ACCRINGTON DISTRICT PROBUS CLUB

MONDAY, July 15, Tony took the chair on this beautiful morning, thanking the members who had sorted the coffee and tea at very short notice.

Although we continue to know our venue as the ‘supper room’ and despite the fact that this legend appears above both entrances, the official name for the room is apparently ‘The Gallery’.

Confusion, it seems, will continue to reign and this was very much in line with the theme for this morning’s entertainment.

Pauline and Sue call their act ‘Senior Moments’, having rejected ‘Cat’s Whiskers’ and ‘Dog’s DooDas’ at an early stage in the decision to develop their material for public consumption.

This was very much in the nature of a farewell tour as, after more than three years, some three hundred performances, with substantial donations to Macmillan Cancer Support, the ladies are planning to close their show at Christmas this year.

And 45 minutes of very funny, sometimes slightly ribald song and monologue had the whole room laughing throughout.

They established their WI credentials with ‘The Calendar’, including a short parody on Jerusalem.

So it isn’t all jam making and flower arranging then?

We chuckled through ‘The Tea Dance’, but there were some nervous glances among the gentlemen during a rendition of ‘To Keep My Love Alive’.

A real favourite was ‘Petey the Snake’, as he got into a spot of bother for hissing in Mrs Potts’ pit.

Victoria Wood’s ‘Pam’s Song’, followed by ‘Joyce the Librarian’, ‘The Sporting Life’ and a wonderful parody on ‘Memories’, which we all related to, were topped off by a side splitting, ‘Fab Two’ version of a Beatles medley with a difference. A big difference. We hope that Pauline and Sue can find another pair of equally accomplished WI ladies to take on this show: it surely deserves to continue.

Carolyn proposed the vote of thanks for this highly appreciated performance and we hope that ‘The Penguin’ gained enough weight before it was packed to go home.

Carolyn’s homily this week was almost too close to the truth to be funny but got a laugh.

There are still some vacancies for new members.

If you think you might like to share the experience, come along to Accrington Town Hall Supper Room (or Gallery, if you are asking directions?) on a first or third Monday.

The next meeting is August 5, 10am, when Brian Healy will return with part two of ‘When Cotton was King’.

If you are retired or retiring soon, try a free one, with coffee or tea, a biscuit then a chance to introduce yourself and enjoy good company.