FAIRYTALE ABOUT TO BECOME REALITY
The only person who knows exactly what Fermoy’s Christmas Wonderland will look like is Peter Kelly, otherwise the self-styled ‘Franc’. With Franc promising bells and whistles the best course of action is to stand back and let the master of matrimony do his stuff.
Having €200,000 to play around with there’ll be no skimping and, given Franc’s stated aim of creating ‘a traditional Swiss village scene’, no one will be surprised if we see an Alpine skier whizzing down Barrack Hill!
The ambitious tone of the Christmas Wonderland project was set last Thursday night when a cross section of politicians, business people and community activists gathered in the Fermoy branch of Ulster Bank to launch the initiative.
The impressive crowd were guests of branch manager and more recently chairman of Fermoy Business Action Group, David Valentine. David was upbeat about the project which he said had the potential to be a formidable marketing tool for Fermoy.
He spoke purposefully about what Fermoy could become and while acknowledging the very real problems individuals and businesses were facing he urged everyone to put their best foot forward and ‘go out there and make Fermoy a force to be reckoned with’. The positive message was continued by Peter Kelly (Franc).
“We want the park to be a focal point, we want the Christmas Wonderland project to be a force for good and an example of what can be achieved by working together and showing the region and indeed the country what we are all about, ”he said.
Town Mayor, Cllr Pa O’Driscoll didn’t leave the side down and adopted the dual theme of ‘boldness’ and ‘bravery’ in his address.
BOLDNESS AND BRAVERY
“In the challenging environment we find ourselves there has never been a greater need for boldness and bravery, this is not a time for cowering down and giving in, we must look to each other for strength and dare to believe that we can overcome whatever difficulties present themselves, boldness and bravery can win the day, ”Cllr O’Driscoll stressed.
During the course of the evening there were also contributions from Peter McKenna (Ulster Bank) and Valerie Murphy (C.E.O. Avondhu Blackwater Partnership). Again the emphasis was on accentuating the positive and pushing Fermoy to the forefront.
The eagerly anticipated Christmas Wonderland will be staged in Fermoy Town Park From this Friday, December 17 to Sunday, December 19 and admission is free.
Published:
Thursday 16th December 5:30pm
