Christmas festivities

7th December
One of the WIs in our local WI group hosted an evening concert by the Bletchley Belles singers at Mursley. This has become an annual event to raise money for Willen Hospice and the host WI. The Bletchley Belles got together several years ago to compete in the WI contest for choirs. They did very well regionally and have continued singing together ever since for their own enjoyment and for those of us who like to go along to listen.
8th December
More carols at the WI event held in Buckingham Community Centre tonight. Bravura Brass provided the accompaniment and there were readings by members of the Leisure and Performing Arts Sub-committee. It was a lovely evening and the singing was great. The refreshments were traditional mincepies homemade by WI members.
10th December
Our local craft group was a very small gathering this afternoon as these dreadful coughs and colds took their toll. But we have planned our 2008 programme of demonstrations and activities and we spent a cosy time chatting around a coal fire.
11th December
Tonight the local WI members went out for a Christmas dinner at Claydon House. This is an extra event so if we wish to attend we have to pay for ourselves and our guests.We hire the community bus to which the WI pays an annual affiliation fee so that no one has to avoid alcohol consumption for the drive home. It is a very popular event for which we all have an excuse to dress up: the males enjoy wearing dinner jackets too. We choose fairly local restaurants and change the venue every year.This custom also provides an opportunity to socialise and to thank partners for their support during the year.You know the sort of thing--moving tables and chairs, taxi-ing, bringing refreshments out to tents and answering endless telephone calls!
End of year
There are no more WI events planned for 2007 so this will be my final entry for this year.I don't really know how successful this idea has been or whether to continue in 2008. The aim was to show what the WI has to offer locally, within the County Federation and nationally. I also wanted to encourage Bucks WI members to look at the website and to use it. I have received few comments on the blog but several in conversation so it's up to you readers and Bucks Executive to decide what becomes of this spot.
In the meantime may I wish you all the best for 2008 and rather like Bruce Forsyth would say "Keep WI-ing!"