Amy-Old Skool Barnstormer Drury 9th March 2009

Once a year, a gang of teenagers and a team of adults who often act like they are, take a trip to Utopia. We take over Mayhill, we run mud round Jordan's Place, we gaffa tape wooden spoons together taken from the kitchen, we learn songs on the sofas, we drop cake on the flowerbeds, we flood the bathroom. And Celia lets us. She reigns supreme over our summer fetival of chaos, she knows the details that make it run the way it does. If you are hungry, have lost your voice, ripped your costume or need to make a paper mache' baby, she knows what to do and where to find it. She was quite literally the spine of the Barnstorm body, and I don't know what we're gonna do without her. So many young people have gone into the world with something so special - they are a Barnstormer, and Celia made that happen. She was funny and scary, she was vivacious, wise and a force to be reckoned with. She could drink like a Sailor, laugh like a naughty school girl and be in complete control like a Prime Minister. There will be so many people who will forever continue the Celia traditions embedded on Mayhill, and "only two pieces of cucumber each please!" will echo round the trees. We will look after Gordan for you Celia, and the Kitchen too. And we will never ever forget you. x x xx x x x x xx x x x xx