Kathikas is one of the 7 Leona villages in the Akamas region of Paphos. There is a very tight community here consisting of both Cypriot and UK expatriate residents. We have always felt welcome here and live in harmony with our Cypriot Neighbours.
This year we were all aware of the Platinum Jubilee of our Queen Elizabeth II and we all wanted to celebrate her enormous achievement. With that in mind several discussions took place in the meetings to try to agree how and when we should celebrate. Sandra Brown viewed the official jubilee website and suggested that we match our celebrations dates with the Jubilee plans. Everyone agreed and therefore we decided to have a charity ‘fun’ horse racing afternoon on Saturday 4th June in line with the Jubilee Royal Derby afternoon and a Jubilee picnic afternoon on Monday 6th June. This slightly differed from the London jubilee picnic afternoon planned due to the Peyia picnic area being very popular on Sundays.
The village ‘Crafty Folk’ got to work with Carol Loasby leading the group to produce some amazing Jubilee hobby horses hats and rosettes, in readiness for the Charity Horse Racing afternoon which was kindly hosted by Yiannis Taverna in the village. A full afternoon of races organised by Penny Riley using racing cards and Alan Brown (clerk of the course) was held with 36 horses ‘ridden’ by the jockeys in full jubilee regalia and the winners of each race being decorated with a jubilee medal. A loyal toast was given by Patrick Langston – Jones to her majesty before the meal. All proceeds from our charity racing afternoon will be donated to local charities.
The picnic was held on Monday afternoon and again jubilee decorations could be seen on the tables and the jubilee revellers were in their red white and blue outfits.
Everyone brought their own picnic with trifles and 1953 style sandwiches were eagerly devoured. To round the afternoon off a Royal Jubilee quiz together with a general knowledge led by Andy and a 1950’s music quiz led by DJ Terry were held with the winning team being given a jubilant bottle of Prosecco fizz!!! A regulation cash bingo was also held by our caller Alan Brown.
A fabulous much enjoyed celebratory weekend was enjoyed by everyone and we all agreed it was worth all the effort and hard work by our team of willing volunteers. Slices of the jubilee celebration cake was handed around at the picnic.
