The morning after the night before!

November 28, 2016 by Rob Kahl

The morning after the night before!

I have just finished tidying up!

As I type this it is the 26th November and I have already had enough of Christmas! (misog)

Last night was the the Leigh Lights Precession in Leigh Broadway and as ever, it was a very low key affair here at Scott & Stapleton, yeah right!

We had hundreds of people coming in to embrace the festivities, enjoying the hospitality and I am delighted to say that they all gave generously to our chosen charity this year which was the very worthy Little Have

There is very little mulled wine left this morning and just a few crumbs where the mince pies once were, to me, a sign that everybody obviously had a good time!

All of the staff dressed up to participate, this included Cinderella, Prince Charming, The Snow Queen, a couple of Elves, Mrs Christmas and even a walking, talking Christmas Tree. We were joined by Party with Sid who entertained the children with his puppet shows (and us grown ups!), Elsa from Frozen popped in all the way from Arundel, Sharon the face painter was kept very busy with neon creations and the craft stall was packed with children drawing or making lists for Santa.

One of the main attractions for the parents was 'We R fizz' a new venture for local businessman Gary Jackets. He has converted a Tuc Tuc into a mobile bar with Proscecco & Peroni on tap. It was perfect end even small enough for us to wheel it in to the office. If last night was anything to go by it will be a huge success. This is all just a sideline for what was the main event!

Unfortunately I missed it myself. My duties meant that I wasn’t able to enjoy any of the festivities or activities as I had to 'stay on the roof of the building looking after the Reindeer'. But once again, the big man himself turned up to wow the crowds and speak to the children. As ever the queues were going through the office and out the door and Father Christmas listened to all of the children as they told him what they all wanted for Christmas as they all promised dearly that they had been good all year.

Apparently it didn’t start very well with the first child having a break drown and having to be dragged in screaming. I am sure that will make a lovely photo. 3 hours and about 200 children later it ended with the last little boy screaming and having a melt down, but the vast majority were lovely and entered the Grotto wide eyed and in awe.

Children that wouldn’t keep quiet and stop talking in the queue waiting were dumbstruck and silent on entering the Grotto. After Santa had a little chat with them he was able to extract what most of them wanted for Xmas this year; there was 2 requests for puppies, 1 for a horse and lots of trains, dollies and a few for Xboxes much to the parents dismay. One little boy even wanted a Father Christmas outfit which was a bit odd.

Some of the best answers were when Santa asked what the children might leave out for him on Christmas Eve. There was a lot of the obvious answers of Mince Pies (which wont be very good for the big mans waistline). The fathers that accompanied their children were very keen for them to leave out Whisky, Brandy, Wine, Beer or even Guiness, but there was also suggestions of ham sandwiches, kebabs, various sweets and even a bowl of porridge. I am sure it must get a bit boring just having a mince pie in every house so I would probably be a bit of light relief to have something different.

The precession itself was as popular as ever with hundreds of people lining the route for the various floats and troops and all of the local businesses' threw open their doors for the revellers and the festivities went on well into the night.

This years Leigh Lights will have to go down as the biggest and best one yet, but I am sure we will all do our best to try and outdo ourselves once again next year.

Finally, a massive thank you to Leigh Town Council for putting on such an amazing event, Joanna @leigh-on-sea.com, Simone and all the staff @ Scott & Stapleton for their efforts and all the wonderful people who gave their time to make it the successful night that it was. 

This article is by Rob Kahl @ Scott & Stapleton
Tel: 01702 471155

To read all of Rob's previous blogs please click the link https://www.leigh-on-sea.com/blog/tag/property.html