THE Annual General Meeting of Shobrooke Friendly Club was held on Wednesday, November 21 at Shobrooke Village Hall.

The minutes of the last AGM were read by the secretary, Eileen James, and approved and signed by the chairman, Jack Fey.

The secretary gave a report of the activities of the club during the previous 12 months. The treasurer, Margaret Gale also gave a report on the finances of the club.

Jack Fey, chairman, expressed his thanks and gratitude to Eileen and Margaret for the tremendous work they had done for the club in organising matters and the outings.

He also thanked other committee members for all of their work throughout the year and David Job for auditing the club accounts.

Jack Fey was re-elected as chairman for the next year, as was Eileen James as secretary and Margaret Gale as treasurer.

David Job who had acted as auditor for the past few years said he was happy to continue as auditor, and Norman Gale confirmed that he was happy to submit reports of the club’s activities to the “Courier” and “The Brooke”.

The existing members of the committee were all re-elected en bloc.

The annual subscription had been £6 for several years, and it was agreed that this should be increased to £7, as the charges being made by speakers had been increased.

Tea and biscuits were then served by Dave Lee and Clifford Webber as usual.

Following this was a demonstration on the making of Christmas crackers by Jo Rouse. This was very well received, and some very presentable crackers were produced.

Jacqui Lee then gave a hilarious demonstration of how (and how not) to make a twirling lantern like hanging decoration. This demonstration was much enjoyed by the members.

The next meeting of the club will be on December 5, and will take the form of an informal tea and games organised by committee members.

There will also be mini competitions, one of which will be to try and identify photographs of members taken when they were babies up to about the age of 10 years.

If any member has any such photos, please bring them to the meeting. The photos will be placed in transparent envelopes so that they will not be actually handled.

The food for the afternoon will be provided by members of the committee. It would be appreciated if members attending could provide a draw prize.

It is also proposed to have a Secret Santa for club members, gentlemen being asked to provide one gift for a man, about £2 in value, and ladies a similar value present for a lady.

The Friendly Club members Christmas lunch will be held at The Red Lion, Shobrooke on Wednesday, December 19 at a cost of £7 to members.

Norman Gale