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Ladies Friendship
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The next five Years 1989-1993 |
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Jan 19th 1989 Our New Year Meeting. Our speaker was Mrs Edna Wadsworth from Rushden W.R.V.S. Her talk was very interesting, most people do not realise how much work the Voluntary Service offers. A few ladies & myself do Meals-on-Wheels but that is only a small section. Sheila has suggested another competition for Easter – How many items in an envelope; she will organise it. Feb 16th Marion’s Dinner & what a delicious menu. Fruit juice, 2 slices of meat, potatoes & mixed veg, followed by 2 sorts of gateaux, cheese cake & tinned fruit. We were worried about the cooking as the rings would not hot up for the vegs. but we realised when we got one ring on, the others didn’t work. So it took a long time. But it was alright in the end. Mrs Leach was our after dinner speaker; she gave us a wonderful talk & demonstration of her collection of lace. Right from the early years & some from other countries. I am very concerned Mrs King & Mrs Sharp cannot get to the meetings now Sheila has moved & she has no car. Do hope they sort something out. Mavis brought Mrs Sharp today as it was the dinner. March 16th Our Easter meeting with a tea. Mrs Willmott sang some songs & Mrs Howard, her mother, played for her. We have had them before, but it always a pleasure to have them. The tea was enjoyed by all. April 20th Mrs Whiteman came & gave us a talk about St John’s Ambulance Centenary year in Rushden. Another insight into what goes on in Rushden & all the good work the St John’s workers do for us. Sheila presented a prize to Mrs Hilda Chettle – 137 items in an envelope. May 18th Our speaker today was Mr Gordon Meadows to talk to us about his life with Music & he brought some of his favourite tapes from over the years to listen to. My husband provided transport for him & his wife. Our next meeting will be on June 22nd instead of the 15th as the village hall is being used for the European Elections. June 22nd Our speaker today was Mrs Butler from Rushden; she was a school teacher, so a few ladies knew her; she gave us an interesting talk & read some of her poetry. Marion gave us a lovely surprise – a Strawberry Tea. I am so pleased to record on the Ladies’ Friendship Register we have 35 names. We are getting more ladies come from Rushden. We still have transport problems, especially for Mrs Sharp & Mrs King. Let's pray someone will help them. “Thanks be to God” for our increase in number and our friendly afternoons of Fellowship & Friendship. July 20th Our speaker this month was Miss Sue Cumberpatch so we thought, but by surprise to everyone she had got married last weekend. Sue gave us a very interesting talk about her life, the good times & the bad, she has been ill but we hope with her new home & life in front of her, she will keep well. We were pleased to see Sue’s mother also. It was our Strawberry Tea & everything went well. We presented Sue & her husband (Mr & Mrs Eagles) with a glass dish & a belated Wedding Card. August 17th Mrs Turner came & gave us a cookery demonstration. We were very lucky to have one as Mrs Turner just out giving talks these days, but as she was one of our first ladies to come & give a cookery demonstration & talk when we started these meetings in 1983, it was special & she told us how to make quick & easy cakes, lovely iced & decorated sponges, a fruit upside-down cake, Swiss tarts & biscuits - all very delicious. We tried them all with a cup of tea afterwards. I have the recipes & will Photostat them for the next meeting. Sept 21st Our 6th Anniversary with a Birthday Tea. It’s wonderful more ladies are coming from Rushden. My husband is kindly picking up Mrs Sharp & Mrs King. Our speaker today is Mr Nigel Dyson from Radio Northampton. He brought some amusing tapes from recent interviews from previous radio shows & some mistakes that happen. He had to rush off & not stay to tea, as he had been off ill from work for a few days, so he had a lot of work to do. October 19th We had no speaker today; it is our own Special Service, which is usually in the church. But this year I just could not get a Sunday when we could have it. But this service in the hall was much better & we had