Report of WI Events in March

The March Tarvin W.I. Meeting took place on Wednesday 30th at 7.30 pm in the Edna Rose room at Tarvin Community Centre and President Irene Wilkinson duly opened the lively meeting and welcomed everyone before continuing with this month's business.

BUSINESS

Irene Wilkinson and Margaret Matthews attended the CFWI Annual Meeting in Winsford on 1st March and reported the following:

· Frances Woollam stood down after completing five years as Cheshire Federation Chairman. Jean Harding is now our Federation Chairman and we wish them both well.
· Gift Aid
· Reducing sub-rates
· Next ACWW project is 'Standpipes in Cameroon'

Lunch at The Royal Oak, Kelsall.
The Luncheon Club is proving very popular. Twenty three members enjoyed a very pleasant lunch at The Royal Oak, Kelsall, Monday, 21st March.

Zoo Visit
The visit to The Zoo was a great success thanks to the very able guidance of Nancy who managed to get a reduced rate on the admission ticket. Despite the weather being a little cold at least it was dry and it didn't spoil a really interesting day.

FUTURE PLANS

Luncheon Club Bunbury Mill
The next lunch is on Monday 25th April and this will be combined with a trip to Bunbury Mill. Members who are interested should contact Margaret.

May Monthly Meeting – 'Flog It'
Following the success of the Glam and Glitz evening last year it has been decided to hold a similar event this year. The party evening will take place at the forthcoming May monthly meeting on May 25th when the theme will be 'Flog It' Antiques and Auctioneering. Members are invited to dress up in their party frocks when they attend the meeting and bring any antiques along too. It promises to be an exciting event.

Bury Market and Tea on a Train
Arrangements for Bury Market and Afternoon Tea on a Train on 17th June are in full swing and it sounds like fun day for everyone who attends. Members were requested to pay for the trip as soon as possible.

Zoo Visit 1st July
After this month's successful day at the Zoo plans are in hand to repeat the day out and interested members should contact Nancy.

BBQ Luncheon 21st August
There is to be a BBQ luncheon on Sunday 21st August at the President's house. A Date for members' diaries.

100 YEARS OF DAFFODIL GROWING AND LIFE AT FOXWIST GREEN FARM

Our speaker for this evening was Len Tomlinson who came give us an illustrated talk about daffodil growing and his life on Foxwist Farm just outside the village of Whitegate. Due to his extensive knowledge of daffodils and horticulture, Len has appeared on BBC Gardener's World and won many prizes for his flowers. Len grew up on the farm and daffodils became a lifelong passion. Having grown hundreds of various varieties of daffodils over time he tells us he knows the name of every one.

He delighted his audience with beautiful photographs of some of his daffodil varieties whilst entertaining them to stories about his life growing up on a busy farm. Some members had already had the pleasure of being at one of Len's daffodil guided tours and those members not familiar with Len's dry humour were in for a real treat. Since 2005 Len has been running guided tours during the growing seasons to raise money in aid of McMillan having seen the tremendous support they give to cancer patients. The tours have been so successful that they have added more tours and additional areas year by year. What a humourous evening it turned out to be. It was a very interesting and delightful experience to listen to a gem of a speaker!

THE EVENING DRAWS TO A CLOSE
A welcome cup of tea/coffee and cake awaited us and members settled down with friends, old and new, to make forthcoming arrangements before setting off home.

THE DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
The date of the next meeting is 27th April at 7.30 pm in the Edna Rose Room at Tarvin Community Centre where new members and visitors are always welcome to come and join us.

The topic is 'Bin Baby' with Judy Townsend