Women's Institute - Kenn Village

May 2015

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

The April meeting started by trying something different to improve our singing of Jerusalem which failed miserably.

Thinking caps on again. There was a good turnout for our speaker Gina Merritt-Smith. Visitors included residents of Kenn and some members from Tickenham W.I.

Our speaker Gina, spoke to us about the Elegance of Fashion, in particular Charles Worth, known most probably more for his perfume than fashion. Charles Worth was a distant relative of Gina’s.

She took us back in time to the when he left the UK for Paris. The founding of the House of Worth in 1858, with its bustles and 18 inch waists right through to its closure in 1956. The brand was revived in 1999 and is now part of the Shaneel Group.

Our visit to Worle Magistrates court was a great success.

It did make us feel sorry for some people who had done what they did to get help or found themselves in a lose/lose situation. It also showed that the supermarkets do not tolerate theft, whatever the amount. A £1.50 packet of sweets ends up costing £100.00!

We are off to the Yeo Valley group meeting at the end of the month. Last time we won the competition with Edna’s icing lady with seven veils. She has done us proud again with an inedible bar of chocolate made from foam.

Following the success of last year’s village treasurer hunt, providing the weather is kind to us, we will be having another one for our May meeting. This will be followed by homemade cake and tea. If you fancy a gentle stroll, you are very welcome to join us. We will be leaving the village hall around 14.45.

April 2015

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

It has been a busy month for many members of the W.I. Some went to the AGM at the Winter Gardens in Weston. Kenn was one of 49 Institutes to parade its banner, made by its members.

The main speaker was author Jane Robinson. She has written several books including one on the W.I. called “a force to be reckoned with”, which Tony Blair found to his cost at the National AGM in 2000.

Nigel Hackett had previously given us a copy in memory of Gill. For those of us who knew Gill, she was a force to be reckoned with. Luckily Ann Holtham managed to get the book signed by Jane. This is available for all W.I. members to read.

Our speaker was Rupert Higgins from the Avon Wildlife Trust. He gave a very interesting talk about several areas which were well known to many of the members. This also sparked a debate between Rupert and some of the members, who are farmers‟ wives, regarding the maintenance of the rhynes.

Many thanks for all of those people that supported us at the March village market. The proceeds of £62 will go to our charity, the League of Friends of Clevedon Hospital. Also my thanks to Edna Baber, Margaret Burdge, Lyn Burnett and Ann Holtham for their help on the morning.

Despite a sterling effort by our skittles team we were beaten by Portishead Harbourside W.I. and we wish them well in the next round.

On the 30th March a group of us will be going to visit the Magistrates Court at Worle. This has been arranged for us by Marilyn Drag J.P. who was our January speaker. Let‟s hope that the same number of us who go in, come out!

Our speaker in April is Gina Merrett – Smith who will be talking on Charles Worth “The Genius of Fashion and Perfume”. It tells the story from his beginnings in a draper‟s shop to his rise to fame. Visitors are most welcome to join us on the 2nd Wednesday of the month starting at 19.30

March 2015

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

The February meeting of Kenn W.I. was well attended.

Our speaker was Mr Brian Cherry the Treasurer of Clevedon Care, our Charity for 2014.

He told us of the workings of the charity and how it relies solely on donations and the goodwill of its volunteers to enable the service to continue.

The service is available to everybody, a nominal charge is made which goes to the driver to cover their costs. At least one member of the W.I. had used the service and was very pleased with the service provide.

Kenn played Marksbury W.I. in the second round of skittles at the Crown Inn at Regil. At the end of a good match Kenn won by 19 pins. We look forward to the next match and hope our opponents are nearer to home.

We will be providing the coffee and cakes at the village market on Saturday 14th March. Proceeds to go to the League of Friends of Clevedon Hospital. Please come and support us.

Our March speaker will be Rupert Higgins who will be talking on “The work of the Avon Wildlife Trust”. Rupert is a freelance ecologist and l am sure his talk will be very interesting. As normal visitors are very welcome to come to the meetings.

February 2015

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

The Kenn W.I. January meeting was well attended despite the wind and rain.

