Surrey Mirror (published July 2nd 2010)
Street dance and purple pinkies at village fete
GOT THE RHYTHM: The Blue Academy perform street dancing
Thousands of people turned out for a village summer fete aimed at raising cash for some of the world’s poorest communities.
The Effingham Summer Fete, organised by the Bookham and Horsley Rotary Club, took place at the village’s King George V playing grounds last Saturday.
Tony Greenman, presedent of the Rotary Club, told The Advertiser the day was a great success, with more than 2,000 visiting the stalls and watching the musical and dance performances.
“The highlight was provided by the Blue Academy who did a Michael Jackson tribute for the one year anniversary of his death.”
The event also saw the culmination of the Bookham and Horsley Rotary Club’s Polio Purple Pinkie Potato project. For the project the club sold potato seeds for pupils at local schools to grow in order to raise funds to help eradicate the virulent virus, which still exists in Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Some 2,000 children took part in the project and the weighing of the specially grown pink potatos took place at the fete.
Mark secker, who organised the project, said: “We have raised £2,250, which has already gone to the Rotary’s Thanks for Life project and that will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“The money we have raised through this project [will] pay for just over 11,000 polio inoculations.”
He added: “When children have their inoculation their finger is dipped in purple dye, which is why it is called the Purple Pinkie Potato project.”