Party to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Haxby parish (From York Press)
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Party to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Haxby parish
9:05am Wednesday 9th January 2013 in News
By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter
Pam Thorpe and members of her committee, who are helping to organise events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the parish of Haxby at St Mary’s Church
A PARISH near York is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with a series of events including concerts, a flower festival, a Bible “readathon” and a parish picnic.
Ian Strong, secretary of Haxby parochial church council, said while Haxby went back a long time, the ecclesiastical parish was only founded in 1863.
He said: “Until then, Haxby was part of the parish of Strensall. St Mary’s Church in Haxby has decided to organise a whole series of special events throughout the year to celebrate the occasion.”
He said the events, designed to involve the wider community of Haxby and beyond, included a concert at the church on April 18 by a group of Russian Orthodox singers – the internationally famous Hermitage Ensemble from St Petersburg.
There would also be a concert there by York St John University musicians on February 21 and pupils from Joseph Rowntree School might also be involved in a concert.
There were plans for a walk around the parish boundaries on May 5, a flower festival over the May 17 to 19 weekend in the church, an exhibition of interesting items relating to the parish, a celebration involving children from local schools and a parish picnic on the village green.
There would also be an anniversary service, led by the Bishop of Selby, the Venerable Martin Wallace, on September 15.
He said Haxby Town Council also planned to plant “golden” flowers through the town to mark the anniversary.
Mr Strong said a special website was being developed with three main aims – to say something about the parish past and present, highlight what is going on in Haxby this year and encourage contributions from a wide range of people.
He said the website, haxby150.co.uk, still “a work in progress”, contained a new Haxby 150 logo, a diary of events, some of the history of Haxby and a picture gallery, and people would be asked to contribute comments, memories, pictures, anecdotes and memorabilia.
