December’s meeting kick-started festivities with an entertaining and informative talk on “The Sentiments of Christmas” by James Stebbing from Dereham.
James’s presentation included a number of seasonal images such as a variety of weird and wacky Christmas trees, made from all sorts of bizarre materials; for example, one in Wells made from 200 lobster pots which took two days to build.
There were other memorable tales, the most moving of which was of the Christmas truce held during the First World War, when English and German troops briefly ceased gunfire, played football, exchanged greetings and together sang Stille Nacht/Silent Night.
James gave further insight to other memorable Christmas traditions; for instance, White Christmas, originally recorded by Bing Crosby and covered by numerous other artists, has sold more than 100 million copies over the years; that the origins of Oh Holy Night are about slavery; and how Gilbert first met Sullivan and went on to have a successful partnership. He also cited the Longfellow poem I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day: poignant words but sadly too long to quote here.
James closed his presentation with bygone images of horse-drawn sleighs dashing through the snow – happy days indeed when children used to skate on frozen ponds and build snowmen without fear of any climate change disasters.
The first meeting of this year was the annual debate on which national WI campaign to support. Four topics were tabled: “Let’s talk about incontinence”; “Bystanders can be lifesavers (knowledge of CPR)”; “Join the repair revolution (upcycling clothes)”; and “Eliminate landfill of medication packaging”.
The 33 members in attendance voted on their preferred resolution. The one with the most votes will be put forward for consideration, alongside submissions from other WI groups nationwide, with the most popular being adopted by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes at its AGM later this year.
Thereafter members had time to socialise; some played board games and enjoyed refreshments before the meeting was brought to a close.
The next meeting of Reepham WI will be held on Thursday 20 February at 7.30 pm at St Michael’s, Reepham. Following the AGM, guest speaker Angela Bishop will give members “A trip down memory lane”.
Dee Taylor