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In July the annual Parish Gardening Competition attracted a wide range of entries and the judge was very impressed by the levels of creative skill and imagination we have within our parish.  Judging took place during the week of the 18th of July with prizes distributed shortly afterwards.

The winners were:

Rear Garden & Overall winner: Peter Gilmore

Hanging Baskets & Window Box: Anne Doherty

Vegetable:  Joe & Marie Hoeritzauer

Guest: Mrs Ambrose

Water feature: Mark Johnston

Front Garden: Seamus Bell

The Sunday NIght Ceili Classes continue in McKenna Community Centre and as you can see from the photographs good craic is had by young and old alike while practising dances they already know and learning new ones. The classes are an opportunity to brush up on the dances in between the ceilis organised regularly during the year by the Parish Social Committee.The couple of hours from 7-9 pm fly in and the refreshments provided by the Social Committee are always enjoyed at 'half time'.If you are interested in keeping up to date with your ceili dancing, come along on a Sunday evening to McKenna where you will receive a warm welcome. During the summer months the classes will not be on every Sunday evening due to other committments, so watch the Parish Bulletin for news of the classes.

It was Thursday 16th June 2011 and the venue was Kirkistown Castle Golf Club for The Parish of Ardkeen’s 1st ever  Golf Fundraising Day.  At 6.00am Head Green Keeper Paul Lappin and his team were well under way completing the final touches on the magnificent course erecting the New Parish Banners and fixing the sponsor boards on the relevant Tee Boxes. With an entry of over 95 the day got off to a fine start.  Weather conditions were perfect as our first four ball led by parishioner, Terry Bell, drove the perfect tee shot that anyone would be proud off.  Next up on the ladies tee box, distinctively known at Kirkistown Castle Golf club for their steady play was Rosaleen Caughey & Imelda Byers with superb drives, almost out of sight!
Throughout the day the Clubhouse Tombola was in full Swing!  Teas, coffees’ and scrumptious tray bakes were the order of the day...........Non–playing parishioners dropped in to join in the craic and wish golfers well as they went out and welcome the early players home.
As the day drew to an end and the final players started to arrive in off the eighteenth green the task of toting the scores and confirming winners was completed. The presentation was done by Fr Pat Neeson and Mr James Dynes, Kirkistown Castle Captain. Following the presentations and a speech by Fr Pat the evening was brought to a close.
 The Parish Fundraising Committee would like to thank everyone for making last week’s Golf Fundraising Day at Kirkistown Castle Golf Club a huge success.  A magnificent sum of £3,040.00 was raised.  

Please note: 7" x 5 "photographs below may be purchased for a nominal charge – please contact Mairead on:  028 427 38107 for more details or to order.

A special thanks to all the business sponsors for their generous donations.  To all the parishioners who came to support and join in the tombola.  To those individuals who gave various donations a very sincere thanks.  To our great team of Social Committee Members who provided delightful tray bakes, thank you. To all playing visitors and regular players thank you for participating.
Sincere thanks to Kirkistown Castle Golf Club for allowing the Parish the use of their facilities to hold our Golf Event. 
Congratulations to all the winners named below!!!!
1st Lady: Jacinta Breen (Lough Erne Stay) 1st Gent: Geoff Edgar (Lough Erne Stay)
2nd Lady: Miriam Ellis (Golf Bag) 2nd Gent: Michael Magee (Taylor made wedge)
3rd Lady: Allison Bell (Ladies Top & Glove) 3rd Gent: Gavin Donnelly (Golf Travel Bag)
Ladies Longest Drive: Imelda Byers Gents Longest Drive: Ciaran Coulter
Ladies Nearest the Pin: Rosaleen Caughey Gents nearest the pin: Ciaran Coulter
Best Gross: Noel Fitzsimmons Non-handicap Prize-winner: Cahal Gilmore

 

The Spring Ceili took place on Thursday 28th April in McKenna Hall. There was a good turnout to appreciate the music from the Cap on the Wall Ceili Band and it gave the dancers who had attended the recent ceili dancing classes a chance to exercise their skills to the direction of Ban a ti Mary Pollock.
As usual the Social Committee and its circle of helpers provided a great supper at the interval boosting energy levels for the second half of the night.

