Winners of the Ross-on-Wye Carnival Odd Object competition received their prizes this week, which ranged from Book Tokens from Rossiter Books, Gift Tokens from Colemans Stationers and vouchers to spend in Tudor Sweets for the younger entrants. Well done to everyone who took part this year. There was a record number of entries and the eagle eyed winners well deserved their prizes.

Congratulations to the winners who were: Nathan and Abigail Haggett and Harriet Storey, (under 10 section) who scored highest with 82 correct answers; Cameron and Kieron Terry and Brandon Lilly, (10 to 16 section) and Anne Marie Matthews and Lina Hunt, (over 16 section).

Special birthday greetings go to Russell Jones-Walker who will be celebrating his 25th birthday today, 18th August. Unfortunately, Russell won't be celebrating locally this year as he is working as a holiday rep in Crete until November, but we are sure he has already made lots of new friends to celebrate with out there.

We hope you have a fantastic birthday in the sun, Russ and look forward to seeing you in November.

Congratulations go to Jay Hill and Rachel Baugh on the birth of their son. Max Michael Stephen Hill was born yesterday, 17th August at 1:15pm weighing in at 8lb 5oz. Apparently mother and baby are both doing well.

Congratulations again. We look forward to meeting Max in the very near future.

It looks as if Ross-on-Wye has a lot to offer residents and visitors to the town this coming Bank Holiday weekend. For a start, there is the great annual Ross Regatta at the rowing club and for those who prefer a more sedate pastime, St. Mary's Church will be holding a flower festival.

The Association of Ross Traders, (A.R.T) are organizing a food and crafts market for Sunday, 29th August and a charities market is to be held on Monday, 30th. The association is encouraging as many of the local traders as possible to open their shops throughout the weekend and the Gazebo Tower will be open to the public on Bank Holiday Monday.

If you would like a stall at either of the markets, please contact Richard on 01989 762336 to book your place.

Ross Town Band have been entertaining the people of Ross-on-Wye for 25 years now and to celebrate, they are holding a fete in the Caroline Symonds Gardens on Sunday, 22nd August to coincide with their Bands in the Park performance on the Bandstand.

There will be a range of stalls, food and drink, and fun activities for the children too. The event begins at 2pm.

Local MP Jesse Norman has emphasized the importance of river safety at a demonstration of rescue procedures organised by the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue service. His call comes just as the Fire and Rescue service reportedly saved a member of the public in a mud rescue near Ganarew.

Commenting, Jesse said, 'The River Wye is a priceless asset to the county, and I and my family have spent many happy days floating, canoeing and swimming in it. But it is vital that people take care and observe proper safety precautions on this and other local rivers. We are lucky to have the Fire and Rescue service, who do terrific work across the county to ensure public safety, both on and off our rivers. They are a vital resource, all the more so when we have floods like those in July 2007, and I pay particular tribute to them.'

The demonstration also featured the first use of a new rescue boat, specifically designed for local use.

A new temporary charity shop opened in Crofts Court on Monday and the volunteers are very pleased with their first days takings of £471, which will go to Help for Heroes. The shop is open for six weeks and will support three charities. The proceeds from the first fortnight will benefit Help for Heroes with Ross Pre-school Playgroup benefiting from the second two weeks and Ross Rowing Club the third.

The shop currently has on display a Camp Bastion T-shirt which was brought back from Afghanistan last week. The T-shirt will be auctioned at the Masquerade Ball being held to raise funds for Help for Heroes at the Chase Hotel on Friday, 3rd September.

There are three great causes to support at the shop, so why not go along and find yourself a bargain?