It is very hard to believe that my last message was a month ago and that we are already half way through the year.
Along with my fellow Advisers, I have been doing Annual Meetings to oversee the voting of Presidents and in many cases conducting discussion and voting on this year’s resolution on recognising ASD and ADHD in women and girls. Thank you to all the WIs who have welcomed me to their meetings.
In addition to Annual Meetings I have had the most enjoyable task of helping Lesbury WI celebrate their centenary, Hedgeley celebrate their 90th birthday (albeit two years late) and by the time you read this I will also have attended a Jubilee event at Newbiggin by the Sea who later in the year will be celebrating their own centenary. Thank you to all of you for your warm welcome and wonderful hospitality.
Two very unusual things have happened during my recent visits both of which go way back to the 1960’s when I worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Northallerton. The first one happened when I visited Warden in Hexham and was asked by a gentleman waiting for his wife at the end of the meeting if I wasn’t talking to him after all this time. I recognised his face but could not get his name at all and we had worked together and lived near to each other back in the day, as the saying goes. Move on a couple of weeks and at Lesbury’s celebration sitting with President Veronica Merryweather it appears that her husband had also worked for MAFF and they were friends with one of the Field Officers that I worked with, again in the 60’s.
I must congratulate Pat Dodd of Warkworth WI who has completed 31 years as Treasurer but the top award goes to Dorothy Forster of Bardon Mill who has completed 35 years before standing down.
As I have travelled to the different WIs I have often been asked to bring back to the Office the pennants that have made to be joined up for our Jubilee Bunting and in the words of Craig Revel Horwood after a particularly outstanding dance routine they are A-MA-ZING. The amount of thought that has gone into depicting each WI and what being a member of it means to them is outstanding with so many different techniques being employed to create the finished article. I really cannot wait to see them all together and I know you will all be astounded when you see them.
Our first Roadshow has now taken place at Ulgham and I am sure that everyone who attended had an enjoyable afternoon. There is still time to put your name down for the remaining three Roadshows at Bamburgh, Heddon on the Wall and Cresswell House.
Well I must now prepare for the Annual Meeting in Liverpool which I expect will be a fantastic event as it will be the first face to face one for two years.
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