Postcards from California
Ashbourne WI
THE January meeting of Ashbourne WI was once again held via Zoom. We were pleased to welcome 18 members to a meeting which was chaired by the president, Jill Smith.
It was hosted by Stephanie Cole and we are most grateful to her for setting it up and enabling us to get together.
We are also fortunate to receive regular updates on activities and news within the WI from members of the committee, keeping us all informed.
Our initial speaker was Anthony Savage from the Office of National Statistics. He came to pass on information about the upcoming 2021 census due to take place on Sunday, March 21. The census takes place every 10 years and this year is no exception. Further information will come from local authorities and the Government in due course.
The main speaker was Vivien Tiano, president of Sutton-onthe-hill WI. Vivien’s talk was about the trip to California she and her husband, Max, had undertaken in September 2012.
Delving into the family history of her husband, they discovered that Max had family in California and from a postcard dated 1915 from San Francisco, they were able to trace the living family.
So, they contacted the relations in 2006 and six years later set off to visit them.
Flying to Los Angeles and then connecting to San Francisco, they were met by Max’s cousin, Cliff, and his wife, who took them around some of the well-known tourist sights of San Francisco – Universal Exhibition Park, the famous Japanese Gardens and Alcatraz prison on the island in the Bay – closed by Robert Kennedy in 1963 but now a tourist attraction.
They visited and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, the charming town of Sausalito and admired the trolley cars in the city.
Following their time with the family Vivien and Max hired a camper van to travel further afield in the state.
From San Francisco they travelled north to the Redwood National and State Parks then east to Indian country and Lassen Volcano National Park and down to Sacramento, the state capital.
They enjoyed the beauty of Lake Tahoe, on the border with Nevada, and then proceeded south to Yosemite National Park, visiting the town of Mariposa, Kings Canyon National Park and the Sequoia National Park, before returning to San Francisco.
After returning the rental camper they then met up with some of Vivien’s cousins – her father’s brother, found through her family history work.
A vote of thanks was given by committee member Jill Foster, who thanked Vivien for an hour of escape from our present climate to the warmth of California.
The next meeting will take place again via Zoom on Thursday, February 11, when Richard Rickitt, of Beecraft Magazine, will talk about honey bees and the competition will be “A recipe using honey”.
Any members wishing to attend and who has not participated as yet in the zoom meetings is asked to contact Stephanie Cole.