Our speaker was Marilyn Drag, a JP who was appointed in 1997, the same time as Anita Simmons, who was unable to attend as she was meeting the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

Marilyn works on the North Somerset Bench, mainly at Worle Magistrates Court.

She led us into the world of the Courtroom and how the system works and what punishments can be issued. 97% of cases are actually heard in the Magistrates Court, however, all cases start there.

It was great to meet Marilyn but I was glad l was not in front of her!

Our first fund raising event for our 2015 charity, League of Friends of Clevedon Hospital, will be a coffee morning at the March Market in Kenn village hall. We hope to see some of you there.

The W.I. skittles season has started and we played Uphill W.I. at Weston. This was a very friendly match with both teams having gone to lose! Kenn did win by 35 pins and now wait to see who our next opponents will be.

Our speaker in February is Brian Cherry from Clevedon Care, our charity last year. He will explain how Clevedon Care works and how your donations are used.

Visitors are always welcome. Also if there is anybody who would like to give us a talk or if there is something you would like to hear a talk on, then please do contact myself or any W.I. members and we will see what we can do.

January 2015

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

Kenn W.I. met for their usual December festive evening of bring & share supper, quizzes and chatter. What do we find to talk about; it’s only 10 days since we last met.

The evening was good humoured as we puzzled over the picture and Christmas quizzes. Comments heard were “l know his face but what’s his name” and “were there really 8 reindeer”. We exchanged our Christmas cards and Secret Santa presents, this was despite Santa’s helpers forgetting the sack (Santa’s helper was distracted by her brother’s sudden death…) In true W.I. tradition we improvised by using black bin liners.

At the beginning of December we hosted the Group W.I. Carol Service at St John the Evangelist Kenn, which was a great success with over 50 people attending plus 12 ladies from the Clevedon Ladies Choir, 2 of whom are members of Kenn W.I. The collection raised over £130 going towards church funds. A big thank you to Rev Warren Williams and everybody else who helped make the evening a great success.

Following the flower demonstration a further £80 has been forwarded to Clevedon Care, our charity for 2014. This has made a total of £330 for the year.

Our charity for 2015 is Clevedon Hospital League of Friends, which l am sure every one of us has benefited from at some time, so we hope you will help us in our endeavours in raising funds during 2015.

Our speaker for January 2015 will be Anita Simmons, from Yew Tree Farm, Kingston Seymour who will tell us about her trials and tribulations as a Justice of the Peace. All visitors are very welcome. The meeting finished with Happy Christmas and New Years wishes being exchanged, which is extended to all the villagers of Kenn.

December 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

At the November meeting of the Kenn W.I. we were delighted to welcome Mr. Gingell who came to talk to us about chocolate.

He had spent many years working for Fry‟s and Cadbury at Keynsham and was able to tell us exactly how chocolate is made and then he distributed examples which he had made himself.

He brought with him some very interesting memorabilia which will eventually form part of a museum devoted to chocolate at the Somerdale site.

During the same evening our Annual General Meeting was held. The reports from the Secretary and President showed what an interesting and busy year it had been. Mrs, Valerie Cox has decided to retire from the Committee but we are delighted to welcome Mary Ashton and Diane Wolf. Mrs. Marion Hulance will continue as President.

The „Bag a Bra‟‟ appeal has finished. Altogether three tonnes of bras were collected and the Great Western Air Ambulance are able to put the money raised towards the upkeep of the new ambulance. There has also been an appeal for old shoes so we shall probably do that one next.

The Annual Flower Demonstration was much enjoyed by all who attended and some very happy people went home with beautiful arrangements. The theme was flower decorating since Victorian times and it really was amazing to see how styles have changed over the years.

A small Christmas tree came with each arrangement and they have changed dramatically too. There was even a wartime one made from a lampshade and decorated with baubles.

Yatton W.I. hosted the latest Group Meeting and their theme was Middle Eastern. The competition was entitled „Eastern Promise‟ in any medium, Our lovely member Edna Baber made the superb dancer with her seven veils out of icing (it is pictured on the front cover ) and we were delighted to win first prize. We are all so proud of her.

