Down District Council offices closed on Friday 28 September at 12 noon to facilitate ‘The Big Move’ to their new offices. The new offices will open on Monday 1 October 2012 at 12 noon.

The new DDC address is:

Down District Council,
Downshire Civic Centre,
Downshire Estate,
Ardglass Road,
Downpatrick,
BT30 6RA.

The DDC telephone number will not change. For further information please telephone 028 4461 0800 or visit www.downdc.gov.uk/The-Big-Move.aspx

Saintfield Heritage Society produces a small book on local history and heritage every four years.  The book sub-committee is starting to put together Book 9 and invites articles and stories about Saintfield people and events. Please contact info [at] discoversaintfield.com if you have an idea for an article or are willing to write one.

 MARA aims to:

 Increase access to home improvement schemes particularly energy efficiency grants
 Increase access to full benefit entitlement checks
 Increase access to a range of local services
 Increase access to a range of regional/universal services
 Increase access to community transport

Groups entitled are:

 Fishermen
 Farmers
 Lone/single parents
 Ethnic minorities
 Carers
 Elderly
 Others at risk

If you or someone you know would benefit from the project, contact:

County Down Rural Community Network,
Ballymote Centre,
40 Killough Road,
Downpatrick,
BT30 6PY

Tel: 028 4461 2311 

The digital TV switchover is the process of turning off the UK’s analogue TV signal and replacing it with a digital signal. To keep your TV service, you will need to convert your TVs to digital before Northern Ireland’s switchover date. The switchover commences on 10th October 2012 and will be completed on 24th October.

You can check if you or someone you know is eligible by using this online eligibility checker.

If you are not sure if you are eligible for help, call free on 0800 40 85 900 or e-mail info@helpscheme.co.uk

Or, you can vist the website of the Switchover Help Scheme.

General information on the switchover, including details on re-tuning your TV, can be found here.

The African Children’s Choir will be performing at First Presbyterian Church Saintfield on Saturday 20th October.  The concert will begin at 7:00 pm, and further details can be obtained by contacting the Church Office on 97519883.

Since 1984 over one thousand children have toured as members of the African Children’s Choir. Their message of hope has touched audiences around the world, and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Africa’s most vulnerable children and families.

The African Children’s Choir is just one program run by Music for Life. The tour raises money to support educational and humanitarian programs across East and South Africa. Music for Life currently works in seven African countries: Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Sudan.

Doug Robertson of Stittsville, Ontario, Canada has contacted us as he is tyring to document his family history.

Doug’s mother is Jane Robertson (nee Mack) born in May 1932 in Belfast and who emigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada at age 24. She is now 80 years of age but remembers that, as a teenager, her Aunt Mary Mack as well as her Uncle George Best & Aunt Annie Best (nee Mack) used to take her to a Presbyterian church yard in Saintfield to visit the grave where her grandfather & grandmother are buried.

Doug’s grandfather was William Andrew Mack born June 9, 1901 and who died Feb 14, 1983 at the age of 81. He is buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Belfast. His wife (also buried in Roselawn Cemetery) was Margaret Mack (nee Kennedy) born September 1900 in Raphoe, County Donegal and who died May 8, 1973 at the age of 72.

Doug’s great grandfather, possibly named William Mack, and his great grandmother named Annie Mack are possibly buried in the graveyard of First Presbyterian Church in Saintfield. Also in the same grave are his mother’s Uncle John Mack (i.e. one of two sons of William and Annie), and her Aunt Mary Mack (i.e., one of two daughters of William and Annie). William’s and Annie’s other daughter, named Annie Best (nee Mack), married George Best of Belfast and is buried elsewhere.

Doug’s mother Jane remembers the grave being around the right side of a church building near the back of the building. She remembers it being on Saintfield’s main street where the shops are located and she describes a building with a long front walk much like that in front of First Presbyterian Church. She says that the ground at the grave was slightly elevated, the grave was surrounded by stone with a metal railing mounted on it and the grave marker was one of the large, horizontal-type stones laid over the top of the grave, like those that typically cover most of the grave but she can’t remember if it did actually cover the whole grave.

Any advice, references or information that you could give Doug would be greatly appreciated.  Please contact us via:

info [at] discoversaintfield.com

Saintfield will come alive with the sound of music on the evening of Friday 28th September when the town welcomes the Dromore and District Male Voice Choir accompanied by world-renowned organ supremo Stephen Hamill. This will be the first concert on the new Phoenix church organ which was dedicated last November.

The highly-renowned Dromore and District Male Voice Choir will lift the roof with a much-anticipated packed musical programme. The local Male Voice Choir was formed in 1957 and consists of around 30 talented singers. The choir is directed by brothers Mr David Thompson and Mr Stephen Thompson and performs regularly at concerts and church services throughout the country.

Stephen Hamill, BSc LTCL, who will be accompanying the Dromore and District Male Voice Choir on the Phoenix organ, has taken an active part in musical life in Northern Ireland for over 30 years both as a soloist and an accompanist to several of Northern Ireland’s leading choirs. He has played with the Ulster Orchestra and has broadcast regularly on television and radio. Stephen has also given solo recitals in St Paul’s Cathedral in London and St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Stephen, a specialist in the Phoenix Organ system, installed the 35 rank organ himself in 2^nd Saintfield Presbyterian Church and is looking forward to using his musical talents to show the instrument off to its full potential.

The concert is a non-ticketed event and a retiring offering will be taken in aid of the new church hall building fund. A flyer for the event can be downloaded here.