Arctic adventure and new syllabus from Carsphairn SWI
L-R Mary Burney, Margaret Brown, Dorothy Faulds
President, Dorothy Faulds welcomed everyone to the first Carsphairn SWI meeting of 2024 on 25th January. There was a lot to share and discuss throughout the evening.
On 9th January 2024, Mary Burney, National President, presented the SWI Loyalty Award to Margaret Brown. Margaret is a long standing and much valued member of Carsphairn SWI. Mary, Dorothy Faulds and Christine Whipp shared a lovely afternoon with Margaret. Lots of discussion about the past and present.
The new syllabus was shared with everyone (link to download new syllabus here). Discussion then took place across a range of topics including the forthcoming Ruralympics and Spring Show. A meeting was arranged to further discuss the Community Work entry.
Dorothy, Isobel Cuthbertson and Betty Peacock gave reports from the recent Stewartry Federation meetings which took place on 20th January 2024. Issue 2 of the Stewartry Newsletter was issued by hand and electronically and was well received.
First Sighting of the Northern Lights by Christine Whipp
Dorothy then invited Christine Whipp to talk about her Arctic Adventure. Christine shared with members (after a technical hitch resolved by Heather) a recent experience of a family trip to Tromso, Norway in the Arctic Circle. She showed photographs and talked about the journey, places visited and sights seen.
One of the outstanding features of the trip was how lucky they were to see such good sightings of the Northern Lights and different species of whales. Heather Fairgreaves gave the vote of thanks which was endorsed by everyone there.
Very welcome refreshments were provided by Heather and Nancy White. While enjoying these, members judged the competitions with Pennies for Friendship. The competitions were very well supported and the ‘Pretty Jug’ section had 14 entries.
The outcome was as follows:
Pretty Jug - 1. Isobel Cuthbertson 2. Christine Whipp 3. Susie Seed.
Something Tartan (small) - 1. Merle Kerkhof 2. Heather Fairgreaves 3. Sheila Little.
Flower of the Month - 1. Susie Seed 2. Sheila Little 3. Nancy White.
The raffle was drawn and Dorothy thanked Heather and Nancy for providing the tea, Jennifer for standing in with the raffle and everyone for their contributions to the meeting. Members headed home after a successful and enjoyable meeting. Friendship, education, sharing and having fun exemplified.