Kenn is to host the Group Carol Service this year at St. Johns and we look forward to this very much. At the December meeting we will exchange cards and Santa will be there with his sack. Members will enjoy a „bring and share‟ supper as they wish each other well for Christmas and look forward to another busy year in 2015.

October 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

The September meeting was a very quiet one, although quite a lot of chatting took place, because so many of our members were on holiday. What a lovely time they will all have had in this beautiful month!

Now we expect October to be much busier. The speaker at the meeting on Wednesday 8th October will be Terry Merrett-Smith with an evening’s entertainment entitled ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ which comprises songs from musicals. Lots will be known to us already, I am sure, and there will be a great deal of foot tapping. We will be delighted to welcome anyone who would like to come along. On the 22nd October we are holding our birthday lunch to celebrate our 61st birthday, at the Greedy Goose in Flax Bourton.

Yatton W.I. is hostessing the next Group Meeting on 30th October when there will be a demonstration of belly dancing. That should be great fun.

Members were thrilled to hear from Thelma Blake that two sons of her magnificent beast Thundercloud have become champions in their classes at cattle shows in Wyoming. One of them was crowned ‘Grand Champion’ the American equivalent of Supreme Champion. She is rightly proud of them.

BAG A BRA

There has been a tremendous response to this request for discarded bras for the Great Western Air Ambulance appeal for old bras which may no longer be being worn because they are the wrong size or whatever. They will be tidied up and sold to countries where such items are hard to come by and are much appreciated by the women who can get hold of them. It seems like a ‘win-win’ scheme. The W.I. now have enough to deliver to the GWAA and will close the appeal after the meeting on the 8th October. If there are any more of you who would like to donate some there is still time and I have plenty of pink bags to put them in. Just give me a ring on 01275 875877 and I will let you have one.

August 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

Sadly our expected visit from Town Cryer David Fry did not take place. He was caught up in the traffic chaos after a horrendous lorry fire in Bristol. We look forward to his visit at a later date.

Instead members enjoyed a good chat (just as if they had not seen each other for ages!) and the time was used to plan the programme for 2015. It seems very early but if we are to get the speakers that we would like it is essential to book them in good time.

Two teams are competing at a Quiz to be organised by Southern Clevedon W.I. at the end of July. It is usually quite hard and we do not cover ourselves in glory.

We are also looking forward to the Group Meeting at Yatton in October and organising the Group Carol Service at St. John’s in December.

Our next big event is a Nearly New Sale with some jumble and books on September 3rd in the Village Hall from 7 – 9 p.m. We hope that there will be a good selection of nearly new items. We will provide slips to attach to the item stating the price hoped for and we ask the vendor to donate 15% of that amount to our charity for this year, Clevedon Care.

We do not meet again until September, so members were wished a very happy summer break at the end of the meeting.

July 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

At the June meeting of the Kenn W.I. Irene Stowell felt well enough to undertake the secretarial duties. It was really good to see her sitting in her accustomed place again.

The speaker for the evening was our intrepid traveller Heather Saxby, who this time took us on a journey from Acapulco to Sydney visiting some very exotic islands on the way. She had some beautiful slides and we were all very envious.

As a result of the successful fashion show £250 will be sent to Clevedon Care to help them with their work. They are being very busy at the moment transporting people to the new Hospital at Southmead.

The July meeting sees the welcome return of David Fry who is to continue his story about town-crying. We are looking forward to that. He is great fun. If you would like to join us please come along on Wednesday 9th July at 7.30pm. We will be delighted to see you.

May 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 252015

At the April meeting of the Kenn W.I. we were again delighted to welcome several visitors. We hope that they enjoyed our meeting and will want to come again.

The talk at this meeting was given by David Woolf who gave a very informative and well- illustrated talk about our eyes. He described how our eyes develop from birth to old age and some of the most common things that can go wrong with them and how nowadays they can treated. He told us that it was pointless to buy babies fancy toys because they cannot see them until they are at least six months old. He answered our questions and we were amazed at how marvellous our eyes are and how lucky we are to have the gift of sight.

