DUNSDEN
DURING the usual business it was announced that a letter had been received from the Help for Heroes charity thanking us for our donation.
It appears the charity is hoping to open more centres and needs another £20million, which gave the committee food for thought.
Five members attended this year’s Speakers Day at Benson village hall and agreed that all eight speakers were well worth the journey.
Various suggestions were put forward for a venue for the Christmas lunch and menus from each are to be requested. The date for the meal was provisionally set for December 3.
Liz Rout gave a talk about how members could take good care of themselves. She discussed various methods of exercise, saying any form of movement was better than none and that a workout could even be done sitting in a chair.
She said happiness and good relationships, with either family or friends, were crucial to good health and advised a good diet that was rich in fibre and with fruit and vegetables to provide the vital vitamins and minerals. She may have been preaching to the converted but it is always good to go back to basics and to excite enthusiasm again.
The competition was to make as many words as possible in 10 minutes from the word “substantively”. The winner was Kathy Elphick who managed an amazing 65.
The flower of the month was won by Jean Peacock with one of the last roses of summer.
The next meeting would be on November 9, when a Mr Horsham would be providing an audio-video flower show.
GREYS
PRESIDENT Varina Clark welcomed visitors and a new member, Joy Bates, to the October meeting. Birthday flowers were presented to Sheila Allen. Names were taken for future events with the visit to Winchester and the Christmas market proving popular.
Members will be celebrating 90 years of Greys WI in 2010 and there was much discussion about the choice of speakers for next year. A special book will be made to record events.
The earliest record books do not have photographs and the christian names of the village members were not included.
Joan King has the longest connection to Greys WI since her mother, Evelyn Cox, was a member in the Thirties. A photograph of her as a very young lady had been kindly donated for the book.
Members have many interests. Jennifer Smith and four friends have published two books of short stories and raised money for the Chilterns and Thames Valley Air Ambulance Trust. Their third book will be launched this month.
The afternoon ended with an excellent harvest tea provided by the committee followed by a quiz.
The winner of the competition for an arrangement of autumn berries was won by Benita Hobday.
The next meeting will be held at 2.30pm on Wednesday (November 18) in Greys village hall. There will be an exhibition of wood sculpture and a talk by Pat Main. Visitors are welcome.
HARPSDEN
AT the October meeting, there was an array of antiques owned by members for local auctioneer Simon Jones to talk about and give an estimated value to.
He gave a lot of information about insurance values and silver hallmarks, among other things.
He was able to tell the owner of a Viennese plate that if she still had the pair the value would have been much higher. Sadly, the other plate had been broken.
Other items on which Mr Jones elaborated were a silver Georgian punch ladle, a silver mustard pot, a dressing table set in ebony (complete with hair tidy), various items of jewellery dated around 1880, a beautiful opal ring of about the same era, a stoneware scent bottle, a miniature dated 1830, a tortoiseshell button hook and a pewter tankard which had seen better days and which he thought had probably been hurled across the room several times.
President Mary Burton thanked Mr Jones for such an interesting talk and members then had the opportunity to look at the items more closely and ask him further questions.
Mary had previously welcomed two visitors, Val Moore and Eileen Heap, and new members Moira Morland and Noelle Morgan and welcomed back Rosemary Emmerson after a short break. Birthdays were celebrated by Eileen Needleman and Jean Smith.
A tapestry picture, which had been embroidered by members several years ago and which had hung in the Oxfordshire bedroom at Denman College, is to be returned to us as it is no longer required by the college. A decision will be taken as to where it should be kept.
The literary group will meet on Wednesday (November 18) at Doreen Cave’s house. The group meeting, consisting of Bix, Peppard and Shiplake WIs, was to be hosted by Harpsden WI on October 28 with a talk on the history of Punch And Judy.
Pat Williams has organised outings to see Calendar Girls at the Noel Coward Theatre in December, to Sonning Mill in January and to the Kenton Theatre in Henley in February. Doreen will be hosting a fund-raising lunch on November 25.
The next meeting would be at 2.30pm on November 11 at Harpsden village hall when Mark Richards would speak about insurance.
