WI Newsletter – March 2011

Our members have been laughing a lot this month and this is always welcome.

Abbotts Ann W.I. had a large turn-out for the Spring Council Meeting in Portsmouth where the guest speaker was Ann Widdecombe and she had us laughing from the start with amusing anecdotes from her time in Parliament and her activities since she retired from “The House”. She touched on her stint on Strictly Come Dancing and admitted she had had great fun doing it, although it was her partner Anton who had done all the work. He suggested that the less time she spent on her feet the better! She said the first week she retired she gloried in all the free time now available to her and the second week wondering how she had ever found time to go work. For those of you who haven’t heard, she will be appearing in pantomime later this year with Craig Grevel-Horwood.

Those members who attended the Danebury Group meeting earlier in the month had been fascinated by visual illusions. Reports of both meetings were given to our members at this month’s meeting.

Our own speaker was Gwen Appleton who explained how she came to give up a safe job with a good pension in the Civil Service to become a host for a travel company specialising in holidays for single people. She did this for many years and had us laughing with her various anecdotes of the antics of various members of her groups, but she tempered this with the story of a particularly frightening episode which resulted in someone being killed.

There is no tempting teaser for next month’s meeting as it is being organised by Val Downing and other non-committee members and we the committee know nothing. So if you like a little mystery in your life come along to our meeting on 28th April for a 7.30 p.m. start.

Diary Dates:
2011

05 April – Reading Group

09 April – Walking Group

12 April – Coffee Morning

28 April – Members’ Meeting (this meeting is being organised by non-committee members; it’s all a secret!)

30 April – Lunch

14 May – Walking Group

17 May – Reading Group

26 May – Resolutions & Social Time

Sharon King