Saturday 23rd April was a fine calm dry evening for Fr Neeson to initiate the Service of Light as he prepared the Paschal Candle and took a light from the new fire that had been blessed at the begining of the Vigil. It was then processed into St Joseph's Church where the congregation lit their candles from its flame.

After the Vigil Mass and both Easter morning Masses Fr Neeson greeted everyone as they left, wishing them Happy Easter and ensuring there was an Easter Egg for everyone. Following 11am Mass in St Joseph's the annual Easter egg hunt took place. Hordes of eager hunters ran around the grounds led by three larger than life characters all hoping to find the well hidden Easter eggs. Fun was had by all those involved and it was also an opportunity for parishioners to catch up with each other and wish each other 'Happy Easter'
Thank you to all the children who took part in the egg hunt, along with their mums, dads and families and to all those who came to the Old School for the draw. Not forgetting those who organised the hunt and our three larger than life characters for paying us a visit, hope to see you next year. Also the Social Committee for providing the egg-cellent refreshments and a special word of thanks to the Parish Fundraising Committee for their untiring efforts in organising the Silver Circle Draw, including today's event.
Finally, very many thanks to our Parish Priest, Father Neeson, who even after his very busy schedule of ceremonies for Holy Week was able to come along with his usual cheery wit and quips on the day.

As the Easter Egg Hunt came to an end, parishioners started to make their way to the Old School where a very welcome cup of tea or coffee was provided by the Parish Social Committee along with a variety of seasonal goodies including hot cross buns and ginger bread bunnies and some chocolate treats too, now that Lent is over!
Once everyone was well refreshed, Father Neeson was called upon to give the numbers a good spin in the specially constructed spinning drum which was hand made by one of the parish's own, St Joseph - the carpenter, Hugh Brown. Father welcomed everyone to the inaugural Parish of Ardkeen Silver Circle Draw and then proceeded to pull out the first winning number. A total of nine lucky numbers were drawn (See Bulletin page) as this was not only the first monthly draw but also the special Easter draw.

Parish of Ardkeen Silver Circle Draw
April Silver Circle Winners £200 - Essie Savage £150 - Marie Caldwell £100 - Teresa McGarry £50 - Kevin Taylor	Easter Silver Circle Winners (£100 EACH) Noel & Ann Braniff Teresa Doherty Mrs Mary Hamilton Geraldine Roddy Hessie Shanks

 

 

The Annual Bazaar took place on Sunday 28th November in McKenna Community Centre.
As in all previous years the organising committee ensured the stalls looked really well with great variety and quality available for the many parishioners and friends of our parish who came along to give their support, pick up a bargain and hope to win one or more of the many great prizes available on the Parish of Ardkeen Rickety Wheel.
A complimentary glass of Punch with a mince pie or some shortbread went down well with all takers and the social committee ladies provided much welcomed refreshments throughout the afternoon.
Fr Neeson headed up the ticket sellers and ensured every corner of the hall was covered for every spin of the wheel. As the last spin was called Fr Neeson decided to make it a special round with the chance to win his apron with a special prize in the pocket. There were two star prizes this year with top prize being a much sought after Apple iPad. Mathew O'Prey was the lucky winner. Michelle Rogan was the lucky winner of the second star prize a 32" Sony LCD TV. Bridie Ennis's ever popular £100 note draw was well supported and a massive box of tickets was brought to the stage for the winner to be drawn. This year it was the turn of young Ciaran Kelly to be the lucky winner. Congratulations to these and all winners on the rickety wheel.
Thanks to all the team for all their hard work in preparation of the stalls and stage and the ticket sellers old and new and bankers who turn up and work hard every year.
A big thank you to Ballycran GAC Committee for use of McKenna Hall and their help in setting up and clearing the hall.
Special thanks to everyone who supported us with many donations and for coming along on the day itself. Another very successful afternoon for our parish. Have a look at the pictures below you never know who you might see!

Here's to next year!!

The Annual Parish Treasure Hunt took place in July this year. The sun eventually came out to enable everyone to do their best to solve the clues set by Joe Gilmore Afterwards, parishioners and visitors alike returned to the McKenna Community Centre and enjoyed a welcome supper whilst waiting for for the results to be announced and some of the more difficult puzzles and conundrums to be explained by Joe.