Plans for the Fashion Show to be given by the Edinburgh Woollen Mill on Tuesday May 20th in the Village Hall at 8 p.m. are well underway. As some of the proceeds are to go to Clevedon Care five of the models will be from that organisation. We are looking forward to seeing what we will all be wearing this summer. Tickets are £5 available from members or at the door.

The May meeting will be held during the afternoon and will be a walking treasure hunt in Kenn Street. If the weather is unkind we will have a quiz or play Beetle or some such in the Village Hall. Tea will be served at 3.45 p.m.

If you would like to join us for a pleasurable afternoon do come along to the village Hall at 2.30 p.m. Wednesday 14th May. We will be pleased to see you.

April 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 222015

We were delighted to welcome two newcomers to the village to our meeting on 12th March. We hope that they enjoyed the meeting and will want to join us.

The speaker at that meeting was Vanessa Giltsoff who spoke to us about Canine Partners. Sadly she was unable to bring her dog Carla with her as she was unwell and must be kept away from infections.

Once a dog has been fully trained it lives with its disabled owner and enables him or her to stay at home and enjoy greater independence. They are trained to deal with an individual’s needs and can be trained to open doors or washing machines or hand the pegs or whatever is required. They also learn to recognise when their owner becomes unwell and are able to sound the alarm. They truly are remarkable. Vanessa has promised to bring Carla to see us when she is better.

At the April meeting David Wolf will give a talk entitled ‘The eyes have it’, and will tell us all we need to know about our eyes. Many of us have eye problems so we look forward to hearing him. If you would like to hear him and perhaps ask a question you will be very welcome. The meeting is on Wednesday 9th April in the Village Hall at 7.30 p.m.

We have all been so sorry to hear that one of our stalwart members, Irene Stowell, is unwell and hope that she will be back with us at meetings soon.

Plans are well under way for the Fashion Show on May 20th. As soon as the Spring and Summer clothes are in stock at Edinburgh Woollen Mill our models will be going along to choose their outfits. Tickets will be available in good time. Proceeds will be shared with Clevedon Care.

March 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

Feb 282014

The weather on Institute Day was truly horrendous, not only did we have wind and rain, there were hailstorms accompanied by thunder and lightning. Parts of Kenn and Clevedon were without electricity and the Clifton Suspension Bridge was closed for the first time in its history. With all this in mind it was thought that our members would be safer at home and that it was not a good idea to ask our speaker to come from Kingswood. Sadly therefore the meeting was cancelled. Mr. Gingell who was to have told us all about the Art and Science of Chocolate Making will come to us in November instead. We will all look forward to that.

At the March meeting we will welcome Vanessa Giltsoff from Canine Partners. Canine Partners is a charity that assists people to enjoy greater independence and a better quality of life with the help of specially trained dogs. She will be accompanied by her dog Carla. Vanessa is able to raise money from used postage stamps so any that you have and can bring to the meeting will be gratefully received.

The meeting is on Wednesday 12^th March at 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall and visitors are always welcome. If you would like to hear about Canine Partners, do come along.

Plans are well under way for the Fashion Show on May 20^th. As soon as the Spring and Summer clothes are in stock at Edinburgh Woollen Mill our models will be going along to choose their outfits. Tickets will be available in good time. Proceeds will be shared with Clevedon Care.

February 2014

Women's Institute Comments Off

Feb 252014

The talk given by Kath Aldom at the January meeting of the Kenn W.I. was inspirational. She told us all about Paul’s Place which is a meeting place on Coalpit Heath for young people over the age of eighteen who have all kinds of disabilities. Kath discovered that fostering and other kinds of mentoring ceases when a young person reaches adulthood and help does not start again until old age. She and a band of helpers set about changing that. Paul’s Place offers activities of all kinds including holidays and help for the carers too. We all felt that she was doing something that really makes a difference.

In February we are having something entirely different. John Gingell is coming to talk about the art and science of chocolate making (something that interests us all!). If you would like to hear all about it, do please join us on February 12th in the Village Hall at 7.30 p.m.

There are several events planned for the year which we hope will be enjoyed by lots of people.

