Busy time for WI
PRESIDENT Valerie Greenhill welcomed members and a visitor to the July meeting of the Thorpe Acre WI held at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall on Tuesday, July 11.
Three cards were given to those members with upcoming birthdays. Apologies to last month’s speakers who were, in fact, ‘ The Workhouse Storytellers of Southwell’ and not Southall. Senior moment methinks!
Marilyn gave her report on this year’s AGM held in Liverpool. The welcome was given by the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anders. Both resolutions, ‘Alleviating Loneliness’ and ‘Plastic Soup: Keep Microplastic Fibres out of the Marine Environment’, were passed.
The two speakers of the day were Jo Fairley founder of the Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate Company and Countdown’s lexicographer, Susie Dent.
The surprise of the meeting was the appearance of ‘ The Retros’ who sang songs by the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers.
Soon most people were singing and dancing in the aisles. Fun was had by all! This was the Chairman’s, Janice Langley, last meeting and in her final address she thanked everyone for their support over the past four, memorable years.
She was especially proud of the fact that during this time the WI had celebrated its Centenary and membership had risen to 225,085 with 498 new Institutes formed.
A small group attended June’s lunch club at Caravelli’s. We were not disappointed as, once again, the food and service were excellent. Our next coffee morning wi
ll be at Dolcino’s in July. After our well earnt rest in August we will be meeting up for coffee at the café in Queen’s Park in September.
Christmas(!) is definitely on its way as we are now booking our Christmas lunch! We’re going back to Beaumanor Hall because we had such a wonderful time last year. We’re going to check it out in September, just to make sure it’s still OK. Pie Night here we come...
Little interest was expressed in seeing the live streaming of Andre Rieu’s Maastrict Concert at the Odeon Cinema this year.
At present the only things that are on the horizon are the films ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘ Victoria and Abdul’.
Valerie read out ‘thank you’ letters from two people who attended to our ‘Great Get-Together’ tea party held at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall on Saturday the 17th June.
This was one of approximately one hundred and forty thousand events that took place across the country in memory of the late Batley and Spent MP, Jo Cox. The tables were decorated with red gingham tablecloths along with red and white flower arrangements.
A selection of finger sandwiches and cakes were provided by the WI ladies, with one member providing homemade jam for the scones.
These were bought using vouchers kindly donated by Morrison’s. Unlimited tea, coffee and soft drinks accompanied the offerings and background music was provided by Glen Miller and Dame Vera Lynne. At the end of the tea party Valerie thanked everyone for coming and hoped that they had an enjoyable time. Several people asked if we were going to do it again next year! The weather person was correct as we did have a lovely afternoon.
Several members visited Hathern WI to hear Julie Ede speak on ‘Edith Piaf’. To say that Edith’s life was a little risqué was an understatement! It was a very entertaining talk and there were some lovely cakes on offer as well!
Sue W. was thanked, in absentia , for hosting this year’s Strawberry Tea. Not only were we well fed but a few of us went home with various bits of her garden!
The second round in this year’s Darts competition again brought mixed fortune. Team A beat Queniborough, six games to one, whilst Team B lost to Mountsorrel, five games two.
The third round was ‘a family affair’ because Team A played Team B.
Each game was hard fought and down to the wire but talent will win out and Team A beat Team B seven games to zero. Not that Team B minded – much! The fourth round will be played sometime in August.
Two teams entered this year’s Federation Quiz held at the Rothley Centre. Both teams scored in the mid 50’s not that far behind the winning total of 67.
However we didn’t come away empty handed as Jo and Julie won two of the raffle prizes. Better luck next time.
Jo reminded us that tickets for the NFWI raffle were still available and please could we check that our ‘pennies for friendship’ were, in fact, pennies and not coins from different realms!
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.
During the meeting wonderful aromas permeated the room. These were emanating from the dishesbeing prepared by our speaker Brenda Featherstone and her very able assisstant, daughter Alice.
She gave us a demonstration of her ‘Farmhouse Cookery’ that included examples of starters, mains and puddings. The dishes contained unusual ingredients such as Weetabix or Shredded Wheat and they all tasted delicious. My favourite was the pork, lemon and almond burgers. She gave us recipe sheets to follow although amounts got a tad altered along the way! While mixing, greasing and pouring she told us tales about her farm in Markfield and farming life. Needless to say not many biscuits were eaten with our tea! Sue Y. gave the vote of thanks.
The competition, ‘An Old Cookery Book’ was won by Jo Seddon, with Sue Young coming 2nd and Irene Kerfoot, 3rd. The two raffle prizes were won by Jill Pritchard and Jan Yeomans. Refreshments were provided by Rosemary Wittingham and Celia Durose.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, August 8, at 7.30pm at the Thorpe Acre Church Hall. Josephine Burgess will be telling us about the charity ‘Save the Children’.
So if you’re at a loose end then do come along as there’ll be a cup of tea, a biscuit and a warm welcome waiting for you.