Presented by: myself to myself, in the early 2010s, on the town green
Here’s an interesting question, if you present a medal to yourself do you truly deserve it? No, probably not but I don’t really care, they are my medals and it’s only a bit of fun. Now sit down comfortably and I shall tell ye the tale of how I ‘won’ them.
My hometown is a town by medieval charter. It had a population of around 2500, and sat next to a working military base. The town had two claims to fame; the base had been used in the film the Dambusters, and Queen Catherine Parr had once been lady of the manor. Everything in the town was within a 10 minutes walk of my house, it was the place that I worked, shopped, & worshipped. I didn’t know everybody in the town personally but I knew of them.
The town has a Town Council, and I in the late 2000s – early 2010s was a Town Councillor elected by the townsfolk. Sure the election had 14 seats and 15 candidates but I put my all into that campaign to win as many votes as possible. I wanted to prove that I was dedicated to the Town and making it the best to live, work, & play. It mattered to me because this was my hometown; the place that I had grown up and I wanted to give others the same opportunities I had.
My proudest achievements were the annual Summer Gala and the Winter Festival. The twin events the Town Council hosted each year. It was important to me that these events were free and a magical extravaganza for young and old alike. For this reason I ended up playing Santa Claus for 3 years on the trot – despite my fear and dislike of children. The Winter Festival was easy, tried and tested over many years but the Gala more of a hotpotch of different bygone ideas.
In the 80s and 90s in summer months the town had a Gymkarna, a Parade, a Strong Man competition, a Tea Party, an agricultural show, and a fair. By the 2010s only the Gala, the agricultural show, & the fair had survived. The Gala combined a sports day with a fundraiser for local groups and charities. Groups had gazebos around the edge of the green while the central portion was cut and marked out for races. To keep the event from feeling stale, each year was given a theme and as a council we looked to see what more we could do.
In my tenure we had a medieval reenactment, we had a race up and down the three hills in the town, & we even considered a soap box derby. However, we decided that the latter was wildly dangerous due to the steepness of the slopes. During the medieval reenactment I acted as MC for the event and was in charge of handing out the medals. This is when I got the idea that I should also award myself medals.
I didn’t compete in the hill race but as I had walked the route previously, I considered that enough to get the medal. Then during breaks from my duties, I tried out all the various events for which the medals were awarded. After each event I hung another medal around my neck. I looked like a medieval olympian by the end of the day. The medals themselves were only plastic on ribbon but the weight did feel quite nice.
When I got home, the medals hung around my judo trophy for a while then slowly migrated to the bottom of my treasure chest. One day they may see the light of day again but when and if they do – then I can tell people not of my great sporting prowess but of the achievements I made in bringing joy to my community.