Sunday 6th of June was a fine warm bright day for parisioners and their families to come to the graveyards at St Joseph's to remember their family members and friends at the annual blessing of the graves ceremony. Fr Neeson was assisted by Fr McManus. Whilst the graves are maintained throughout the year a lot of extra hard work ahead of the day ensured all of the graves, paths, hedges and grass areas were presented to look their best. This year the Church at Lisbane was also opened for visitors to go and remember those who are laid to rest there.

After the ceremony the social committee provided welcome refreshments in the Old School for everyone, on what was a very warm day. This was a great opportunity for visitors who have moved away from the parish to neet up with old friends and reminisce about old times.

 

 

 

Over the Spring and Summer there have been two Ceili Nights held in McKenna hall to commemorate important times of the year. The May Ceili and old Time Dance held on the 2nd of May, music was provided by Crosskeys Ceili Band and the Social Committee provided a lovely supper at the interval.
The Summer Ceili was held on Sunday 29th of August and again the crosskey Ceili Band provided the musical entertainment. During the night the electricity was temporarily interrupted leading to some emergency steps needing to be taken to ensure the night and craic continued. A bulk supply of T-light candles were shipped in and placed strategically throughout the hall to enable the band to play on, the dancers to keep going and of course the supper to be served. All in all a great night!!

May Ceili 2nd may 2010

Summer Ceili 29th August 2010

During March and April this year packets of sunflower seeds were quickly picked up by keen gardeners of all ages throughout the parish. A total of 130 packets of seed were sold with gardeners keen to get their seeds germinated and planted out avoiding frost and the dreaded slugs. With a reasonably good summer this year there was a good success rate with plants being fed with all sorts of secret mixes and formulae in pursuit of the big prize for whoever could grow the tallest flowering plant. During August reports started coming in of sunflowers reaching dizzy heights and it was apparent that a competition was coming together. Judging of entries was planned for mid September when the flowers should have been at their best and flowering well. As you will see from the photographs below, some entries hadn't just reached the flowering stage by the judging date but the warm sunny weather of late September has ensured that they too have now flowered. Thanks to everyone who bought seeds and entered the competition this year,seeds will be available next spring for the 2011 competition and we hope it will be an even bigger and taller success with competitors trying to beat the heights reached this year.

 

A butterfly takes a rest and some refreshments from Ciaran Kelly's entry

The Kelly family with Darragh's tallest flowering sunflower

All three of the Kelly family pose with their rosettes just before they headed to bed.

Fr Neeson checks that the measurements are recorded accurately, at least on his own entry!

Sherry Blair with her mums well braced tall entry

John Joe Flynn receives his well earned rosette.

Mairead takes a moment to chat with her son Marcus and Ben Savage's entries

Mairead breen presents Mary Robinson with her rosette.

Rory Taggart's well cared for very decorative entry

On Wednesday 26th May, David Harrison, owner of Harrison Nurseries, gave a very informative and entertaining demonstration in Maxwell Court on making up outdoor planters, window boxes, hanging baskets etc. in anticipation of a good growing summer. Everyone enjoyed the show and a number of lucky attendees won the lovely containers David had filled during the demonstration in a draw. There was of course a fine selection of refreshments available for everyone.

In July the annual Parish Gardening Competition attracted a wide range of entries and the judges were very impressed by the levels of creative skill and imagination we have within our parish. Judging took place during the week of the 12th of July with prizes and rosettes issued shortly afterwards

The Gardening Competition Gardens and Winners

Anne Crawford and May Brennan present Anne Doherty with her First Prize for best hanging baskets and window boxes

Robert Denver's Highly Commended front garden

Peter Gilmore is awarded for Overall Winner and his Best Front Garden

Davy Braniff's Highly Commended Front Garden

Marcus Breen accepts the award for best water feature on behalf of his mother Mairead

Terry Arthurs receiving his award for the best vegetable garden from May and Anne

The prize for best visitors Garden went to Freda and Gerry Monaghan on the Portaferry Rd

As usual a lot of hard work was put into preparation of our two churches for the Easter Ceremonies. Below are a some photos showing the floral arrangements from St Joseph's Church.
After 11am Mass on Easter Sunday the now traditional Easter Egg Hunt attracted a large number of participants both young and old. The Easter Bunny didn't have any eggs left by the time it was over.

