TARVIN W.I. – AUGUST 2017 MEETING REPORT

Our August meeting started with Margaret Matthews, our acting President for the night, welcoming everyone to the meeting, including three guests. Our tea hostesses for the evening were Joan Poland, Juliet Lidden and Anne Worrall. Table flowers, which were later raffled, were given by Irene Wilkinson.

ABBEYWOOD GARDENS

This month 17 members enjoyed coffee at a visit to Abbeywood Gardens. The weather was kind and the surprisingly extensive gardens were well laid out and were accessible for a wheelchair. We then moved on to The Lounge where everyone enjoyed a good lunch in a relaxing atmosphere. All-in-all an excellent day out.

STROLLERS

Our recently formed Strollers Group is gathering pace. We regularly walk every fortnight and are exploring the wonderful local countryside. This week's walk started and finished at The Bluebell Café in Barrow where we enjoyed lovely cakes and hot coffee. A very pleasant walk, with the added bonus of some ladies identifying the various wild flowers along the way.

SUSAN LEICESTER – AN ENGLISH WOMAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Business completed, Margaret introduced our speaker for the evening, Susan Leicester, 'An English Woman in the White House'. Susan, dressed in a red and white striped jumper and blue cardigan with large stars started by singing 'The Star-Spangled Banner' the words of which are taken from a poem by Francis Scott Key, who was being detained by the British at the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the war of 1812. The original flag was made by Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress and six servants, including one black woman. Susan was amused by the irony that it was made from good English woollen thread. Susan explained that her daughter Nancy, after graduating, took a one year nannying job in Washington, fell in love with the place and fell in love with William, an engineer working in the White House. That was over thirty years ago. Her twice yearly visits has given Susan an appreciation of America and its foibles which she shared with boundless joy and humour. William's job has given Susan privileged access to the White House and she took us on a virtual tour of the kitchens, various rooms with their very imaginative names – the green room, the red room, the yellow room etc. The China Room housed various complete dinner services which each President can commission – some very tastefully decorated while others not so much. We saw, paintings and heard anecdotes about various Presidents and their families.
Susan was an extremely entertaining speaker with a very wonderful sense of humour. It was a fascinating talk from a fascinating lady.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday September 27th at 7.30 pm at the Tarvin Community Centre. The topic for the evening is "Blood Bikes' – Shropshire and Staffordshire Bikes (serving Cheshire Volunteer Programme)

Why not come as a visitor and meet your local WI. Please contact Irene Wilkinson 01829 740868 or visit our website, Tarvinwi.co.uk if you require any further details.