On 20^th May Edinburgh Woollen Mill will be presenting a Fashion Show to help us choose our summer finery. The proceeds will be shared with Clevedon Care which is our Charity for the year.

We have not had a W.I. Jumble Sale for a long time so there will be one in September with a Nearly New Stall.

The annual Christmas Flower Demonstration has been arranged for 26^th November.

There will be more information about all these nearer the time.

We are always delighted to see visitors at our meetings, so if anything looks interesting to you please come along.

January 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Jan 042014

At the December meeting of the Kenn W.I. the business was dispensed with very quickly and we moved on to the main business of the evening which was consuming a very tasty American Supper provided by members and exchanging cards and presents which miraculously appeared in Santa’s sack.

Once again we had the enormous bonus of Hazel’s post box which made the sorting very easy. Donations in lieu of postage were made to the Associated Country Women of the World. It was all organised so well that I feel that Royal Mail could benefit from our expertise

At the January meeting we are hoping to welcome Kath who will tell us all about Paul’s Place which is a meeting place for young people with a variety of disabilities and is somewhere of their very own. We look forward to it.

Visitors are always welcome, so if you would like to hear Kath please come along at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 9th January

(Thank you all so much for all the enquiries, offers of help and cards that I have received since my accident. Dad always said that I should learn to pick my feet up. He will be so glad to be vindicated at last. I think all is healing well but I shall be so relieved when I can be rid of this enormous plaster. The family have been so good and now I’m off to spend Christmas with Lizzie. Bless you all. Ann Holtham)

December 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Dec 012013

It‘s all change at the Kenn W.I.

At the Annual General Meeting in November, Marion Hulance was elected President and Irene Stowell retired from the Secretaryship. Irene has been Secretary for so long that it has come as a nasty shock to us all to realise just what she has done for us all over the years and her post is proving very hard to fill. We are all very grateful to her and hope that she will be able to enjoy meetings without any of the responsibilities. Marion presented her with a gift. We wish Marion well as she embarks on the next year.

At the November meeting we enjoyed a return visit from Alan Mildren who showed us a film about the Liberty ship John Wayne Eagen. This ship was one of the thousands made in America to a British design and which helped to keep Britain fed and supplied with other goods during the Se- cond World War. She was torpedoed (fortunately with no loss of life) and is now lying just off the Cornish coast and has an amazing variety of sea creatures living on and around her. Incidentally there are two of these ships on the mud banks at Kingston Seymour which were used as target practice by the RAF.

November also saw the annual Christmas Flower Arranging evening. This year the demonstrator was Jackie Parkin who did some amazing arrangements for us and kept us all amused and enthralled with stories of her travels all over the world – many of them taken alone.

The December meeting will be an informal social evening with an American Supper and the exchange of Christmas Cards and greetings. Santa will have left his sack with a present for us all.

November 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Nov 012013

Terry Merrett-Smith came to the October meeting of the Kenn W.I. to tell us about the life and music of Irving Berlin.

We all enjoyed listening to snatches of the film and stage songs that are so well known to us all. Irving Berlin was unusual in that he wrote the words as well as the music to his songs which is why they are so memorable.

In November we welcome a return visit from Alan Mildren who is going to tell us about the Liberty ship James Eagen Layne. Last time he came to talk to us about Lundy Island and showed us some amazing and beautiful pictures of the undersea plant life that is growing off the Lundy coast in a protected site.

The members and their guests have been to a celebratory lunch at Gatcombe Farm to mark the 60th birthday of the W.I. in Kenn. Judging by the decibels that were rising from our tables we all had a wonderful time and ate a superb meal. Margaret Burdge made our cake and Edna Baber iced it for us. It was a tour de force.

We are looking forward to the Annual Flower Arranging evening on November 20th. This year the demonstrator will be Jackie Parkin. We hope to see lots of people there. Tickets are available at £5 to include coffee and home made biscuits.

CHRISTMAS FLOWER DEMONSTRATION

The Annual Christmas Flower Demonstration will take place in the Village Hall on Wednesday November 20th at 7.30 p.m.

The demonstrator this year will be Jackie Parkin.

