Page 154 - Mind, Body and Spirit 2016/17

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We all met up again in the North East at the Memorial Gardens in York to pay our respect to the fallen. What a lovely day we had, the sun was out and
we paid our respects, we also had 2 new members
join the group, George Davies and Denis Williams with
their good ladies, great to see you guy’s and we loved your company! We lunched afterwards and told all the fondest stories for a few amazing hours! We were looked after
again admirably by the staff of the Maltings.
NORTH EAST BRANCH REMEMBRANCE
Ian Dean
Our Christmas party in December 2016, was arranged for a Friday night as some members expressed a wish of being able to ‘sleep over’ without having to go to work
the next day. This proved a rather tough time for our committee to arrange, as the hotel preferred residents to stay Friday and Saturdays to maximise numbers staying open over the Christmas period. Unfortunately, some members were placed in a ‘Faulty Tower’ hotel which rather marred the evening. As a result, we have reverted to a week day. We have therefore booked the Ruskin hotel in Blackpool for Tuesday 5th December 2017, when accommodation is guaranteed. It’s a ‘Turkey and Tinsel’ function and all members, including families and friends are invited.
The Blackpool reunion went well. We had very good support from both the North-East and the South West Branches, boosting our numbers as to make the event worthwhile. It is only the in ux of other branches that keeps the branch going. Of the 60 members that were originally attending, four fell by the wayside. Our turn out was slightly higher than last year and could have been higher but some of our elderly associates are now nding it dif cult to
continue. We are an ageing community and our numbers have signi cantly dropped.
Attending for the rst time was our present SMAA Lt Col Tom Scarr RAPTC, accompanied by the Regimental Secretary, Gary Jones. Apart from the SMAA, the only serving member was SSI Rob Smith who attended with his wife Sandra from their home in Hudders eld. Another welcome was extended to Peter Wardle, a ‘newbie’ found by Ced Sharp in a shopping mall of all places in his home town of Poulton-Le-Fylde. They appeared with a table of his ex-Artillery PTI friends form the post 2WW days. We hope they had an enjoyable time.
Of the two functions held, I thank the background work of my committee and to the ladies that help with our functions such as: Betty and Fiona McBride and Dot Goulding who provide mementos or presents at their own expense for the ladies, which is an excellent touch. Our appreciated is also extended to our raf e ladies in Kath Bryant, a friend from my Royal Anglian days and the three-grey haired resident ‘strippers’ Barbara Redding, Dot Goulding and Linda Sorensen.
NORTH WEST BRANCH
Terry Goulding