NETTLEBED
THE October meeting was opened by president Christine Marsh and after the business, members and visitors enjoyed a Harvest Festival supper prepared and served by the committee.
Afterwards, Christine introduced Thelma Sanders for an evening of “verses and ditties”.
Thelma, who trained as a nurse in Oxford but is involved in drama and is a member of a choir, recited verses by Pam Ayers in perfect dialect.
We also had readings from William Shakespeare, John Betjeman, John Keats and Alan Curnow.
Thelma also read a story from Shirley Valentine written by Willy Russell. Her Liverpudlian accent was amazing.
She read poems including A Nurse On Night Duty, Love Is Like A Curry and The Diary Of A Church Mouse as well as Just Add Water, Instant Man, which had members in hysterics. In fact, the whole evening was very light-hearted with lots of fun and laughter.
The vote of thanks was given by Doris Meheux.
The monthly flower competition was won by Kath Doig, who also won the competition for the best gift-wrapped bottle.
The next meeting will be held on Monday (November 16) at 7.15pm in the village school hall. New members are welcome.
PEPPARD
A VERY successful open day was held in October to mark our 90th anniversary.
President Irene Lindsay planned and organised this spectacular event, gathering together many cuttings and photographs of past and present members’ work from over the years.
The display also included the award-wining wall-hanging made for the 80th anniversary and minutes of meetings and scrapbooks.
Previous presidents Pamela Davies and Molly Lindlaw were particularly welcome as were many members from other branches and local friends. A produce and cake stall was popular and the grand draw was well supported by local businesses
SHIPLAKE
PRESIDENT Rachel Lloyd welcomed more than 30 members and a guest to the October meeting.
She thanked her vice- president Pam Hudgell for taking the meeting in September, when she was in Australia.
The National Federation of Women’s Institutes is now online. Members have been informed that following the successful launch of the Twitter page and the chairwoman’s log site there is now an official WI page on Facebook. It is hoped that by joining the page anyone interested can more easily learn about the WI.
Rachel reminded members that she would be placing a poppy wreath on behalf of the institute at the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at Shiplake War Memorial. She hoped that as many ladies as possible would be able to join her.
The speaker for the afternoon was Lynne Nesbit, from the Brooke Hospital for Animals.
Fifty per cent of the charity’s work is the welfare of working animals in 10 of the world’s poorest countries. These animals are vital to the existence of their owners but this very often means that they are literally worked to death.
With an annual expenditure of just £8million and a staff of 800, the charity sends mobile teams of veterinary clinics into villages to relieve the suffering of any working animals and help with the development of the local people.
To do this, they must first gain the trust of the farmers and their families, as well as the local farriers and saddlers. It is only then that the treatment of an animal can begin.
The teams educate owners in animal welfare and hygiene and work with local children with competitions and drawing lessons so, hopefully, they are then able to leave an area in a sustainable condition.
Although some of the talk took us out of our “comfort zone”, it was also inspirational.
The afternoon finished with a lovely tea served by hostesses Joyce Vernon, Christine Bishopp and Chris Dowling.
Meetings take place in the Memorial Hall, Shiplake, at 2.30pm on the third Wednesday of each month. Visitors are always welcome. For more information, call Rachel Lloyd on (0118) 940 3975.
SONNING COMMON
THERE was very little business to conduct at the October meeting but produce and items for sale were requested for the autumn fayre to be held in the village hall tomorrow (Saturday, November 14) from 10am to 2pm.
Christmas cards for the Chilterns and Thames Valley Air Ambulance Trust are now available and payment was requested for the Christmas lunch to be held at Caversham Golf Club.Joyce Hargreaves was to hold another coffee morning at her house on November 4. The speaker was Penny Dick, a community representative from Billingtons, the sugar company. Her talk was called Sugar And Spice (but was mainly about sugar!).
She told us about herself and her family before speaking about the origins of Billingtons and flour firm Allinsons, an associated company.
Using slides, Penny showed us a demonstration of bread-making and explained how different sugars were produced from white beet sugar and demerara and muscavado from sugar cane.
Members were disappointed to learn that, despite some people thinking brown sugar is healthier, there is no difference between them calorie-wise.
