News in brief
Tuam blast-off aims for rocket record A SITE on farmland on the outskirts of Tuam may be the setting for a new Irish record for the highest-flying rocket on this Saturday (June 8). The Irish Rocketry group will be holding their rocket launch event on farmland at Cloonkeen, off the Athenry Road. Tuam resident Eric Stenzel says one of their members aims to create a new Irish record for the highest-flying rocket ever launched on Irish soil. â€Å“The first rocket should be flying around noon and one of our members, Ash McFadden from Donegal, who currently hold the Irish record for launching a rocket to a height of 12,500 feet last year, aims to break this record on Saturday,â€Â says Eric. For the past seven years Eric has been organising model rocketry events annually at this site outside Tuam and three years ago he assembled Irelandâ€â„¢s tallest model rocket, a 17 feet-tall craft which soared almost 1,000 feet into the air before its parachute was activated and it safely came back down to earth near the launch site. Model rocketry enthusiasts from around Ireland are expected to travel again to the site off the Athenry Road on Saturday morning. While members of the public are invited to watch for free, Eric says it is important for people to be aware that there are no toilets or seating facilities at the site. Eric is also planning a fireworks display to be held in Tuam during Halloween with the proceeds going to charity, but for now all his efforts are focused on the rocket launch this Saturday. â€Å“The fuel used to power the rockets is the same as what is used for the space shuttle,â€Â says Eric, who is from California but is married to a Tuam woman and living at Weir Road for the past few years. â€Å“There is a growing interest in model rocketry and it will be exciting if a new Irish record is created at our event on Saturday,â€Â concluded Eric. Little Shop of Horrors at The Mall THE Mall Theatre will host the wonderfully entertaining musical Little Shop of Horrors next week when the senior section of Stage Left Youth Theatre takes to the stage. This is a very busy time for the group, as another group production, Rock and Roll, is running this week. Set in a run-down flower shop, there seems to be no hope for the business until a magical plant appears that seems to bring good fortune and prosperity. However, all is not as it seems, as this particular plant has very strange dietary needs. Extremely funny, and with some excellent songs and chorus numbers, this promises to be a hugely entertaining show for all the family. The cast has been working really hard, and that hard work will be on show next Tuesday to Thursday nights, June 11 to 13 at 7.30 pm nightly. Tickets are available from Quinnâ€â„¢s, Bishop St (093-26060). Dinner winner Congratulations to Ann Connolly, the lucky winner of the Greens Menswear and j.t. Sports 40 year celebration competition. Ann won a voucher for dinner for two at the McWilliam Park Hotel, Claremorris.