All the arrangements will be entered into the raffle so you might get to be lucky enough to take one of them home with you.

The tickets which have been beautifully printed by Hazel are now available from any member. They are becoming collectors‟ items, so make sure that you get one!

October 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Oct 012013

Members of the Kenn Women’s Institute met in September after the summer break and were pleased to welcome Ann Gawthorpe who took us on a very informative trip down memory lane by reminding us of the events of 1951.

We continue our nostalgic theme at the October meeting when Mr Terry Merrett Smith will entertain us with the life and music of Irving Berlin. Do please join us if you are a fan and would like to hear some of his songs.

The meeting will be on Wednesday October 9th in the Village Hall at 7.30 p.m. We will be delighted to welcome visitors.

Do not forget to put our annual Flower Arranging evening in your diaries. This year it is being held on Wednesday November 20th in the Village Hall at 7.30 p.m. Jackie Parkin is the demonstrator. Tickets will be available soon.

Sadly, for a variety of reasons the Silent Auction due to be held on October 5th has been cancelled. We are very disappointed as we were anxious to send a donation to the Great Western Air Ambulance. We hope to hold something a little less ambitious to raise funds.

Ann Holtham

SILENT AUCTION

For a variety of reasons the W.I. has regrettably had to cancel the proposed Silent Auction on Saturday October 5th. We are all very sorry and hope that we will not be disappointing too many people who may have been looking forward to it.

September 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Sep 252013

She had some very evocative pictures of the Festival of Britain and other occurrences and people who were in the news then. Although some of us remembered the year it is very hard to pinpoint when things actually happened.We continue our nostalgic theme at the October meeting when Mr Terry Merrett Smith will entertain us with the life and music of Irving Berlin. Do please join us if you are a fan and would like to hear some of his songs. The meeting will be on Wednesday October 9^th in the Village Hall at 7.30 p.m. We will be delighted to welcome visitors.

Do not forget to put our annual Flower Arranging evening in your diaries. This year it is being held on Wednesday November 20^th in the Village Hall at 7.30 p.m. Jackie Parkin is the demonstrator. Tickets will be available soon.

Sadly, for a variety of reasons the Silent Auction due to be held on October 5^th has been cancelled. We are very disappointed as we were anxious to send a donation to the Great Western Air Ambulance. We hope to hold something a little less ambitious to raise funds.

August 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Aug 252013

There is to be no meeting in August and members are taking themselves to Coldharbour Mill, near Cullompton, for a day’s outing. It would be wonderful if the gorgeous weather that we are all enjoying were to last.

In July, we were visited by Mr. and Mrs. Reeves who told us all about their adventures in North and South Islands in New Zealand and very many of the Pacific Islands. They were away from home for some months and only carried a back pack each. It was a salutary lesson for those of us who are used to flinging everything we think we might need into the car be-fore we depart. There was a display of some of the things that they had collected en route and their beautifully written diaries.

Information has been circulated about the Silent Auction that we hope to hold on October 5th.

There are already some very interesting pledges. We do hope to raise a nice lot of money for the Air Ambulance

When we meet again in September Ann Gawthorpe will take us down memory lane to 1951. If you are interested in joining us we meet on the second Wednesday of the month in the Village Hall at 7.30 p.m. We are always delighted to welcome visitors.

July 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Jul 032013

I made a horrible mistake in the last issue of this magazine and said that we were expecting a talk on backpacking in New Zealand. However, that is, in fact, happening at the July meeting and we had instead a visit from David Fry, a town crier from Kingswood in South Gloucestershire.

He had a tremendous voice and a very loud bell and I am sure that he could be heard all over the village. He was a very entertaining speaker and only managed to relate the beginnings of his career. He will be returning to tell us more.

Hopefully, elsewhere in the magazine there is more information about the Silent Auction that members are hoping to hold on Saturday October 5^th in aid of the Air Ambulance.

We congratulate Valerie Cox and Marion Hulance who both took part in the Race for Life on the sands at Weston-S-Mare. It is not easy running on sand and they both completed the course.

