Sarnies and Stories and Silent Auction

April's meeting was a really enjoyable and entertaining one.  Refreshments were provided by members taking  'sarnies' and other 'goodies' with the committee providing Wine and Juice.

Jean and Pat organising the buffet

 President, Sue Dixon, started the evening off with the first of many personal 'entertaining' stories with other members following suit. The 'stories' were varied - personal as well as read from books, but all proved very interesting and were well received.

Sue and Jean in 'full flow' .......

After the entertainment Jean Alcock then superbly managed the 'Silent Auction' with some fantastic items up for grabs.  Many members went home happy with the bargains they'd snapped up and a considerable amount was raised for W.I. funds.

'Eyeing Up' the Bargains

Jean - Master of Ceremonies

The evening finished with Sheila receiving her birthday flowers and  Carolyn winning the raffle and all agreeing  what a 'good' night we'd had.

Carolyn

Sheila with her birthday flowers

March Meeting - Peru by Geoff Carr

Sue Dixon with Geoff

For our meeting in March the committee had arranged for local Ecologist Geoff Carr to come and give us an illustrated talk on one of his visits to Peru.

Maccu Picchu

A typical tour led by Geoff starts in Lima, the 'Spanish' capital of Peru followed by a few days on the coastal plain where we saw pictures of the many amazing birds of the area.  The world heritage site of Maccu Picchu is then visited followed by a stay in an eco-lodge in the Amazonas region.

Images from the Amazonas Region

We all found the presentation interesting and informative, and really enjoyed Geoffs' relaxed yet knowledgeable style,  and a lot of members said they would like him to visit again and talk about another area of the world he has visited (Africa) - fingers crossed!

Jill Bartrop gave the vote of thanks and then welcome refreshments were provided by Pauline Coe and Cynthia Valantine.  The raffle was won by Jayne Spaven - a beautiful china tea mug and coaster set (much appreciated.)

Members were then reminded  to sign up for next months 'Sarnies and Stories' evening.

CATS

Some of the talented 'Cats'

Many thanks to Sybil for organizing another trip to  The Academy Theatre, Birdwell to see their fantastic production of 'Cats'.
After braving the snowy conditions outside to get there, the large contingent of WI members were treated to a superbly energetic and well choreographed performance. The only disappointment of the evening was that we weren't snowed in and able to sample the Bacon Butties on offer.  (Next time!!)

Peggy and Marjorie

January Meeting

The first meeting of the New Year was very well attended with everyone keen to catch up with each others news.  After a short "business" meeting, we were pleased to hear we had won £50 for our entry into the South Yorkshire Federations Olympic competition as well as winning the Adult section of the Holy Trinity Christmas Tree Festival for the second year running. A heartfelt 'thank you' was given to Michelle for all her hard work over the years in making birthday flowers for members each month.
We then had a very moving presentation from  Richard Bean, the husband of Sally Bean who died of Pancreatic Cancer at the Northern General Hospital in 2010 and the Charity he runs in her memory.

Logo on Hand Made Bags

Sally and daughter Maisie

To help Sally's death have some meaning the idea of "Sally's Little Bag of Comfort" was born with handmade bags being provided to families in Palliative wards in hospitals to ease the suffering at a difficult time in their lives as well as letting the families know that someone was thinking of them and understood what they were going through.  Individual "spotty" bags were provided for children as well.
After being shown the bags and their contents and a short question and answer session, Sue Delaney thanked Richard for his 'brave' presentation and it was agreed that a collection for the charity be made at the next meeting.  Welcome refreshments were provided by Sheila Kavanagh and Beryl Lawson and the raffle was won by Brenda Allott.

Carol Service at Sheffield Cathedral

A number of members braved the cold to attend the South Yorkshire Federation's annual Carol Service at Sheffield Cathedral.  After an M & S lunch followed by Mulled Wine,  we joined a packed cathedral of fellow WI members to enjoy the chosen readings and carols.  Sherry and Mince pies rounded off the service as we chatted with ladies from other WI's.

Party Night

We enjoyed our Christmas party last Wednesday.  The food was (as ever) delicious.  

 The singers had voices like Angels and entertained us well.

 And even though this is a very blurry photo, I couldn't resist Peggy's face as she tried unsuccessfully to avoid being photographed!

Holy Trinity Christmas Tree Festival

The theme of this years festival was 'Pantomimes' and we were given 'The Wizard of Oz'.  Mary Wilman
kindly collated ideas and materials ready for a group of members to put them into practice.  Red Shoes,

Tin Men, Scarecrows, Lions and other clever ideas were eagerly put together over 'Coffee and Biscuits'.  Mary and Sylvia then skilfully decorated the tree in time for the opening service.  As you can see from the photo the tree looked fantastic, and even if we don't win the 'Best Adult' category again it was lovely to be involved in such a wonderful community event.