11 November 2009
Autumn Concert at St Bride's Church
THE FIRST OF THIS SEASON'S CONCERTS TOOK PLACE ON SATURDAY EVENING, 7 NOVEMBER 2009 at ST. BRIDE'S PARISH CHURCH
Doagh Village Community Association's "Autumn Concerts 2009" began on Saturday evening with a recital by the accomplished local soprano Melanie Johnston. Melanie was accompanied by Emma Gibbins, currently Director of Music at St George's Church in Belfast.
The capacity audience at St Bride's Parish Church in Doagh was treated to a captivating performance by Melanie, whose choice of songs was truly eclectic, offering something for everyone.
The first part of the recital comprised, amongst other pieces, some best loved works by Mozart, Schumann, Faure and Puccini. Whilst the second part was in an altogether lighter mood with contemporary songs from popular musicals by Gershwin and Kern, from the renowned Irish composers Parke and Nelson and finishing with songs from the ever popular Gilbert and Sullivan.
The audience, who were enthralled by the polished performance, were keenly smitten by the sheer personal joy Melanie exuded when she was singing. Both artists are obviously highly talented but more than that, their relaxed delivery of the music contributed all the more to what was a wonderful and unforgettable experience for those who attended.
The venue, the very beautiful parish church of St Bride's, created a warm and welcoming atmosphere which was felt by the appreciative audience to be another significant factor in what was a hugely successful evening.
Alderman Paul Girvan, addressing the audience, congratulated the Association for its hard work in providing such local events and in striving, often behind the scenes, to meet the needs of the local community.
DVCA The Chairman, Mr Leith Burgess, thanked the two artists, Melanie and Emma for agreeing to give the recital and conveyed the Association's sincere and grateful thanks to Rev Paul Redfern and the Select Vestry of St. Bride's for permitting the concert to be hosted there.
He also announced that another concert featuring local performers would be organised by the Association for February 2010. Final details and arrangements for this would be announced before Christmas. Photographs from the present concert would soon be posted in the Association's Blog http://dvca.blogspirit.com.
After the concert the audience had the opportunity to meet and chat with Melanie and Emma at an informal reception in the church hall where supper was provided by the Ladies Group from St Bride's.
The extracts below were recorded on very basic equipment but will give some flavour of the recital program:
Après un Rêve, by G.Fauré
Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man, by J.Kern
Du Ring an Meinem Finger, by R.Schumann
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30 October 2009
HEATING OIL STAMPS SAVING SCHEME
Newtownabbey Borough Council has introduced a practical scheme which will allow people to save up for their heating oil by purchasing Saving Stamps at a minimum value of £5. These can be collected in a stamp savings book and used to help pay for expensive heating oil bills.
This is a similar scheme to the "Electric Stamp" scheme some years ago which was found by many to be a beneficial way of easing the strain of having to pay sizable energy bills. We are not sure about the "best value" companies on the list below. It may still be wise to phone around before purchasing your oil.
Outlined below are the contents of the latest poster which has been released to introduce developments in the scheme. More information can be found on the Newtownabbey Borough Council website, details of which are at the bottom of the poster:-
Are you short of ideas for Christmas presents?Why not give someone you know oil savings stamps for Christmas. Newtownabbey Borough Council, together with local shops and oil companies, runs an Oil Stamp Saving Scheme. The scheme allows householders to budget towards the cost of their home heating oil. The £5 oil stamps can be bought from a range of outlets across the Borough. The stamps are then attached to a stamp card and can be used as full or part payment for oil
In the greater Doagh area, oil stamps, stamp cards and special Christmas gift envelopes are available at:-
Burnside Stores, Burnside
XL Stop & Shop, 16 Main Street, Doagh
Spar, (Ballyclare Milestone) 91 Templepatrick Road, Ballyclare
Sixmile Leisure Centre
The Paper Shop, The Square, Ballyclare
Davey’s, 4 Ollardale Park, Ballyclare.
The Council’s Promotional Trailer will be in attendance at the switching on of the Doagh Christmas Lights on Wednesday 25th November where more information will be available.
The oil companies which will accept Newtownabbey Borough Council oil stamps are:
Kelly Fuels 1 Lombard Street Belfast Co. Antrim 028 90261500
Hayes Fuels 50 Ballyutoag Road Belfast Co. Antrim 028 87761523
Eastside Fuels 17 Lisnalinchy Road Ballyclare Co. Antrim 028 93344425
Redon Fuels 205 Doagh Road Newtownabbey Co. Antrim 028 90365440
Meekin Fuel Group Meekin Industrial Park Templepatrick Co. Antrim 028 94432417
W&M Lorimer Fuel Distributors 1c Largy Road Crumlin Co. Antrim 028 94422224
Watt Fuels 60 The Burn Road Doagh Ballyclare 028 93322450
Young Fuels 91 Lisburn Road Glenavy Crumlin 028 94422071
Richard Lee Fuels 117a Ballymena Road Doagh Ballyclare 028 93342059
Taylor Fuels 23A Ballylinney Road Ballyclare Co. Antrim 07710 803445
Stephen Morris Fuels 123 Lylehill Road Templepatrick Co Antrim 028 90835939
D E Andrews 326 Crumlin Road Belfast Co. Antrim 028 90749595
WR Kennedy Fuels 27A Pennybridge Ind. Est Ballymena Co. Antrim 028 25656616
Finlay Fuels 170 Moneyrea Road Ballygowan Co. Down 028 97528332
For further details on the scheme including a full list of oil stamp outlets please contact Newtownabbey Borough Council on 028 9034 0160 or visit www.newtownabbey.gov.uk/oilstamp.
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29 October 2009
DVCA Autumn Concerts 2009
Melanie Johnston (Soprano)
Emma Gibbins (Piano) 
"AUTUMN CONCERT 2009"
Last year saw the beginning of the Autumn Concerts Doagh. The four original concerts were organized by Doagh Village Community Association to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Newtownabbey Borough. The performances were so enjoyed by those who attended that the Association have committed themselves to make the concert an annual event.
The aim of staging the events here in Doagh is to provide high class performances locally thus making it much more convenient for the local community to attend without having to travel long distances to enjoy superb live entertainment.
Last autumn we collaborated with our partners from Mont-Dol and Dol de Bretagne in Brittany who arranged for two accomplished artists, pianist and singer Thibaut Guillois and Beatrice Tronel, to give concerts here in Doagh. Several of us visited Brittany to attend their series of "Musicales Hivernales". Having seen the impact this was having in another rural community similar to Doagh we felt that repeating this initiative here would be of great benefit to our own community.
For the first concert this year we have managed to attract a truly gifted local singer to open our season. She is Melanie Johnston who presently lives in Ballyclare. Her mother Norma, who is also a singer, actually lives here in Doagh! Melanie will be accompanied by Emma Gibbins, an accomplished pianist who is presently the Director of Music at St George's Church in the center of Belfast. The concert is supported by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland and Newtownabbey Borough Council
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