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Welcome to the December newsletter.  Where has the year gone to? Of course, the Twinning has been its usual busy self and they do say that time flies faster the busier you are. Highlight of the year was the 25^th anniversary of our twinning with Champtoceaux. We welcomed a record number  of friends (70) from the Pays de Loire and enjoyed a busy long weekend with them. They invited us for a return visit next year, so that will be the big event of 2011.

Our winter/spring season of members’ meetings is now nearly half over. The December meeting will be our usual Christmas celebration with free admission to members. Why not come to the function room at Club31 on 8^th December and meet all your friends in the Twinning.

Following the requests for social meetings during the summer, a discussion at the AGM resulted in a plan to trial monthly informal afternoon teas at Club 31, on the second THURSDAY of each month, which would be followed by our usual boules practice session. You don’t have to come to boules; although you might fancy giving it a try, but the idea provides an excellent opportunity to meet up during the summer. Further details in the March newsletter.

Finally from me, my best wishes to all of you for a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year.

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The next Members’ Meeting will be our Christmas celebration. As mentioned in my introduction, this will be held at 7.30pm on 8^th December in the function room at Club31 in Moorlands Road. On this occasion, admission will be free. A light finger buffet will be provided but drinks should be purchased over the bar. Our usual concessionary rate on teas and coffees will of course apply.

Regular meetings will resume on 12^th January when I have some interesting pictures of France to share with you.

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Already there is are amendments to make to your new 2010-2011 blue membership card. The date shown for the start of the boules season should read 5^th May. Also, instead of the coffee morning on 11 May, we will be holding our first afternoon tea meeting on Thursday 12^th May - also the date of our second practice evening for boules.

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By now you should have paid your 2010-2011 subscriptions. This will mean that you will have your blue 2010-2011 membership card - complete with the required amendments details above! If you haven’t paid yet would you please get in touch with John Pettitt or Sandra Grove (details below or on your 2009-10 pink card) and let them have your £5 as soon as possible.

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Our first skittles evening was held on 18^th November in Horton Village Hall. The event was a sell-out and over 40 of us enjoyed a sociable evening playing skittles and enjoying a delicious supper organised by Sandra and a team of our lady committee members. An event to bear in mind again for future event evenings.

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A final opportunity to enjoy our 25 year logo:

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Your Officers are:

 
The next newsletter will be the March 2011 edition.

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Welcome to the October newsletter, the first after an extended summer break.

First, the formal part.  This issue contains the official notification of this year’s AGM. Once again, by kind permission of the Town Council, we get the opportunity to visit the Council chamber and see the various Twinning artefacts on display there.

October also sees the start of our winter programme of members’ meetings. Once again, we have a new (and now we hope a permanent!) home in Club31 (known to many still as the Legion). It’s great to be able to support this brave new venue for the town. It also has the advantage of relieving our volunteers of their coffee making duties as this, together with other refreshments, will be available over the Bar, at preferential prices. To help offset the additional cost we have reduced the admission charge to £1.50 and with the help of Anjie’s raffles we hope to break even overall. Full details of this season’s programme will be shown on your new (light blue) membership card.

The other thing the October brings is, of course, membership renewal time. Even if you get this newsletter by email, your committee rep will be calling on you shortly to collect your subscription, which has been held at £5 for the 5^th year running.

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  As mentioned in my introduction, the new season of members’ meetings starts this month in our new home, the function room at Club31 in Moorlands Road.

The first meeting is on 13 October, starting at 7.30pm, when we will have an update from one of our original speakers, Mick McMath on progress in the school in The Gambia. You will of course also have the opportunity to renew your membership at the meeting if you haven’t already done so.

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This year’s November event is a new venture for us. We’re holding a skittles evening on 18^th November and we will be using the new Horton and Charlbury Village Hall. Kick-off is 7pm for 7.30 and the cost is £7.50 per head, which includes supper with tea or coffee. If you want anything stronger, you’re welcome to bring your own bottle. Places are strictly limited, so it’s first come, first served. Tickets are available from Joyce Timpson on 824469.

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This year’s boules season ended with two losses, so it has been a bit disappointing for us. Nevertheless, still managed to avoid finishing bottom of the table. Our practices will continue (we need it!) until the end of the month.

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Our experiment with summer coffee mornings started very well with 41 people coming to the Hub for the pilot event. Encouraged by this, Brian and Barbara kindly volunteered to host a second one in their home and garden where they laid on a real feast of bacon baps, coffee and cakes, with a lot of help from their fellow committee members. There was also a secondhand book stall. Turn-out for this was a little disappointing after the initial enthusiasm. Your committee will be considering what to do for these events next summer.

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Brian’s summer outing on 15^th August was very successful with over 60 members and friends enjoying a wonderfully warm evening cruise to Wareham, complete with fish and chip supper on the return leg. I don’t know how he does it but even the weather performed to order!

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At the time of writing, there are just 2 rooms still available on this year’s long weekend trip to Brussels and Bruges Christmas Markets. If you are interested it please call Terry on 822959 urgently. The date is 10^th to 12^th December and the cost is £165. Full details were published in the June newsletter.

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Our Café René at this year’s Rustic Fayre had undergone a bit of a facelift. In place of the traditional filled baguettes, we served “French Platters”, Cheddar and Brie served with an individual baguette roll, pickle and coleslaw. In addition, we served cream teas, tea and cake and of course wine and soft drinks. As with any change of this nature, some fine tuning has been identified but overall the refreshed format was a great success and we were able to make a larger than anticipated donation to Rotary’s good causes as well as keeping a useful share to top up our recently depleted reserves. Thanks go to our sub-committee who masterminded the re-vamped format; and to all the committee members, their non-committee partners and our members who worked so hard to make the day a success.