On Thursday 28th January dedicated parishioners gathered in the Old Schoolhouse at Ballycran to continue the tradition of preparing St Bridget's crosses for the feast of St Brigid on Monday 1st of February. The finished crosses were blessed at Mass on Monday with holy water and with the words: May the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost be on these Crosses and on the place where they hang and on everyone who looks on them. The cross should be hung on the front doors of homes and left in place all year, to be burned and replaced with a newly-woven Cross on the next St. Brigid's Day.

The story of St Brigid tells that during one of her travels, St. Brigid went to visit a dying pagan chieftain. As she sat near his bed, she picked up some rushes on the floor and began weaving a Cross. He asked her about what she was doing and, in explaining, she told him about Christ and the meaning of the Cross. He came to faith and was baptized.

There was a good turnout of local and visiting dancers to the Parish of Ardkeen Christmas family Ceili in the McKenna GAC Community Center on Tuesday 29th December which was held in memory of Fr Paddy Burns. Cap on the Wall Ceili Band provided the entertainment the and as usual the social committee pulled out all the stops when it came to the delicious supper. Proceeds from the event will be given to Fr Paddy's mother Mrs Margaret Burns.

St Joseph's

St Mary's

 

On the Feast of the Holy Family the annual Carol Service was held in the barn/stable of Rubane Farm on the Gransha Road generously hosted by Fergal and Lucy Watson. On a cold, winter's night, parishioners gathered to sing favourite carols in the presence of a living Crib including sheep and donkeys. Paddy and Caroline Savage and their new baby Annie took the part of the Holy Family with friends playing the Shepherds and Wise men. It was a very enjoyable event enhanced with mulled wine and refreshments afterwards.
A big thank you to everyone who braved the cold to make this event a success and thanks also to everyone one who had roles to play in making it a very pleasant evening.

Fr Neeson treated the choirs from our churches and the Society of St Martha to lunch over the Christmas period as an appreciation of the commitment they have to their work in the Parish. The choirs from St Mary's Church and the Society of St Martha enjoyed great food in Finnegans Bar and Restaurant whilst the choir from St Joseph's Church were entertained in the Portaferry Hotel.
The choirs play a very important role in the life and liturgy of the church community. New members are always welcome so come along if you would like to join any of the choirs.The Society of St Martha are the unseen heroes of the Parish ensuring our churches are kept clean and tidy.

On Sunday 6th December, the Senior Citizen's of Kircubbin and surrounding districts enjoyed their annual Christmas Lunch at McKenna Community Centre. As usual many hands made light work and the quality and quantity of beautiful food was a credit to all who participated in the preparations or helped in any way to make the day a success.

Rev Fr Pat Neeson, Rev Avril Stevenson, Rev Roy Taylor & Rev Jill Withers joined their parishioners for a great afternoons craic. Some115 guests were catered for and the opinion of all was that they could not have asked for better. Everyone enjoyed an afternoon of good food and company with musical entertainment provided by "Country Breeze".

This year was very special with the organising committee celebrating their 30th anniversary of this very important event. The cakes were cut by six founder members of the planning committee; the "Twins", Rita and Maureen, whose entertainment was missed in the kitchen this year, Mrs Margaret Breen & Mrs Isobel Gilmore who baked the Christmas cakes, Mrs Eileen Arthurs & Mrs Josie Gilmore,who all attended as guests on the day.

The organisers wish to thank everyone who helped in any way to make the event such a great success, and special thanks to Santa and all his little helpers who managed to take time out of their busy schedule to pay an early visit to McKenna.

"Time" was called around six o'clock and for those who needed a lift home, Margaret McCarthy and Stephen Bell were on hand to ferry everyone home.

 

The Annual Bazaar took place on Sunday 29th November in McKenna Community Centre.
As in all previous years the organising committee ensured the stalls looked really well with great variety and quality available for the many parishioners and friends of our parish who came along to give their support, pick up a bargain and hope to win one or more of the many great prizes available on the new Parish of Ardkeen rickety wheel.
A complimentary glass of Punch and Mince pie went down well with all takers and the social committee ladies provided much welcomed refreshments throughout the afternoon.
Fr Neeson was kept busy all afternoon and he won the prize for "seller of the most winning tickets". His tickets were the most sought after all afternoon! The star prize of a top of the range LCD TV was won by Bridie Kearney and Maura Gilmore of Manse Rd was the lucky winner of Bridie Ennis's crisp £100 note.
Thanks must go to the team for all their hard work in preparation for the event and the ticket sellers and bankers who turn up and work hard every year.
Special thanks to everyone who supported us with many donations and for coming along on the day itself. Another very successful afternoon for our parish. Have a look at the pictures below you never know who you might see!

