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Greetings to all members wherever you may
be.
We still hold our meeting on the second
Thursday of each month at 2 p.m. at The Armoury in Stockport. Numbers at
meetings have been varied this year, all due to weather, ill health and our
increasing age. I do admire our members who travel such distances so
cheerfully to attend our meetings. Joyce Edwards, our Treasurer is
wonderful: she has a long way to travel and will pick up ladies en-route
when necessary which is a great help.
In May, we held our spring lunch at our
usual haunt, Heaton Moor Catering College. Fourteen ladies attended and we
had such a lovely afternoon. The food of course, as usual, was wonderful.
24 May: Five of our members went on a canal
trip. Having made our way to Marple (in Cheshire), we left the Marple Basin
at 10 a.m. The skipper and his mate were so informative and knew so much
about the area we were in. It was all very interesting, so peaceful; so much
to see and the sun was so warm and pleasant. After sailing for over two
hours we stopped for lunch at The Miners Arms and it was lovely. After
lunch, we leisurely made our way back to Marple, well fed, sun soaked and
very relaxed – all in all a great day.
2 July: A Bring and Buy at Joan Clarke’s
home in Bramhall. Twenty-six members and guests attended and we had a
wonderful afternoon. Refreshments were served – so good as usual and we
raised £158.25.
19-31 July our Secretary, Elizabeth Lapham,
went on a cruise. One of the places she visited was Iceland. She saw so
many things including icebergs which must have been amazing – she really
enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next time.
September: The ATS Luncheon Club met in
Blackpool. Very enjoyable, three of us from Stockport attended but
unfortunately one of us was ill on the journey and had to return home – such
a shame.
October: We had lunch at the Buxton
Catering College which is in such a beautiful place. It was originally the
Devonshire Hospital, now the University of Derby. Phyllis Warren who lives
in Buxton, but is unable to attend meetings, joined us for the lunch and it
was wonderful to have her with us.
November was a mixture of good and bad.
Sadly, two of our members passed away. Helen Gardiner, a founder member of
the Stockport Branch, died on 5 November. Helen did so much good not just
for us but for many other people – a truly remarkable lady who will be sadly
missed. Also, Emily Reavey, a former Secretary of our group, died on 21
November. Emily did a lot of excellent work until she became ill. She will
also be sadly missed. The services for Helen and Emily were attended by
members of our group. November also saw the visit of three of our members
to London. The weather was not too kind but thankfully they returned safely
having had a good time.
28 November: Another of Joan’s Bring &
Buys. This was well attended and the refreshments were fantastic as usual!
The total raised was £160.00. This money will be used to go towards the
hire of a coach to take us to the Arboretum in spring. Well done Joan –
another great success!
On 12 December we have our Christmas Lunch
at the Heaton Moor Catering College. Hopefully there will be about eighteen
members dining. I am sure we will all have a wonderful time and this will
be the start of the Christmas Celebrations!
We would like to take this opportunity of
wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2008. |
