Sunday 8th June - Fancy Dress Parade
Monday 9th June - Ceilidh Night in the Services & Artisans Club
Tuesday 10th June - Kids Disco in Gardiner Place Community Centre
Wednesday 11th June - Fun Night in The Dean Tavern
Thursday 12th June - Adults Football & Tug o' War in the park
Friday 12th June - Rehearsal Night in Newbattle High School

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Chairmans Message

Welcome to all who are attending Newtongrange Gala on our 95th Anniversary.As always it has been another busy year for the Gala Committee
and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all the time and effort they put in to ensure that Newtongrange has a Gala to be proud of.

From all reports after last years Gala there was a record crowd in attendance, thousands of people lined the Parade route and joined us in the Park to
celebrate the Gala, I personally joined in the Parade and have never seen crowds like it before, although the hot weather might have had something to do
with it. Something we are usually fortunate to have most years.

  Once again the local people and businesses have  contributed so much to make this event possible as well as Midlothian Council.
Without these efforts the Gala would be a much smaller event.

  A big thank you must go to the Children of Newtongrange and their family’s for firstly wanting to be on the Gala and for all the hard work
that goes along with it, the Children work extremely hard during the rehearsals to ensure everything goes well on the Saturday.

  Finally I hope that everyone attending the Gala, old and new alike enjoys the experience.

John Turnbull, Gala Chairman

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Newtongrange Children’s Gala Day Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in Gala Week. The week started with the Fancy Dress Parade which was led by Newtongrange Pipe Band followed by the children and adults dressed in their fantastic costumes and decorated bikes and buggies. The judging was done by Loanhead Gala Committee. Thanks to everyone involved.

Our Ceilidh on the Monday night had a change of venue this year and was a great night. The evening was sponsored by Newbattle Services and Artisans and entertainment was provided by West Telferton Ceilidh Band. Stovies were donated by Brem Trotter and were enjoyed by everyone including the passing French and American tourists who joined us! Thanks again to everyone who attended this event and was involved.

Tuesday night was a little different this year and we had 2 events. The upper primary age pupils had Kenny Quin’s disco and the lower primary age had Tricky Ricky’s magic show. Both events were a great success and the children all enjoyed themselves. The events were sponsored by Newtongrange Dental Practice. Everyone worked really hard to make sure the kids enjoyed this night and thanks go to everyone involved.

Family Fun Night was held in, and sponsored by The Dean Tavern. Kenny Quin danced with the children and the adults with his usual energetic and entertaining disco and Gary Copeland from the Singing Kettle had everyone on their feet for games, singing and dancing.

We managed to have three events on the Thursday Night in the park. We had adult’s football which was sponsored by Mike Reilly who also presented the prizes. For the kids we had a Treasure Hunt sponsored by Wilie Webster Couriers and a Tug O’ War which was sponsored by Kristoffersen Carpets. Willie attended the events and handed juice, crisps and sweets to all the kids. This was our first Tug O’ War tournament and was a great success and lots of laughs.

Friday night was the night of our annual Dress Rehearsal. This was sponsored by The Allan’s Group and gives the kids the chance to show off their Gala finery to their family and friends indoors. The rehearsal was held in Newbattle High School and not only do we wish to thank the sponsors of this evening but also the Silver Band  who had to play in a very hot hall – twice and thanks also to the janitorial staff of the High School for their help, nothing was ever too much trouble during the Dress Rehearsal and also during the weekly rehearsals leading up to The Gala Day.

Gala Day itself was a great day. The weather was not up to our usual standard due to circumstances beyond our control, but we were lucky enough not to have any rain!! Thank you to all the Council workers and other volunteers who help us in the park, some of them there from 7am. Thanks also to Condor Cars for the hire van we had for the day. We had volunteers who ran the tea tent very well and also helped out with other things around the park. Thanks also to everyone who handed in home baking, it was much appreciated.

Again, the silver Band played for the Crowning Ceremony after marching in the parade along with Newtongrange Pipe Band and the Massed Pipes and drums. The parade was led by Newtongrange Squadron ATC who was followed by the bands, cars and various local groups who made a big effort to dress up
children and floats. Newbattle High School also had a float in the parade. Thanks to all who took part.

The cars for the Children were organised by Donna O’Raw and Helen Begbie with a great deal of work this year as we didn’t have an open-top bus and more cars were needed. Thanks to both of them and to all the drivers they had both on Gala Day and Friday Night.

The beautiful flowers carried by the court and decorating the stage area on Friday night and Saturday were donated by Dalkeith Flower Shop
and all photos taken were by John Darcy and we thank them for their continued support.

Entertainment in the park was enjoyed by all from the Pipes and Drums in the arena to our live band Athens and also the roadshow provided by our
local radio station Black Diamond who also had some of the kids on their radio show in the week leading up to the Gala.

The Kirking Service on Sunday morning was enjoyed by all the kids and congregation. Thanks to Paul Haringman who had the kids up on their feet for his interesting and entertaining service. Following the Kirking service there was a presentation disco in the Services and Artisans club which was sponsored by Hydraman. The children were transported by coach from the church to the venue by David Allan. Thanks to everyone involved with this day.

There are too many people to name in this letter who deserve thanks. Local Councillors, council workers and local people all make this day possible, some of them working really hard for everyone else to enjoy the day. The children on the Gala Court looked great and worked really hard to get everything right on the day. Parents and families of the court also worked hard at making the village look fabulous with the decorated gates.

Photographs of all these events were taken by John Darcy. John takes all the official Gala photos every year and never misses an event.
Thank you John.

Our Committee is a large dedicated group of people committed to keeping the tradition of Newtongrange Gala alive and are now working on and looking forward to next years gala and to many, many more. Anyone wishing to join us will be welcome at our monthly meetings and our AGM which will be in September, details of which will be in the Advertiser nearer the time. Thanks again to everyone involved.

Newtongrange Gala Committee