Much to discuss

PRESIDENT Valerie Greenhill welcomed members, prospective new members and several invited members from Hathern and Nanpantan WIs to the June meeting of the Thorpe Acre WI held at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall on Tuesday the 13th at 7.30pm. Four birthday cards were handed out, including one to our Secretary. Several members supped either tea or coffee when we visited the Cheesecake Shop in May. One or two even managed to sample the delightful confectionary on offer. Our next coffee morning will be at Dolcino’s in July. In the meantime we will be visiting Caravelli’s for lunch later this month. Thank goodness August is off the menu! A small group went to see a streamed performance by ‘ Take That’ from the O2 arena. There was lots of hand waving and even dancing in the aisles, and that was just in the cinema! On the horizon will be a viewing of ‘My Cousin Rachel’ and arrangements for Andre Rieu’s Maastrict Concert will be confirmed. Carole was thanked for arranging the Indoor Bowling Session and, judging by the photos, everyone had a wonderful evening. Leaflets are available to anyone wishing to become bona fide bowlers. The arrangements for our ‘Great Get-Together’ event have been finalised. We will be expecting around thirty people from Hanover Court, Sir Robert Martin Court and All Saints Church. And according to the weatherperson we can also expect a lovely sunny afternoon! A big thank-you goes to Morrisons who provided the “icing on the cake” as they gave us £20’s worth of vouchers from their Community Support Budget towards refreshments. Other events in June include a visit to Hathern WI to hear Julie Ede speak on ‘Edith Piaf’ and Sue W’s long awaited Strawberry Tea Party. Members were asked to sign a 90th birthday card for Audrey that, along with a bouquet of flowers, will be given to her at Sue’s. The first round in this year’s darts competition brought mixed fortune. Team 1 beat Mountsorrel six games to one whilst Team 2 narrowly lost to Thrussington, three games to four. Second round matches have been arranged for later this month. All spectators will be welcome. Due to time constraints, Marilyn gave a short report on the voting outcomes at this year’s AGM held in Liverpool. A full, unexpurgated version will be given at the next meeting. Members were advised that correspondence from WI House would be placed at the front of table for their perusal during tea and that items relating to these could be found in County News. Julie tempted us with another fine selection of scarves for us to buy over tea, the proceeds going to LOROS. Tickets for the Federation Quiz were handed out to the two teams in this year’s competition. The speakers for this evening were the Workhouse Storytellers of Southall, a group of four volunteers allied to the Southall Workhouse owned by the National Trust. Dressed in costumes from the 1820’s the volunteers told their tales of life in the workhouse. The main inference was that life was hard for the poor and a single change in circumstances such as the death of a husband or loss of a job that had tithed accommodation meant that, other than vagrancy, there was nowhere else to go. However, it was pointed out that, by law, they had to have three meals a day, be treated when they were ill and the children were trained in some form of occupation. Valerie thanked them for sharing their very poignant, light hearted narratives. The competition, ‘A Peg Doll’ was won by Sue Young and the raffle prizes went to six lucky members. Refreshments were provided by Julie Hockley, Irene Kerfoot and Janice Riddle. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, 11th July, at 7.30pm at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall. Brenda Featherstone will be demonstrating ‘Farmhouse Cooking’. Do pop along. There’ll definitely be a cup of tea and a biscuit waiting for you and depending on the success of the demonstrations perhaps a little more.