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I can announce that the dates for our visit to Champtoceaux have now been agreed. We will be there from 2^nd to 6th June, probably crossing the channel overnight on the 1^st June. We do not have any information on costs yet, but if you want to join in please book the dates in your next year’s diary now and drop Joyce a note. Further details should be available for the December newsletter.

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Your Officers are:

The next newsletter will be the December 2010 edition

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Welcome to the June 2010 newsletter. This is the first newsletter we have tried with a circulation by email. If you have received your copy by the old-fashioned paper method but you have an email address, please let me know your address and you will receive the next newsletter electronically - and earlier!

This is a very busy edition, so there’s not much room for my ramblings this time. Just read on for an update on all that has been and will be happening in your Twinning Association.

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Our 25^th anniversary celebrations with our friends from Champtoceaux were memorable. Proof of the popularity of our twinning was that 70 guests arrived from France on Thursday afternoon, including a large number of “new” visitors.

They were received by the Mayor in full regalia and me. After old friends were reunited and new friends were introduced there was a short ceremony to unveil a plaque on the magnolia tree presented to us on their last visit, which is planted in the garden at the Hub, followed by a group photo shoot and a traditional Dorset cream tea.

On Friday morning, two coaches left The Hub for a day visit to Lacock village, Abbey and the Fox-Talbot museum. Lunch was provided in local hostelries and on the return trip we diverted in order to drive past Stonehenge and through Salisbury.

Saturday was spent with host families and climaxed with our soiree in The Hub. An excellent buffet dinner, with wine provided by our twins, was accompanied by live piano music. During the usual short speeches we were presented with a beautiful statuette which can be seen on display in the Town Council office Help Centre. We were also invited to a return visit to Champtoceaux next year - the precise date is to agreed. Afterwards we were   entertained by superb renditions of 1960s and 70s songs by the group Smack. Everyone present received a commemorative gift - a pen or a bag for life.

On Sunday, we waved au revoir to our friends after a successful weekend which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

I hope to be able to include some pictures from the visit in the next edition.

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On 1^st May we held our Companion Dog Show in and around the Memorial Hall. This is proving to be a very popular and valuable annual event, which is organised entirely by a couple of our members who put in a lot of hard work on our behalf. The weather was not as kind to us as it has been in previous years but we still had a good and varied number of entrants. Especial thanks go to Audrey and Dave for taking on this mammoth task for our benefit.

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Members’ meetings have of course finished for the Summer and I have started trying to put together a programme for next autumn/winter. Before I could start on this we had to find a new “home”. Increasing numbers have made the Methodist halls a little too snug for us and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a hall that is reliably available on Wednesday evenings. Luckily, a few words in appropriate ears has secured us a regular booking in the function room of the Verwood 31 Club. For those who do not recognise this, it is the re-incarnation of the New Legion Club in Moorlands Road. The cost to us will be slightly higher than previously, but we will be able to reduce our door price to you as we will not have to provide tea or coffee. These will be available over the bar, as will stronger refreshments if required, at regular club prices. It is good to be able to support this brave new initiative which will provide a valuable resource for Verwood.

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Boules practices have now started, every fine Thursday evening at the boules piste on the Recreation Ground from 6pm. Matches in the Dorset Twinning League usually take place at weekends, so if you’re any good at the game, prepare to be selected for the team!

After the practice we adjourn to the Verwood 31 Club for refreshments. So do come along and make a mid-week social event of it.

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We are also going to try out a new social event for members during the summer. Starting on 14 July with an informal gathering, we will be meeting for coffee and chats on the second Wednesday of the summer months. For the initial meeting we will be gathering in the Bistro at The Hub at 10.30, so come along and have a say on how we develop this new initiative.

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The Summer Outing this year will be a full day’s excursion to Portsmouth on Saturday 17th July. We will be taking in all the attractions at the Historic Dockyard, a boat tour of the harbour and a visit up the Spinnaker Tower.

Cost for the trip is £31.50 per person and our coach will leave at 10am, returning at 5.30pm. For full details or to reserve your place please call Brian or Barbara on 822299.

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This year’s long weekend away is once again something special - the opportunity to visit the extensive Christmas markets in the European capital of Brussels. To make the trip even more special, we will be staying in the 4* Sheraton Hotel & Towers, just 10 minutes walk from the Grand’ Place. The hotel boasts a pool, sauna, gym, bars and restaurant, so take the opportunity to pamper yourself.

Included in the £165 cost of the trip is all coach and ferry travel, bed and American (hot buffet) breakfast. There is a £50 supplement for single room occupancy. We recommend that you arrange your own travel insurance.

On Friday the coach will leave Morrison’s Car Park in Verwood at 7.30 am to catch the Calais ferry, arriving at our hotel in the afternoon.

Saturday is free to explore the city, especially the Christmas markets in the Bourse (stock exchange), Marché aux Poissons (fish market) and Place Sainte Catherine. They offer over 200 stalls from all over Europe. There is also an open air skating rink. When you tire of shopping, you can explore the rest of the city, perhaps seek out the famous Mannequin Pis statuette, or relax in one or more of the bars, cafés and restaurants.

On Sunday morning we will leave for the return journey, pausing for a quick look around Bruges en route before catching an evening ferry back to Dover. Return to Verwood is envisaged at about 10.00 pm.

Places are already half filled, so if you are interested call Terry as soon as possible for a provisional reservation and a booking form.

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Your Officers are:

The next newsletter will be the October 2010 edition