Feeling heated

29 June
Today several members of one of the county sub-committees gathered to conduct a ballot for an over-subscribed event. It breaks our hearts to have to turn members away when this happens. Partly we are pleased that whatever is planned has appealed to the members but also sad that there isn't room for everyone either in the hall or on the coach. We cannot always add on another coach or repeat the event almost immediately.A ballot is not the correct term for what we do: it suggests names are drawn out of a hat. It is more an allocation really, worked out by practicalities such as carloads, distance and then as a last resort we consult the account of previous ballots to see how a WI fared last time a similar decision had to be made. We do our best to be fair but it is a bit of a nightmare to be honest!
This afternoon the blood donors' van was in town so members of the local WI were on hand serving teas and juices to those recuperating not only from giving blood but also from the heat outside.
30 June
Down to the federation HQ today to make the final financial arrangements for the coming holiday to Norway.It was so hot in the car that I began to really dream of getting away to somewhere a little less tropical. There are ten people travelling to Norway in September under a different organisational plan as far as the BFWI is concerned and a lot depends on how successful this is as to whether these foreign holidays can continue to be on offer.Personally I think it would be a shame to see them finish but the Federation needs someone to head them up. If there is anyone out there who is willing to give it a go, please let the Federation Secretary know.
1 July
Local WI meeting tonight . The room was like an inferno when we walked in so we flung all the windows and doors open. We had to spend quite a long time discussing the rise in hall hire charges for our meetings. These are going to treble over the next couple of years which is going to drastically affect our budget. Although we will obviously object and try to get the terms reduced, we are also calling on all the members to actively enquire about alternative venues.It is rich really when the town was promised that on the closure of the secondary school, the building would be used for the benefit of local educational adult needs and to forge closer links in the community. Now the WI which is all about these aims is being driven out.The smaller rooms have long since been swallowed up into offices for the council instead of being available for small classes. Letters will need to be written!
We listened to a speaker telling us about her experiences on going up to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE.
We finalised plans for our "posh hats" outing which seemed to fit in with the talk and made plans for the town show at the end of August where we will be promoting the WI in general as well as our local branch.
4 July
Doesn't it make you spit? You sit down to read the Saturday paper, turn to the page where someone is sent out to review a restaurant and what do you read? Jasper Gerard gets to the course which presents guinea fowl on the menu and completely out of the blue, with no connection to anything before or after, he writes "Guinea fowl can often be drier than a WI convention"! A WI convention? When did we last have a convention? Does he mean the Annual General Meeting? If so, can the uproar of the Tony Blair meeting be classed as dry? Or the appearances of Bill Bryson, or Sandi Tostig or indeed Maureen Lipman be classed as dry? He doesn't know what he is talking about, does he? Why make such an inane comparison--quite unnecessary. I think I shall have to reach for a particularly scratchy pen nib and the vitriolic ink to write another letter! Perhaps I am over-sensitive and all publicity is good publicity but I think it is another example of the WI name being taken in vain.