A WARM WELCOME BACK AT THE SEPTEMBER MEETINGS AFTER OUR SUMMER BREAK!
October Dinner Meeting
Our guest speakers were John and Sue Boardman who gave an extremely interesting talk about the volunteers at Serpentine Garden Nursery in Buxton and their work. “We grow plants, we grow people” describes their gardening skills and the involvement of community groups of all ages and frequent open days. The couple brought artefacts with them, gave practical tips on horticulture and handed out seeds to each member present.
Federation Conference in Liverpool
At the end of October, several Buxton Club members travelled to Liverpool for the annual conference which was held over three days. A really good time was had by all and, as usual, it was a full and varied programme of events. Guest speakers were particularly impressive and included Sally Kettle, first woman to row across the Atlantic from east to west (twice!), Professor Helen Pankhurst, granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the world’s greatest living explorer, and Terry Waite, a humanitarian worker who was taken hostage in Beirut and held for five years.
Feedback was given at the Club’s November business meeting on voting and the valuable projects being carried out around the world.
Orange badges “Soroptimists say NO to Violence against Women” were distributed to members:
November Dinner Meeting
A really lovely evening when our guest speaker, Karen Mantle, gave us a demonstration of making seasonal and Christmas wreaths. Karen, a qualified florist runs her own business but also works at Chatsworth, creating floral decorations for the house. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and, not only did we see inspiring demonstrations, we learned the fashion trends and came away with really useful tips. President Anne, who had supplied most of the foliage from her garden, gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the Club to Karen.
New Venue for our Dinner Meetings
A new year sees the Club holding its dinner meetings at the Alison Park Hotel in Buxton. In January, we enjoyed a lovely meal there, followed by a light-hearted game of bingo! Two potential new members joined us and it was a good turnout to start 2019.