June Newsletter
A bright sunny June 29th helped to bring a large crowd to the annual carnival held on the Star field. Our stall was visited by a number of Society members plus a lot of general enquiries from carnival attendees. Two general scenes are displayed below.
Mick Drury was our guest speaker at the coffee morning held on June 20th. His vast repertoire of anecdotes about being a miner at Littleton Colliery provided a hugely entertaining session. It highlighted the camaraderie that existed in the teams working in the huge coal seams underground and provided many humorous examples for our members. Mick’s obvious enthusiasm can perhaps be seen in the following somewhat grainy shot taken when he was ‘in full flow’
The A.G.M. was held on 20th June. A précis of the main points arising was:-
The Chairman reported on a busy year for the Society with the highlight, amongst many activities, being the publication of our book ‘Reflections Over The Years’.
The Treasurer confirmed that costs were being regularly monitored, especially the rising printing costs. Membership fees for the forthcoming year were confirmed as unchanged from the current year.
The Secretary stated a request to stand down from the role and proposed that Diane Tolley take over. This was seconded and approved by the members.
A range of actual and desired developments was outlined with a request being issued for further membership participation in the process, wherever possible.
The Management Committee of the Society stated their willingness to continue in the forthcoming year. This was proposed, seconded and approved by the members. Calls were made for further members of the Society to join the Management Committee.
The Chairman thanked all members of the Society, plus the Management Committee for their support and looked forward to another interesting and happy year ahead.
The schedule of speakers for the coffee mornings has been updated. Due to circumstances outside of our control, the guest speaker for July has had to temporarily withdraw. It is hoped that it can be re-arranged for a later time.
The August speaker has been changed and we are pleased to confirm that Andrew George from the Lichfield Record Office will be joining us. Andrew will bring some original records with him for what should be an interesting and informative session.
We are pleased to confirm that Major Ted Green has agreed to join us for our January ’14 coffee morning. The Major will be giving us an address on the Staffordshire Regiment, their museum and some of their future plans.
We are hopeful that an ‘interesting’ guest speaker can be confirmed in the near future for our December coffee morning. The list of speakers scheduled for the upcoming months is included in the ‘events’ section of our web-site.
The visit to the ‘Mother of Pearl’ factory has been confirmed for October 10th. Names of interested members have been forwarded and final arrangements, including cost, will be confirmed in the near future. It is likely that the visit will be combined with a visit to the Jewellery Quarter museum or another local attraction.
Great War and other war memorabilia have been kindly loaned to the Society. They include local details of Great War army volunteers and it is hoped to share more details with members in the near future. It is believed that some contents may be of wider interest and agreement will be sought to display the items in regional displays and exhibitions, if and where appropriate. It is hoped that further contents will be forthcoming from Society members and other people in the local community.
Further requests for support with family and general heritage details have been received. If, and where, possible, any findings are shared with the requestor and other Society members. One long-distance request is being followed up and it is probable that the enquirer may join us at the July coffee morning during a planned visit to the U.K.
The demise of the Carl Chinn show on WM has dismayed many members. This view has also been stated by members of other Societies and Organisations in the locality. It has been suggested that some form of petition / letter of complaint might be raised to the BBC and members will be asked for their support / agreement to this action at the July coffee morning.
The Society shares information on events being held in the community at each coffee morning. It has been suggested that it would be helpful if the details, including feedback from the events, are included in this monthly newsletter. A first entry is included below and members are asked to emai any preferred contents to Ron Myatt for inclusion, if possible.
Ron Myatt
“CALL THIS A PANTOMIMEâ€
By Pauline Kelsey
Great Wyrley Townswomen Guild Drama Group’s performance of “Call This a Pantomime†last March was a ‘Right Pantomime’ and certainly was a great success. “Oh Yes it Wasâ€, especially as the weather dumped 9†of snow on Great Wyrley on the day of the first night’s show, and as they say ‘The show must go on’. Fortunately the audience turned up and the show went ahead.
The ladies of Great Wyrley T.G. had written this Panto themselves with the idea for the storyline from the Producer Elaine Mills and her son Paul. Grandchildren and 3 gentlemen joined the cast and 2 young musicians produced the music and Brian Mills designed and printed the tickets and programmes.
The Synopsis was – At the TG Committee Meeting a discussion took place about the next Panto Production. 2 Tea ladies provided some comedy. Alice fell asleep and dreamt!!! Fairy Godmother became E Fairy.Com and was training up Tinkerbell to be her replacement. Alice in Wonderland was trying to find The Mad Hatters Tea Party. The White Rabbit, rabbit and the Cheshire Cat had stolen the Olympic Torch. E Fairy.Com reported on events throughout the Panto. Tinkerbell and Alice were her roving reporters. Peter Rabbit was the Dwarfs Olympic Coach and arrived on his Scooter looking for the 8 Dwarfs who were supposed to be training for the Dwarf Olympic Games. The Cheshire Cat was turned into a Dwarf. They all enjoyed dancing to Gangum Style and Hey Hey Alice. The punk Ugly Sisters wanted to enter The Voice of Great Wyrley’s Got Talent Competition and were in love with Tom Jones. The Queen of Tarts tried to teach them how to bake some Tarts. Teenager Cinderella didn’t want to go to the old fashioned Ball, she preferred a Disco but did find a Prince Charming from the Audience. The Dwarfs galloped on their hobby horses through the Forest accompanied by Panto Cow Daisy and the two tea ladies, in pursuit of the White Rabbit. Prime Minister Tweedle Dumb and his Deputy Tweedle Dumber were the stand-up comics (a bit like their day jobs then!). The Voice of Great Wyrley’s Got Talent Competition took place and finally everyone found the Mad Hatters Tea Party. The Panto Dame arrived with the Cake and then Elaine Mills arrived with the Olympic Torch to light the candle on the cake. A grand finale followed and the show had been enjoyed by audience and cast alike.
There was plenty of action and comedy throughout the show and audience participation too. Two nights performances raised £787 for three Charities, Cancer Research UK, Children’s Air Ambulance and The Samaritans.