Lions club and Advertiser staff spread some Christmas cheer
Welcome to Remember When, our weekly delve into the Advertiser archives to see what was making headlines 25, 30, 35, 40 and 50 years ago this week. You can also take a look into the past by visiting our online archives at baylismediaarchive.co.uk
1971: The Advertiser visited schools across the area as they celebrated at Christmas parties and staged pantomimes for proud parents.
Courthouse Junior School staged its own mummers’ play, St George and the Dragon, while Claires Court pupils put on a production of Sleeping Beauty.
Meanwhile, St Mary’s School held a party complete with tasty treats and festive hats.
1981: Snowy weather caused misery for many – closing schools, causing power cuts and cancelling Christmas events.
However, some decided to make the most of things and made their way up to Punt Hill for a spot of sledging.
1986: Maidenhead United’s 60year-old stand at York Road was destroyed by a fire in the early hours of the morning.
The 400-seat stand was gutted by the fire, which also destroyed both changing rooms and the club office.
However, the kit and equipment stored in the office was intact and the adjoining clubhouse – which accounted for 80-90 per cent of the club’s income – suffered only slight smoke damage.
1986: Superman came to save the day when Santa encountered problems at Christmas and ran out of enough toys to cope with demand.
Cookham Rise School deputy head, Iris Belsten, and teachers Pat Beavan and Sheila Sirs, came up with a completely new story, Superman to the Rescue, for a play performed by pupils.
1991: The Pond House pub was presented with a framed photograph by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association after raising £2,000 to train two guide dogs.
The special presentation was in memory of the pub’s longeststanding regular, Ian Robson, who had died in August of that year.
1996: Christmas came early for residents of sheltered housing schemes in Maidenhead when staff from the Advertiser donned Santa costumes and delivered free turkeys for their festive parties.
The turkeys were donated by Copas Brothers, of Lower Mount Farm, as part of the Tiser Cracker Appeal.
1996: Festive food parcels were delivered to more than 800 elderly people and those in need, courtesy of the Lions Club of Maidenhead.
Members of the club and their families had spent the past two weekends collecting donations of food outside the town’s supermarkets.
The Ray Mill Social Club then became a hive of activity as the Lions used it as a base of operations to turn the four-ton food mountain they had collected into more than 350 food parcels.