On a beautifully clear day the Air Cadets from Regent House School in Newtownards and some of their officers joined Fr Patrick Neeson and parishioners for the Annual Service of Remembrance on Saturday 7th November in in the Graveyard at Mount St Joseph's.
After the short prayer service, Crosses and flowers were placed on the Graves of the servicemen who lost their lives while based in the parish during the Second World War. Afterwards everyone returned to the Old School for much welcomed refreshments.

On Sunday evening 26th July the rain stayed away long enough to enable the many dedicated treasure hunters who turned out to tour the parish and search for the answers to the clues set by Joe Gilmore. Afterwards everyone returned to the School House at Ballycran to discover the correct answers, find out who had won and enjoy a cup of tea and some "sticky buns"
The over all winner was Bobby Adair with Francis Gallagher, Paul O'Prey, Alistair Higgins and Jim McNamara the runners up. Well done to everyone who took part &thanks for your support.
Thanks also to the Social Committee and their catering helpers who as always provided a very welcome supper.

The winner is..........!

The entries for the Parish Gardening Competition were all judged at the beginning of July by the guest judge, Eamon McNamara (HND Amenity Horticulture) from Portaferry. Whilst entries were slow to come in by the closing date there were entries in every class. Standards were very high and Eamon had a job deciding who would win and who had to be the runners up.
Thanks to Eamon for taking the time to carry out this important task we really appreciate the time and attention to detail he took in this role.

"It took a lot of hard work but was worth it" Fr Neeson was heard to say! Winner of the Water Feature category

The man with the unenviable task of judging the entries Eamon McNamara

Jimmy Fowler receives his prizes for Best Front Garden and Best Over All Entry from Josie Crawford and Mary Magee

Mary presents Freda and Gerry Monaghan with their Guest Entry prize

Anne Doherty receives her two awards for best window Boxes and Best Hanging Baskets

Gretta Kelly among her peas, winner of the Best Vegetable Garden category receiving her prize.

Joan Gilmore winner of the Best Back Garden prize receives her prize

The last Sunday in June saw Fr Neeson officiate at his first annual blessing of the graves ceremony at the parish graveyard in Ballycran. The sun came out to help show off the hard work that had been done in the preparation of the graves and everyone should be proud of how well the everything looked on this special day. Fr Neeson was assisted by Fr Paddy Burns who had come from Ballygalget for the afternoon.
After the ceremony the social committee provided welcome refreshments for everyone on what was a very warm day.

Below are a selection of photos take on the day.

 

 

 

Bishop Antony Farquhar visited the Parish on Sunday 21 June to officially install Fr Neeson as Parish Priest. Fr Paddy Burns returned to the parish and members of Fr Neeson's family also traveled to St Joseph's for this very special occasion. Light refreshments for parishioners and a special sit down lunch for Fr Neeson and his guests were provided by the Parish Social Committee afterwards in the old school house. Bishop Farquhar spent time meeting and greeting the many parishioners who had turned out in support.
Congratulations to Fr Neeson and best wishes for a long and happy stay in the Parish of Ardkeen.

Members of the Social Committee together with local doctors from the Community Medical Centre proudly display new medical equipment which was purchased from the proceeds of last autumn's 'Style in the Village' fashion show.

 

 

 

A Special Treasure Hunt left McKenna Hall on Sunday 26th April starting at 6.30pm. Thanks to everyone who supported the evening even the weather didn't put the hardened hunters from heading out around the parish to search walls of houses, sheds, hedges and road signs for the most obscure yet obvious answers. Thanks to Joe Gilmore who compiled a very challenging ‘hunt’. A big thanks to Ballycran GAC for the use of the Hall, the Parish Social Committee who provided a very welcome supper, Joe and Marie Fowler for organising the ballot and those who donated prizes for same. The grand total of £1180 was raised for Fr Paddy Burns Mission Project. Congratulations to the winners: Jim McNamara, Seamus Dorrian, Dermot O’Prey, Brendan McCarthy and Christopher Lennon.   

