ON the 53rd day of Christmas, my Constable gave to me…
After an “embarrassing” festive foul-up in 2023 meant the Christmas lights in St Aubin were never switched on, parish officials in St Brelade were taking no chances this year.
Constable Mike Jackson was happy to report that the lights around the village were turned on this week, with 41 days to go until 25 December, when the 12 Days of Christmas officially start.
“It was never going to happen again – everyone in the parish hall knew about it and we made certain that all the necessary calls had been made to Infrastructure and Environment well ahead of time,” he said.
Mr Jackson held up his hands and apologised after it was confirmed that – for the first time during his 18 years in office – the festive lights needed to be switched on by the government department, and that no request for this to happen had been made.
“I’m embarrassed and apologetic and I am as equally disappointed as everyone else will be, but I swear it won’t happen again,” he told the JEP in January.
The lights around the village are just one element of the St Brelade’s Christmas festivities this year.
Although the parish hall is currently in the midst of a project to replace its roof, Mr Jackson said scaffolding at the front of the building would be removed by early December in time for decorations to be put up.
A large tree is also on order, and on Saturday 7 December a Christmas Fayre will take place from 12pm to 5.30pm with schools choirs, a steel band, mulled wine, mince pies, Santa Claus and an official switch-on.
“In an ideal world, we’d have had all the lights being switched on at the same time, but it’s not quite as simple as that, so we made sure the street lighting was taken care of in plenty of time,” Mr Jackson said.
Other parts of the parish have also been included, he added, with trees at Pont du Val, Quennevais Parade and on land adjacent to Waitrose at Red Houses.
Mr Jackson also revealed that the roofing and painting project for the parish hall was “90% complete” with the remaining scaffolding due to be removed by the end of December or early in the new year.