June 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Jun 032013

We were delighted to welcome a speaker from the Friends of the Bristol Oncology and Haemotology Unit to the May meeting of the Kenn W.I. to tell us about their work as we had donated some money to them as a result of the Fashion Show held last year. The speaker at the June meeting will be David Fry who will be giving a talk on Town Crying.

Members are always delighted to welcome visitors.

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday June 12^th at 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall. Please come along if you would like to join us.

May 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

May 032013

Gerry Watkins came to our April meeting with three helpers and eight greyhounds. They were all so good – the only sounds we heard from them were when we started to sing Jerusalem! Many of them had been abused in their former lives and they must have thought life had taken a turn for the worse again.

Greyhounds are such gentle animals and seem to bear no malice towards humans after the bad treatment they have had. Most have been racing dogs in Ireland or traveller’s dogs.

It was decided that the outing in August should be to Coldharbour Mill near Tiverton in Devon. When all the details have been worked out we will publish them and invite visitors.

At the May meeting Mrs. Pritchard from the Friends of the Bristol Oncology Unit will come to tell us about the latest appeal and the equipment that they hope to buy with it. If you have received treatment, or know someone who has reason to be grateful for the wonderful work that they do, please come along on Wednesday 8^th May at 7.30 p.m. We will be delighted to see you.

April 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Apr 032013

Members and visitors spent a delightful evening with one of our members, Edna Baber, learning how to make icing flowers ready for our Easter cakes. Most of us managed a daisy but there were some very beautiful pinks, daffodils, roses, leaves and snowdrops to be seen. Edna is a very talented lady and we are very grateful to her for passing on her skill and expertise.

Plans are being made for our Summer Outing. We are deciding whether to go to Coldharbour Mill in Devon or to Kilver Court Gardens in Shepton Mallet. The annual event that members arrange for the charity of their choice will be a Silent Auction. More details will be given when they are available. The money this year will go to the Air Ambulance.

The speaker at the April meeting will be Gerry Watkins who will talk about greyhound and lurcher rescue. She will be bringing her dogs with her so is you would like to meet them and Gerry please come along on Wednesday 8^th April, 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall. You will be very welcome.

March 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Mar 042013

Members of the Kenn W.I. were delighted to welcome Bryan Thompson who had come to talk to us about Bardsey Island and the bird sanctuary there. Bardsey is a small island off the coast of Wales which from the lovely slides that Bryan showed us is very reminiscent of small south coastal Cornish towns. A farming family and a resident warden live there all the time, otherwise it is populated by visitors and members of the Ornithological Trust. It looked idyllic in all its moods. Trevor Riddle assisted Bryan as he has broken his arm. We were pleased to see Trevor and Jill again.

At the March meeting, member Mrs. Edna Baber will demonstrate the art of decorative cake icing. She is an extremely skilled and intends members to participate in her talk. We hope that we will all go home with a decoration for our Easter cake. If you would like to come along and learn how to make a flower in icing we shall be delighted to welcome you.

The meeting will be on Wednesday 13th March at 7.30p.m.in the Village Hall.

February 2013

Women's Institute Comments Off

Feb 042013

An horrendous accident on the M5 north of Bristol meant that our speaker, Kath, never made it to the January meeting of the Kenn W.I. Instead she spent the evening caught up in traffic on the Downs until we told her to go home and make herself a cup of tea and that we would be delighted to see her at a future date.

No such problem will exist at the February meeting as our speaker Bryan Thompson only has to make his way a few yards along Kenn Street from his home to the Village Hall. He is coming to talk to us about Bardsey Island, a bird sanctuary off the Welsh coast. It will be a most interesting talk and if you would like to hear him please come along to the Hall on Wednesday 13th February at 7.30 p.m. We will all be delighted to see you.

In the absence of the speaker members spent a very happy evening drinking tea and catching up with each other after Christmas. Kenn W.I. will be celebrating its 60th birthday this year so some of the time was spent considering some of the things we might do to mark it and to raise money for our chosen charity the Air Ambulance.

Another scrapbook is one of the things we shall do so material is already being collected. It will be nice to make it a record of village life during the year so any photos or memorabilia of any village event will be gratefully received.