"They tell me Fr McBride loved this bit!"

The Spring Ceili and Old Time dance took place on Sunday 3rd May in McKenna Hall. There was a great turnout to appreciate the music from the Oriel Ceili Band and it gave the dancers who had attended the recent ceili dancing classes a chance to exercise their skills to the direction of Ban a ti Mary Pollock.
As usual the Social Committee and its circle of helpers provided a great supper at the interval boosting energy levels for the second half of the night.

Following on from the restoration work started last year on the wall between the old graveyard and the 'new', Colm and Thomas McManus continued to work on other areas of the graveyard perimiter in need of repair.
Father and son finished the restoration of the wall in early Spring of 2009. A section at the bottom of the old graveyard had been pushed outwards by tree roots and a corner had to be taken down completely before being rebuilt. Its a great piece of work employing the skills of our own parishioners which should stand for another 50-100 years or more.?

Some photographs of the work done are attached below to let you see what was done. Better still, take a walk down through the graveyard sometime soon and see for yourself what as been done. It will do your heart good!

 

Every good youth group has to adapt to the situation they find themselves in - so when the weather is hot & sunny it was time to get out the bbq and flip some burgers.  The Joey's Sunday Night Group have been meeting every week since October and a bbq night, with footballs and parachutes is just one of the many things that this group has been getting up to. 

As usual a lot of hard work was put into preparation of our two churches for the Easter Ceremonies. Below are a some photos from both churches showing the skills of the flower arrangers and how the flower arrangements complement the churches and make our celebrations of the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Masses so fulfilling. Father Neeson and Fr Burns would like to pay a special thank you to the everyone who worked long hours to prepare the churches for all the Easter Ceremonies and to everyone who attended and had a role to play in making the ceremonies very special.

After 11am Mass on Easter Sunday the now traditional Easter Egg Hunt attracted a large number of participants both young and old. The Easter Bunny didn't have any eggs left by the time it was over.

The Ardkeen Players represented Ballycran G.A.C. in the Novelty Act section of the Scór Sinsear 2009 with a short play entitled: 'One Good Turn' written, directed and produced by Belle Corr.
Having been sucessful in the East Down Semi Final in Teconnaught, we went on to be runners up in the East Down semi. Next up, we went on to the County Down final which was won by Clonduff. Adjudication for Ballycran included praise for the originality and variety of the sketch, its action and stage setting and, most important its truly Irish Cultural Theme.
We hope to present the sketch in our next concert in McKenna Hall. We all agreed that it was an enjoyable experience and we were delighted to get through several stages of the competition. Good luck to Clonduff who will be carrying the Novelty Act flag for Down to the Ulster Semi-final.

Above: The Cast before they went on stage in Teconnaught.

Above: The successful Adkeen Palayers with their winners medals the East Down Semi Final in Teconnaught
(L-R) Christopher Lennon, Ellen-Mary Woods, Belle Corr, Gerry Corr, Sean Lipfird.

 

Sunday 22nd February saw another great social event in the parish as parisioners gathered in McKenna Community Centre to honour Fr Colm McBride and thank him for his guidance and support over the last three and a half years.

Fr McBride arrived to a full house and rousing round of applause before making his way around the hall to greet parisioners and receive good wishes from everyone.

Before Mathew Gilmore presented Fr McBride with his gift everyone was entertained by three young musicians, Lauren Fox, Elish Ennis and Ruth Clarke, who played a series of traditional Irish music tunes on their violins and Finnoula Branniff sang "Sally Gardens" accompanied by Maura Lipfird on piano.

Following the presentation to Fr McBride the Social Committee pulled out all the stops and served a superb afternoon tea to everyone. This gave parisioners another chance to wish Fr McBride a fond farewell before he made his way back to Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish Belfast.

The parish held its second 'Rush Party' on Thursday 29th January. Fr Patrick Neeson, PP, who had arrived in the parish just a few hours earlier, came to lend a hand. The St Brigid's Crosses will be blessed at Masses on the feast of St Brigid (February 1st) and then taken home by parisioners and placed in the roof space or above the doors of homes or animal houses, invoking God's protection on all who abide there in the coming year. Thanks to everyone who came to help and to the Social Committee for providing welcome refreshments.