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As I write this on a chilly May day it is
hard to realise how beautiful the month of April was – we hope that
glorious weather will soon return.
Reading
my newspaper this morning, all gloom and doom, I can’t help wondering why
editors cannot write a “happy news” page at least once a week to cheer
everyone up. Thank goodness for
the Lioness which we all look forward to.
Everything – hoovering, housework, gardening etc goes on hold when
that arrives and we avidly read, cover to cover, our great publication.
Here
in Bournemouth we are having a quieter time in the Branch in that we have, for
at least this year, decided to cut our formal meetings down to 3 a year, plus
the Christmas lunch. In the months in-between we are meeting informally in the
lounge bar of a local hotel – so far this appears to be working well.
Last
autumn we said farewell to Betty Hulse, who had been our Social Secretary.
Betty and her husband Les have moved to Lincolnshire to be near their
family. We wish her well and
thank her for her contribution to the life of our Branch.
It
was sad to hear of the death of Irene Mills.
Irene lived a way out of Bournemouth but was at meetings regularly
until the journey became too much for her.
Irene died in November but her family did not notify me until just
before Christmas so, unfortunately, we were unable to attend her funeral.
In April, E Nickless died: she was known to us all as Nessie. Nessie moved to Kent several years ago when first diagnosed
with lung cancer and she was able to enjoy that time being cared for by her
family. She was most cheerful
when I last spoke to her 3 months ago. She
had been our Branch Treasurer for some years.
At
our March meeting we welcomed Major Maskens-McIntyre, our South and South West
Area Chairman who gave us a most interesting talk about her herd of Alpacas
and displayed some beautiful articles made from their gloriously soft wool.
Thirteen
of us went to the South & South West Area Reunion in April hosted by the
Salisbury Branch which was good fun – thank you Salisbury.
(On reaching the outskirts of Bournemouth on our homeward journey the
bus broke down, which added to the fun!)
Some
members have attended the ATS Dinner Club, two have been to Blackpool for the
Royal Artillery reunion, others will attend Blandford Camp for the Royal
Signals Association Annual Parade and in September there is an ENIGMA reunion
at Bletchley Park – all occasions to renew old friendships.
We
have bought our Branch AGM forward from November to September when we shall
again discuss the future of the branch.
I
trust that by the time this is printed you all will have enjoyed a pleasant
summer – maybe some of you will have visited us here in Bournemouth.
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