IT’S the annual Sark Sheep Racing meeting this weekend and the hard-working members of the island’s Carnival Committee – and virtually everyone else, for that matter – are hoping for fine weather and boatloads of tourists.

The two-day meeting – tomorrow is Newmarket Day, while Sunday is Ascot Day (I presume that means people dressed in their finery) – raises money for Sark’s principal charity, the Professor Saint Medical Fund, which subsidises the cost of prescribed medication for residents.

Funds have been bolstered, as they always are, by residents and businesses sponsoring runners and races and if anyone is minded to waste a few pounds in aid of a good cause they could do worse than back Hot Gossip which hails from good stock (out of Ear to the Ground by Newshounds).

Having rarely backed a race-winner in my life, I’m not holding my breath about this particular ewe’s chances, but with shepherd Dave Scott’s meticulous training methods having prepared it, I suppose it’s got as much chance as the rest.

The event will also determine who holds the Miss Sark Princess title for the next 12 months – the principal function of the fortunate young lady being, at some time during the autumn months, the handing over of a cheque from the Carnival Committee to medical officer Dr Peter Counsell, who will receive it on behalf of the Medical Fund. The function at which that pleasing little ceremony takes place is the Cheque Presentation Night or, if the truth is known, yet another attempt by the Carnival Committee to get more money out of those willing to part with it. Lest my remarks be misinterpreted – and there appear to be a small handful of people always anxious for such opportunities – let me stress that the presentation of the cheque is one of the nicest, most relaxing and certainly most enjoyable of the many fund-raising events held in Sark.

Sark artist Roseanne Guille in her newly-opened studio. (0807286)

Roseanne Guille is probably the best known of the island’s current crop of talented artists and she has recently opened a new studio at the home she and her husband Peter Byrne are building.

Having written several times about Roseanne’s work, there’s not a lot more I can say except that what she has exhibited is as comprehensive an artistic study of Sark’s wildlife and scenery as anyone is likely to find anywhere.

Incidentally, her house/gallery can be found by taking the first turning on the left after La Seigneurie – as if going to Window in the Rock or Port du Moulin – and it’s about 100 yards or so down there on the left.
There’s not a great deal left to say about last week’s Chief Pleas sitting, which took precisely two hours and 10 minutes to deal with a 22-item agenda – and that included a 15-minute break for those who wanted either to stretch their legs or seek what they might describe as a comforting draw on a cigarette. I mention that, only because the break followed immediately after a discussion on smoking bans.

I and others – several of them, actually – who listened found it ironic that virtually every building either owned or administered by the public was listed or discussed, including the Harbour Cafe, the tenant of which was unaware that fairly serious consideration was being given to making a decision which could have had a material effect on her livelihood, yet somehow the Island Hall was omitted.

If consideration was given to banning smoking in the Harbour Cafe on the grounds that it is publicly owned then surely fairness decrees that the same consideration should apply to all publicly-owned property?

Is it that people are afraid to discuss the Hall for fear of having a label attached to them?

• The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.