Mitcham Carnival

On Saturday, I participated in the Mitcham Carnival and the parade from Figges Marsh to Three Kings Piece. The parade was an enormous success with many different floats, along with hundreds of people on the side of the road cheering the parade on. The Carnival itself is always one of the highlights of the mayoral year in Merton, and this year was no exception. At the end of the parade, I had to pick the winning float, and after careful consideration I chose Blue Starz, a dance and cheerleading outfit. They received a trophy, with the other participants all getting certificates.

At the Carnival itself, along with my consort for the day Catherine O'Neill, I visited various stalls along with meeting many different people in the course of the day. As happens on nearly any other mayoral engagement, my attendant Carl was busy taking photographs of the day; it is something I've got very used to in my month as mayor but it'll provide a great memento of my mayoral year when it's all over!

After a short visit to attend an environmental fayre in Wimbledon, I returned to present the prizes in the little league football competition. Mike Smith, manager of McDonalds Mitcham donated the trophies and he also supplied food, which was certainly appreciated by myself as finding time to eat is not an easy task in the course of the day. His generosity and commitment is greatly appreciated by myself.

In all, I would like to thank everyone involved in organising such a wonderful carnival, the mayoral office in Merton co-ordinates the carnival but it's a huge logistical operation to get everything right and ensure that it works properly. It was also a great joy to see so many people having such a good time and enjoying the day.

I feel exhausted, but I've certainly enjoyed myself today.