Thursday 2nd February 2012 at 7:30pm in the Memorial Hall

Branch Treasurer Beryl Latham on "Years Living in the Andes"

The competition is for a photo of Mountains

Thursday 5th January 2012

From Music Hall to Variety, 1840s to 1940s

Mr Kevin Bradfield

Kevin Bradfield's talk entitled "From Music Hall to Variety, 1840s to 1940s" proved both informative and entertaining.

Several Old Favourites were featured, in particular the legendary names of Marie Lloyd and Max Miller were noted.  Everyone joined in singing the choruses of many well-known and well-loved songs.

In the unavoidable absence of President Margaret Stalker,  Vice President Ann Keast took the chair and welcomed everyone.

It was reported that the 3rd December Coffee Morning had been exceptionally well-attended, not only by members but also by the Public, and had raised £377 for Branch funds. 

A volunteer was sought to take on the post of Press Officer, being relinquished after eight years by Betty Carter. Hopes are high that someone will come forward before the next meeting on 2nd February

Packington WI

Open Coffee Morning

Saturday 3rd December 2011- from 10am

Memorial Hall

Raffle Prizes

At the Saturday 3rd December Open Coffee Morning prizes included 4 Christmas Hampers, filled with all manner of festive goodies, contributed by members.

Veteran member Doreen Peters drew the tickets.

The lucky hamper winners were

• Simon Latham,
• Paula Latham,
• Jane Barnett and
• Doreen Gasson.

Other prizes included a box of crackers, a doll and toiletries, and were won by

• Jean Harries,
• Ann Roberts,
• Joyce Grimley,
• Val Lewis and
• Carole Melville.

The committee provided and prepared the food, and served the wine and non-alcoholic drinks, so the party went with a swing.

Members welcomed the opportunity to talk among themselves at separate tables while enjoying the festive fare.

Anne Hughes entertained, with a witty monologue entitled "Twelve Days of Christmas". This detailed some of the legends and customs that have grown up around the 12 days in various European countries.

Anne noted that the 12 days should end on January 5th, not the 6th as generally supposed.

A vote of thanks was proposed by Margaret Coulson.

The competition attracted many entries. Winners: 

Thursday 3rd November 2011

Annual General Meeting AGM -

Packington WI has had another busy and successful year.

Secretary Sandra Hawley said that meetings had been well attended, and most of them thoroughly enjoyed.

The September meeting, when Kevin Jenkins from Chapman’s Nurseries brought myriad plants with him to illustrate his talk on autumn colour planting, was one of the best.  The one  in which Christine Turner-Hicks showed us how to go away for the weekend with a minimal but versatile wardrobe also proved popular.

Sandra thanked Carol Belsey for arranging such a good programme, and pleaded with members to support arranged events and not drop out at the last minute.

Treasurer Beryl Latham said the financial situation was satisfactory, and that membership stood at 59.

Next year’s subscription would be £31.50, of which £13.80 came to the branch.

President Margaret Stalker thanked

- the committee for their support throughout 2011,

- Helen Webster for organising the Skittles contests,

- Wendy Jones for representing the WI on the village hall committee

- and Betty Carter for the Press and Packington Post reports.

Federation representative Ann Allison oversaw the elections, which resulted in Margaret being re-elected president.  The rest of the committee was also re-elected, with the exception of Carol Belsey who has resigned.

October Talk:

Dr Wendy Freer - “Goings On Below Stairs”.

Downton Abbey aficionados among Packington WI members were delighted by Dr Wendy Freer’s talk entitled "Goings On Below Stairs" which was the highlight of October’s meeting.

The popular TV series depicts exceptionally well what went on in the grand houses of the nobility in Victorian and Edwardian days, said Dr Freer, who is an authority on the subject.

Although for the most part well treated, and certainly well fed, the maids, footmen, butlers and housekeepers had to work hard for relatively poor wages, with little time to call their own.

With slides that illustrated the points she was making, and some amusing acting of parts, the speaker kept her audience enthralled.

October Competitions:

October Meeting - Guest Visitor

At the start of the October meeting a very special guest was welcomed – none other than

Ruth Bond, who is Chair of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes.

Picture at left borrowed from Ruth's Blog, here

September Competition Results

On 15th September Packington hosted

the biannual Ivanhoe Group Social Evening.

Over 50 representatives from WIs within the Ivanhoe Group attended.

Highlight of the occasion was Linda Scoles’ entertaining talk entitled "A Journey to Citizenship". Linda is an American who first came to  England in 1971 with her late husband Jim, an American Air Force officer, and their three children. When Jim retired in 1984 the family elected to stay in the UK, and a year or two ago it became possible for Linda to apply for citizenship without losing her American status. She now has dual nationality, but the process was long and tortuous, involving a stiff examination on Britain, its history and the workings of government.

A vote of thanks was proposed by Valerie Moreland, secretary of Ashby Spa WI, and after refreshments a member from Ravenstone thanked Packington for their hospitality.