Members were given two sachets of sugar to test our taste buds. Pat Butler gave the vote of thanks and at the end of the evening each member received a bag containing a pack of sugar and some recipes.
The flower of the month was won by Sue Hedges with Carol Wilson and Sue Frayling-Cork joint second and Ann Chivers fourth.
STOKE ROW
AT our October meeting, the speaker was from the Citizens Advice Bureau.
The first bureaux were set up just after the Second World War mainly to give advice about rationing and help men returning from the war. Among the first two were one in someone’s sitting room and the other in a horse box.
Henley has had a bureau for 31 years, which is partly paid for from public fund-raising.
Its needs change according to the times and in the present financial climate there is an even greater demand on resources. There will be a recruitment drive for volunteers in November.
As usual, there were invitations to visit other WIs and a planned Christmas meal in early December to discuss.
Members were asked if they would like to set up a book group. Several were interested and we will consider getting someone from Henley library to talk to us about this after Christmas.
Letters had been received from the Alzheimer’s Society thanking us for our donations and for the jewellery collection which had been made over the summer.
The craft group was to have a tutor to show how to make decoupage cards in November. Someone from Pendon Museum will be the speaker at our next meeting.
Anyone interested in joining should call Julia on (01491) 642341.
WOODCOTE
OUR October meeting was a Harvest Lunch.
The lunch tables looked beautiful, decorated with late autumn flowers: dark burgundy hydrangea heads and enormous, shaggy dahlias in yellows and pinks.
The brightness of the table decorations echoed the glorious colours of the falling autumn leaves outside.
Members of the WI are famous for their cooking skills and the “bring and share” lunch didn’t disappoint.
The table groaned under the weight of quiches, sandwiches, wonderful salads and bits of this and that. It was almost impossible to choose what to have (perhaps a little of everything).
There was a gentle hum as the eating got under way and just when we thought that we couldn’t possibly eat another morsel, we were invited to approach the puddings table!
The pudding included apple pie, trifle, a fabulous- looking meringue decorated with raspberries, a selection of cheeses, figs and shimmering creme caramel. Cups of tea followed.
Gill Woods had devised a fiendishly difficult quiz over which we pondered, pooling information and scratching our heads. Rita finally claimed the winner’s prize.
There were decisions to be taken about which outing to go on: a night at the theatre in Oxford, or maybe an evening of Christmas songs; a day trip to Winchester Cathedral and Christmas market, or Bicester shopping village and garden centre. Perhaps a convivial lunch at the local pub?
The walking group were preparing for a longer expedition this month, with a stop for lunch along the way. The chance to chat group would be meeting at Gillian’s home.
There would be an opportunity to attend the group meeting at Streatley and listen to a talk entitled, How To Paint A Picture While Your Buns Are In The Oven.
We were saddened to hear of the death of our oldest member, Emma (known to us as Unice) May, at the great age of 99. She will be sadly missed.
Our Christmas party will be held on December 16.
DO you know someone who is an unsung hero?
Perhaps they are a carer looking after a disabled or sick relative, a helpful neighbour or someone who works tirelessly for the community.
Last month’s winner was Penny Harvey, 65, from Sonning Common, who raised £70,000 for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.
We all know people like this — and now is your chance to recognise them with a reward.
The Standardhas teamed up with Sonning Flowers and Nicolas wines have to do is nominate your unsung hero, saying why they deserve this great prize and we will select a winner each month.
Sonning Flowers, which is based at the Old Barn, Whittles Farm, Mapledurham, is run by Nicola Boardman and Mandy Alberry and provides “stunning flowers, beautifully arranged”. Each prize bouquet will be made up of the freshest seasonal flowers to the value of £55.
Nicolas Wines, which is based at 22 Market Place, Henley, has been specialising in the sale of fine wines since 1822. To nominate your unsung hero, send us his or her name, address and telephone number, plus the reason they deserve the prize (in no more than 100 words), together with your full details, to: Henley Heroes, Henley Standard,Caxton House, Station Road, Henley RG9 1AD.
This invitation to nominate people will appear in the Standard each week and online at www.henleystandard.co.uk and we will publish a story about the winners each month.
For more information, go to www.sonningflowers.com or www.nicolas.com
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Published on 16 November 2009
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