Let the Christmas Celebrations Begin!
The Christmas lights are on!
The Mayor invited Mrs Miriam Coulson the eldest Love Thame Blue Hearts call handler and the operational team of the Blue Hearts, Emma Butt and Taruna Glover to switch on the Christmas tree lights on Tuesday evening.
The Blue Hearts call handlers took over 1500 calls during the first lockdown helping the community to get the assistance they needed for shopping, medication or just a chat. Unfortunately Kay Thompson who organised the prescription deliveries was unable to attend. Thame Town Council and community thanks all the Love Thame Blue Hearts.
Thame Roundtable fired up the Santa sleigh for a test run on Tuesday evening to accompany the light switch on. They will be coming to see all you lovely people starting from Saturday 5 December. Keep an eye out for them and follow their progress with the very handy Santa Tracker https://santatracker.pentangle.co.uk/ which will also let you know where they’ll be on which days.
We are all living in challenging times so please be respectful of social distancing. Unfortunately Santa can’t do high-fives this year. Wave, smile, sing, dance and donate if you can! Most of all, enjoy the Christmas spirit and let’s hope we get some snow on Friday!
Thame Advent Calendar
By now you should have received your Thame Advent Calendar. Unfortunately in some instances these have not been delivered, or have gone into recycling by mistake but dont worry as every detail of what is on is available on our website.
There are lots of fun activities for you to take part in – here are 3 to start with:
1. The Great Nativity Dress-Up days
It has been a really tough year and so to spread a little fun and joy in Thame the town is coming together to embrace 3 fabulous days of Dressing up. Every Saturday leading up to Christmas there are different dress up ‘themes’ for shoppers to follow if they feel brave enough. Although the event is aimed at children it is definitely open to anyone who is ‘young at heart’, and the more people who get involved, the greater the spectacle will be! So help your children dress up, or find your ‘inner child’ and raid your wardrobe and come to town dressed as the following:
- Saturday 5th: Mary & Joseph
- Saturday 12th: Shepherds & Animals
- Saturday 19th: Kings & Angels
Anyone who takes part can collect a chocolate prize from Christchurch (Upper High Street – open 11am – 4pm). However they can also be in with a chance of winning a BIGGER prize as part of a Facebook only competition. To enter, take a Selfie against the backdrop displayed between NatWest & Crew Clothing and share it under the relevant Facebook Post that will be posted at 10am each Saturday morning on the Christmas in Thame Facebook page.
The event has been supported by local businesses and so as an additional incentive you will also get AT LEAST a 5% discount from Baban Boutique (Buttermarket), Planet Health & Organics (Greyhound Walk) and Bizzie Lizzies Flower Shop (Upper High Street) if you shop with them while you are dressed up on these Saturdays.
2. The Christmas Spirit Trail
Thame Town Council has teamed up with QR code trail experts High Street Safari to create an interactive story-trail that is designed to encourage children to walk, have fun, get engaged and most importantly, take their minds off the pandemic. The Christmas Spirit Trail revolves around a magical story that includes Albert Claus, the less famous brother of Father Christmas. His job is to maintain the Spirit of Christmas by spreading joy bubbles on Christmas day, but he’s gone missing! By visiting the 10 trail stops and speaking to each of the cheerful ‘Spirits of Christmas’, players will learn what has happened to Albert and, finally, be able to solve the mystery, save him and read the conclusion with the free e-book at the end. The trail will run from Monday 7th December until Friday 8th January. It’s completely free to take part in and at the end you win a heart-warming Christmas e-book. When families in Thame scan each character’s unique QR code the character will burst to life with an animation on their smartphone and they’ll learn their names, stories and gather clues. There is also no need to actually go inside the venues.
3. The Thame ADVENTure Trail
This December, discover the story of Christmas in an ‘ADVENTure Trail’ brought to you by Thame’s churches. Each Tuesday & Saturday through to the 19th of December, a new location will be revealed in the form of a rhyming clue. Solve it to see where to go! Clues will be shared through our Facebook page at ‘Christmas in Thame’ and back here. The first clue is below!
The first part of our Christmas story, awaits for you if you can solve me!
It’s at a place where people pray, which overlooks each market day.
A building taller than those each side, with fancy windows is where you’ll find
our first scene of nativity. Go look – I wonder what you’ll see
The second and future clues will be released on the ‘Christmas in Thame’ Facebook page, and will also be available to view at the first location if you can solve the clue above.
Free parking in SODC Car Parks on Saturdays in December
People in South Oxfordshire can park for free on specific days this December and are being urged to use this opportunity to support their local shops and cafes in the run up to Christmas. In Thame, this applies to the Cattlemarket and Co-Op car parks on Saturday 5th, 12th and 19th December.
Free park and ride parking for Oxford
Shoppers and people planning to support hospitality businesses in the run-up to Christmas are being encouraged to do so safely and avoid the busiest times.
Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council are providing free parking at Oxford’s five park and ride sites from Saturday 5 December until Sunday 27 December, to support businesses and help reduce congestion. The councils are also asking people who plan to use the service to travel outside peak times if possible.
Thame Community Christmas
Anyone for tea?
Date posted: Thursday 3 December 2020
Updated: Thursday 10 December 2020