ZEAL MONACHORUM'S October meeting attracted 19 members and one visitor, despite wild wintery weather.

In the absence of the secretary, Jan Brealy (president) dealt with the correspondence and read the minutes.

Reporting on the group meeting, held at North Tawton, she said 11 members of the Institute had attended and everyone had enjoyed the evening. The speaker had been entertaining and the meal itself had been wonderful, with a wide selection of puddings.

A proud moment came when, for the fifth consecutive year, Zeal was announced as the winner of the Red Earth Group rose bowl. Congratulations were offered to Jan who took the photograph of autumn leaves and then developed and printed the winning photograph herself. Thanks were offered to North Tawton for providing such a lovely evening.

Arrangements were made for the Christmas meal, to be held at the New Inn on December 2.

Details were given of the DFWI competition for the 2010 Spring Council meeting. The subject will be: All water aspects in Devon. President Jan encouraged members to "have a go." Erica Eden was congratulated on the recent village history exhibition she had arranged.

Details were also given of the Down St. Mary institute outing to Truro on November 21.

Jan also reminded members that the year 2010 would see the celebration of 90 years of the NFWI movement. It was agreed that Zeal should enter the county quiz show and whist event on March 13 2010.

There will be a WI variety show at the Barnfield Theatre, Exeter in the New Year. Hilary reported on the speakers' day she had attended at county house

The speaker for the October meeting was Patty O'Brien and her subject was "Interesting Flowers". She showed some lovely slides of some of the wonderful plants and shrubs in her garden, which she had created from a bare site..

Competition winners were: 1 Jean Drinkwater, 2 Jen Santer, 3 Jan Brealy. The result of the flower of the month competition was: 1 Equally between Jan Brealy and Marian Quick, 2 Edna Harris, 3 Equally between by Diana Bettoney, Margaret Dennis and Mary Vicary.

New members always welcome.

MQ

THE AGM of CHERITON FITZPAINE was held in the unusual, but congenial atmosphere of the "Ring of Bells", where members enjoyed lunch, accompanied by one, (or two) glasses of wine.

As our President, Barbara Paddon, is recovering from a spinal injury, Margaret Steer took the chair.  Despite being a small Insitute in a remote village, we had had a busy year with a varied programme of speakers and events.

A group of members had applied themselves to the task of producing a scintillating entry for the Mid-Devon Show.  Great fun was had assembling the various crafts and we were pleased to receive second prize.

Once again we had supported the Parish Hall Committee and had enabled them to buy a new hot water urn.  The sales of last year's village calendars offered the necessary encouragement to produce a calendar for 2010, which will include pictures of events and views in the Cheriton area.  The sales of calendars last year enabled us to donate £200 to Crediton and District Community Transport and this year's profits will go towards funding our local Hospiscare Nurse.

Members had played an active part in the community, the highlight being our Scarecrow Competition, judged by the two receptionists at our surgery.

The Crafts Demonstration Evening in October did not have as high an attendance as hoped (partly due to torrential rain), but the atmosphere was excellent.  The evening was most enjoyable and we may also have gained some new members.

We remembered the four members whom we lost this year - Lois, Ena, June and Fran, each giving so much time, energy and support to this organisation for which they worked tirelessly and cared so much.

The loss of these four has been very difficult for the rest of us to either come to terms with or understand.

Rest assured though, whatever one's beliefs, these ladies will have by now, become a force upon which St. Peter has already learned to depend - Lois will have organised the savings scheme, June and Ena will already have ensured that the Pearly Gates will be shining far more brightly and Fran will have ensured that there will be tulips and meerkat ornaments alongside the pathway leading through the gates.

The winner of the Elworthy Cup for the most competition points during the year was Barbara Paddon, and second was the late Fran Meakin.

Margaret also thanked those members' husbands who had lent us their brain and brawn during the year.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 2, at 2.15pm in the Parish Hall, when Jan Thom will be talking about "Enjoying Christmas".

MN

THE speaker for the November meeting of NORTH TAWTON was WPC Nadine Wilson, who is stationed at Okehampton.

She gave us many useful hints and tips for ensuring our homes, cars and property remain safe and brought a selection of leaflets and an ultraviolet marker pen, which we can use to mark household items.

Nadine pointed out that simple common sense is all that is really required to keep our homes and property safe; don't leave your keys hanging in the door or visibly close to the letter box or cat flap; be aware of bogus callers – both in person and over the telephone, never be tempted with so called "too good to be true" prize draws that you have allegedly won, because unfortunately they ARE too good to be true!

Don't leave valuables on display in your car and never leave your car to "defrost" on the drive with the engine running and the keys in the ignition whilst you pop back inside your home!

We have recently enjoyed a well attended concert by the Exeter Police Community Choir, with a local soloist Amy J, an exceptionally talented singer

The Red Earth Group Autumn meeting, was held at North Tawton and our guest speaker was Dr. Gavin Haig FRCS entertaining the audience with "The Trials and Tribulations of being a Surgeon".

At the AGM - Barbara Peart was elected President for another year and members are looking forward to another busy and interesting programme.

Audrey Lee

YEOFORD'S November meeting was the AGM and also the 21st birthday.

We were pleased to have the attendance of Margaret Noon, a county advisor and we completed the business part of the meeting as quickly as possible.

We thanked our retiring treasurer, Pat Ellis, for all her hard work and presented her with some plants. Otherwise our committee remains the same.

We then welcomed our visitors, as we had invited our past members. We had some very tasty refreshments provided by our members and also enjoyed a birthday cake made by our president, Janet Noyes.

The Flower of the Month was won by: 1 Vera Squires, 2 Edna Beasley.

Birthday cards and buttonholes were presented to two of our members.

It was with great sadness that we learned, since our meeting, of the death of our member, Betty Miller, after a short illness. She was very active in our WI, having been a long serving member of our committee and was in overall charge of any competitions we entered.

She will be greatly missed. We send our condolences to her family.

JN