Lettre de WEVA - Newsletter to members, March 2009

Patron The Lord Rea of Eskdale Chairman David Killick (019467-26258) Secretary Steve McLeod (01946-822982) Treasurer Martin Cross (019467-23116) Publicity Pam Priestley (019467-27472) Committee Joyce Dalton (019467-24394) Chris Berry (01229-716520) Graham Hutson (019467-25477)

 

Dear Members,

THE FIRST TIME a group of us ventured to St. Martin we were eight in number. I am delighted to report that the group travelling there this May will be twenty-eight! We are looking forward to the trip very much indeed, and of course when we come back we’ll tell you all about it. As you know, we were planning to go by train for the first time, but of course we couldn’t choose the time of travel, and as a result we weren’t able to take advantage of any cheap tickets. So we are flying after all – Liverpool to Limoges as before, with our French friends meeting us at the airport to take us to St. Martin. Some of us had been looking forward to the train journey, and so we’re really disappointed! Still, we know we’ll be getting a wonderful welcome when we arrive.

As a matter of fact, the majority of the group won’t be going either by train or plane. A surprising number have opted for travelling by car, since they want to extend their stay in France and make a holiday of it. What a good idea! Details of the names of all participants will be sent out soon by separate letter to the people concerned, together with a few more practical details.

FRENCH CONVERSATION SESSIONS have started, and I’m told they are very practical and are being well-received by the linguistically-challenged members concerned. Since the sessions are taking place in a member’s house (with limited space) it’s probably going to be difficult to fit anyone else in, but for the future don’t hesitate to contact Steve McLeod if you are interested in getting some help.

THE WEB-SITE of St Martin Twinning Association, cjsma.over-blog.com contains photo collections of every visit made by groups during the lifetime of our link. It also contains a list of recipes, updated monthly, with both English and French recipes. Contributions are welcome for inclusion. We try to use local and / or traditional and seasonal recipes which are not too complicated and do not rely on ingredients which cannot be obtained in France - so Marmite soldiers & boiled eggs is out! If you would like to offer a recipe then contact Steve & Yvonne McLeod at steveml@tiscali.co.uk. They will do the translation into French as well.

THE 50 CLUB raised over £300 for the Association last year. This year it has not been as well supported so far - and we will need funds to host next year's visit. The next block of ten weeks begins on Saturday 4th April. If you would like to subscribe please contact Steve McLeod, as above, to reserve your number (s). Just to remind you how it is organised : £10 will get you one number each Saturday for 10 weeks. If your number matches that of the Bonus Ball in the day's Lottery Draw you win £25. First come first served with numbers.

PUBLICITY FOR WEVA. There is a display about WEVA in the library window at Seascale at the moment. If you have suggestions for other places where such a display might be useful, please tell Pam Priestley. We are thinking of having a stall at the Gosforth Show this summer, and in Wasdale in the autumn. Perhaps other places, too, though these events do involve a lot of work, and we do rely on members to help. Please be prepared! Apart from anything else, these Shows can be another useful way of raising some funds to pay for the St. Martin visit here in 2010.

THINKING ABOUT WEVA’S FUTURE. While we are in St. Martin we shall obviously find ourselves discussing with our French friends not only possible dates for their next visit to us, but also how the Twinning might develop in the future. In the past I have been involved in another very successful twinning where the two towns organized frequent visits for such diverse purposes as rugby and swimming matches, choral and orchestral concerts and school exchanges, in addition to the kind of visits we have at the moment with St. Martin. We are of course a small community, and it would be silly to try to be too ambitious. But if you have any ideas along these lines which you think it would be worth discussing with the Comite de Jumelage, do please let us know.

Yours sincerely,

David Killick

for the WEVA Committee