling a couple of logos when the festival idea was first floated, so I can easily refine those. Are you settled on Wynbridge Autumn Festival as the name?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘We’ll stick with that. It’s simple and shouldn’t be hard to find as an online search because it’s so specific.’
‘In that case, give me your email address and I’ll put my ideas together and send over what I’ve got in mind. Branding is key, right?’
‘Absolutely,’ I agreed. ‘And that would be great. Thank you so much.’
Given that I loved an appealing aesthetic, I was thrilled that Hayley was willing to come up with a brand for the festival.It might be something we could use year on year to build familiarity. Further down the line, we could even commission some merch!
I knew I was getting carried away again, but I was so excited. Yes, I had a huge task ahead of me, but I couldn’t wait to get stuck in to organising it all and seeing it come to fruition now. And of course, after what had happened at the first meeting, it was a huge help that everyone was so kind and keen to let the blow-in take charge.
