JANUARY 2024 HERALD ONLINE

18
20 years of
Facebook
ALMOST twenty years ago,
on 4th February 2004,
Facebook, the social media
networking platform, was
launched.
Originally known as thefacebook.
com, it was intended by Mark
Zuckerberg and four other Harvard
students – Eduardo Saverin,
Andrew McCollum, Dustin
Moskovitz and Chris Hughes – to
create “a directory of information
for college students”, but it soon
expanded, and each of the five cofounders
developed different roles.
All except Moskowitz are now not
part of the Facebook empire, but all
are extremely rich.
A year after it was launched,
Facebook lost the “the” from its
name, and the following year it got
rid of its students-only restriction.
In its new form Zuckerberg, from
an early stage the main man of
Facebook, said the original aim
was for Facebook users to take
their online identities with them
around the internet without having
to register individual accounts for
each website or app.
The swift development of
Facebook, which went public in
2012, has involved Zuckerberg
in many lawsuits, and he has
demonstrated a wide-ranging ability
to win people over. He is also
extremely clever. He has never
revealed his own political affiliation
or voting history, and is hard to pin
down. He was raised as a Reform
Jew, went through a period when
he espoused atheism, but more
recently has said he “believes
religion is very important”.
In September last year his net
worth was estimated at not far
short of £50 billion, but he receives
a one-dollar salary as CEO of
Facebook, and he and his wife
Priscilla Chan give away huge
amounts of money, some of which
goes to fighting antisemitism
and backing educational and
community initiatives. Facebook is
banned in China.
Wise Words
If you want to be sad, live
in the past.
If you want to be anxious,
live in the future.
If you want to be peaceful,
LIVE IN THE NOW.
THE HERALD • MID-JANUARY 2024 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@markfieldherald.co.uk
CHRISTMAS TREES,
CHRISTINGLES & MUCH
MORE!
WHAT A BUSY
and very
rewarding
time we had
at Markfield
Methodist
Church in
the run-up to
Christmas.
The Christmas
Tree Festival
drew a wonderful
response from
individuals &
groups in the
community. It was amazing how much thought and effort had gone into
decorating trees with the theme of Christmas songs, and we hope that their
preparations gave as much pleasure to everyone as their finished products
gave to all who came to visit.
On a bitterly cold Friday morning, classes from Mercenfeld School and
Apple Tree Day Nursery came to the church to see their trees.
They enjoyed picking out their own artistic contributions and deciding
which tree was their favourite. We were particularly delighted to hear the
children sing their Christmas songs. During the weekend we welcomed
many folks who came for the turkey, cranberry & stuffing cobs on Saturday,
& families who braved the snow on Sunday. So, many, many thanks to
everyone who supported us and for your generosity & friendliness. It was a
pleasure to meet you all.
The weekend concluded with “Carol Praise” which was quite special as
we sat among the trees.
Crafty Christmas was a new venture and again we had a most enjoyable
afternoon as both children and adults interacted & made things together.
There were many craft activities on offer and all the children made their
own Christingle. This was followed by a short act of worship when the
significance of the Christingle components was re-visited and we sang the
Christingle song before lighting the candles & singing “Away in a Manger”
with dimmed lighting.
It was all very safe and the only slight smell of burning was when one
of our older participants chose to toast her marshmallows on the candle
flame!
After a prayer it was time for food, time for chatting, and time to get to
know each other a little better. We can safely say that a good time was
had by all.
Carols on The Green was organised by Churches Together in Markfield
- and wasn’t there a wonderful turn-out! It was a joy to have so many
families join in what has become an annual event. This year the Methodist
minister, Revd Jimi Kaci - who loves singing - did a fine job in leading the
evening & linked each carol with relevant bible passages which made
“coming to sing carols” a little more special. Afterwards we went into the
church rooms for well-earned and warming refreshments - and another
chance to catch up with folks.
We a r e g r a t e f u l t o M a r k fi e l d P a r i s h C o u n c i l f o r t h e i r c o n t i n u e d s u p p o r t .
Carols at the Co-op saw members of Markfield churches singing together
for almost an hour. (We shortened the time slightly before we got too cold
and hoarse.) However, we hope we conveyed the spirit of Christmas to all
those busy shoppers who heard us.
Our Carol Service was more traditional when the Christmas story was
told in readings, congregational carols, and items sung by the church choir.
There was a time of reflection on the preparation involved in our giving of
gifts, the preparation that went into the giving of God’s gift at Christmas -
and what our response might be to receiving that gift.
As always we welcome you to join us at our weekly Sunday worship and
at all our other activities. We have “Come for a Cuppa” every Wednesday
morning from 9.30 – 12.30 and on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays of the month
there is “Music Café” which is now in its 10th year! Other events will be
advertised as they arise. May we wish you love, peace & joy for 2024.
I have all the money I’ll ever need - if I die by 4 o’clock today.
Bradgate
Rotary News
THE BRADGATE Rotary
team helped Santa to visit
the villages around the
Bradgate area
Over £500 was raised for
Rainbows Children’s Hospice in
December by Bradgate Rotary
helping Santa visit the boys and
girls of Groby, Markfield, Newtown
Linford, Anstey and Glenfield.
To give Santa’s reindeer a bit of a
rest, Rotary, along with support from
the team at Druck, managed to get
Santa and his sleigh to the venues.
These included the Laundon
Way Co-op Store in Groby,
The Nook, Anstey, Mercenfeld
School, Newtown Linford village
hall, Elizabeth Woodville school,
Morrisons Glenfield and Druck’s
Christmas Fair. Gifts for Santa’s
visits were supported by Co-op
Food and Central Co-op.
Freeze Your Bits Off –
Bra Walk – Sunday 14th
January!
OVER 100 WALKERS have
so far registered to take
part in Bradgate Rotary
Club’s first Bra Walk –
“Freeze Your Bits Off”
to help support the local
Breast Cancer Care Unit
based at Glenfield Hospital.
The walk is open to anyone and
only costs £10 to register your
entry and hopefully you will raise
sponsorship from your friends and
family to really make a difference.
The 3-mile walk, which takes
place at Bradgate Park (Newtown
Linford entrance) on Sunday 14th
January 2024. The event will start
at 10.00am and finish by 1.00pm,
so you can walk at your own pace,
with up to 3 hours to complete the
3-mile route.
We are anticipating the weather to
be very cold, after all it is the middle
of winter, so we suggest wearing
your decorated bras on the outside
of your coats - Unless you really
want to “Freeze Your Bits Off”!
Wear your bra whichever way
you wish and there’s a prize for the
best-embellished bra.
Participants will receive a wellstocked
goodie bag as well as
some refreshments provided by the
Co-op Food Group.
To take part please visit www.
bradgaterotaryevents.co.uk