President Marianne welcomed club members to SI Bangor and District’s 75th Anniversary Celebration Afternoon Tea which was held at Storiel Bangor on 5th March, 2024. A warm welcome was also extended to Regional President Janet Murfin, President Sandra Snow and members from SI Llandudno, Mary Rickards and Jane Williams from SI South Caernarfonshire and our Honorary Club members Enid Griffith (101 years young!) and Mair Jones OBE. Cllr Elin Walker Jones, Mayor of the City of Bangor spoke kindly of the work and service of club members to the community over many years.
The Club was chartered in 1948 under the presidency of Mrs Gladys Emyr Hughes and a very interesting exhibition about our Club remains on show at the Storiel Museum, Bangor until the end of April. Special thanks were extended to Helen Gwefryl and Dion Hamer at Storiel who provided invaluable help in supporting the exhibition. We hope that members of the local community, family and friends visit the Museum and hopefully encourage potentially new members to join SI Bangor.
The centrepiece of the event was The Time Capsule which had been commissioned by President Wendy in 1998 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the club. As a longstanding club member Wendy was present to explain that the capsule had been designed and created by Mr. Simon Temblett, who studied graphic design at Parc Menai College in 1998. It depicts branches of a tree supporting an egg. The tree is representative of Mother Earth and the Past, whilst the egg is a symbol of the Future. This seemed an appropriate design to mark the Club’s milestone as it moved into the new millennium. To mark the end of our 75th Anniversary year, the time capsule was re-opened to reveal its contents which represented the activities of the club over the past 50 years. These will all remain on display, along with one new item, until the capsule is resealed at the end of April 2024, and will not be opened again until the centenary of the club in 2048.
A scrumptious afternoon tea was provided by all members and generous donations received from the Mayor and South Caernarfonshire SI.
Club Secretary Vikki made wild garden seed packets to share amongst all present. These are part of the 75 days of kindness to nature – hoping they are scattered in gardens and special places to bring happiness as they grow and an important food source for our bees, butterflies and other friends in the natural world.