On Friday 25th April 13 East Grinstead Soroptimists met for a coffee and chat at Chequer Mead for our monthly Orange Cafe meeting. It is always good to get together and catch up socially, but is also an opportunity to let others know about the organisation.
At the annual AGM we said a big thank you to President Alison for having run the club so successfully over the past year and she was presented with a plant for her garden.
Alison passed over the leadership of the club to Bridget. We are looking forward to what President Bridget intends to do in the next 12 months, concentrating on local needs, and wish her good luck for the coming year.
At our club meeting on Wednesday 16th April we were delighted to welcome Rosalind Crowther, from Sackville College, and presented her with a cheque for £441 as a result of the Art Club’s Mince Pie morning which happened before Christmas. We heard that sadly the Art Club was no longer going to run, having met fortnightly for over 10 years. It was the brainchild of Angela who has led it throughout the years but the time has come for it to draw to a close. Many thanks to Angela for her hard work over this time. However we were delighted to hear that the group are still going to run their very popular fundraising Mince Pie morning!!
On Sunday 6th April several East Grinstead Soroptimists gathered to plant a tree in memory of Betty Deller who sadly died at the incredible age of 98 earlier this year. She joined in 1978 and so had been a member for 47 years.
Her daughter Chris, also a Soroptimist, chose a crab apple tree, and can be seen in the photo (3rd from the right) holding the key to Quezon City in the Phillipines which was presented to Betty when she and Barbara McMicheal attended the SIGBI International Conference in 1997. It was one of the highlights of her travels to conferences.
At the club meeting on April 2nd we welcomed our latest new membee Trish. Although a new member she is well known to the club as she has often been to meetings when we have had external speakers.