it with members taking part. Hymns were chosen by Bessie, Phyl & Margaret Lines & Hilda sang a song & Edie played for her. Readings from Mavis, Bertha & Freda and a little playlet called “A Recipe for Scripture Cake or Bible Cake”. Joan, Ruby & Sheila read the readings from the bible to correspond with the ingredients of the cake, the theme was All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above, then thank the Lord oh Thank the Lord for all his love. I read the prayers & made the Scripture Cake & we all had a piece to try with a cup of tea. It was such a successful afternoon we shall have our service during our meeting next year. We also had our Bring & Buy stall. We did not take so much money this year so the money will go into our funds. My husband Ernie, is also fetching ladies from Rushden so they can come to the meetings. Nov 16th We had a talk & slides on “Hinwick Hall”, a home for physically handicapped people. Mrs Mary Wilkins came at short notice as Mr Robinson from Hinwick Home is Head Gardener & was unable to come. We gave a donation for the Home. We have been invited to hold one our monthly meetings at the Home & have a look round & also visit their garden centre. Nov 23rd We went on an outing to Peterborough, Christmas shopping, it was a nice day, with good weather. We left Rushden 12.45 & returned from Peterborough at 5pm. £2 ticket. We were there for the Christmas Lights to be turned on by Ruth Maddock from the TV programme Hi-Di-Hi. Some members would have liked to have stayed longer, the time simply flew by. Dec 21st Our Christmas Party It was a happy afternoon with lots of Carols & Games; pass the parcel won by Mrs Lee, sweets in a jar – Mrs Barnes won them & then games of Bingo & a Christmas Tea. Christmas Cards for everyone from Sheila. What a good year for us all. Thanks be to God for his goodness to us. May we remain true to him in our meetings of Fellowship & Friendship. Jan 18th 1990 We pray for our New Year coming. Our speaker this month was a very delightful; & interesting lady, Mrs Joyce Silver; she has been a Therapist, Beautician, studied Chiropody, so she let us ask he questions instead of giving us a talk. It was a different & amusing meeting. She brought her best friends with her (loofa & a bottle of Nivea cream). The large loofa caused a laugh, before she ever started speaking. Feb 15th Marion’s Dinner 12.45. It went very well. Soup, sliced meat, jacket potatoes & mixed vegs followed by gateaux, tinned pears, tea, coffee or orange. After dinner speakers were Mr & Mrs Church from Higham Ferrers to talk about their toy business of making Old Fashioned Teddy Bears. They brought a selection for us to see & also the materials they use to make them with. It was very interesting. We had a competition for the oldest teddy bear. Mrs Lines came first, I came second & Mrs Chettle came third. That’s all the teddies that were brought. March 10th. The outing to the show “Underneath the Arches” was a great success. March 15th We had a talk & slides shown by Sylvia & Pam, members of the Gideons; it was wonderful. The work that is being done; distributing Bibles to hotels, hospitals, schools etc., also abroad. It is not a money raising organisation, just quietly receives donations & money from members subscriptions. The Bibles are given out free to spread God’s Word. Many of us had heard of the Gideons, but didn’t really know what they did. Our Pianist Mrs Margaret Lines is ill with Cancer; it’s a shock & upset us all. Hopefully with treatment she will be cured. Bessie, Sheila & myself went to see her & took her a box of fruit from the Ladies’ Friendship Meeting. She was delighted; she is a very strong courageous Lady. April 19th Panic stations, today’s speaker could not make it, she was ill, so I started phoning around then my friend Mavis said she would ask a member of her club R.S.P.B. if they could help out & Mr Bryan King from Kettering came. I was so relieved. He brought slides & gave a lovely nature talk. I think it turned out for the best. I shall certainly ask him again next year. Thanks also to Mavis; she read a very nice poem, her favourite, about nature. Very fitting for the meeting. May 17th Our meeting today is an outing to Hinwick Hall. It is a centre not far from us, for handicapped Men & boy youngsters; it was wonderful to see what they can do & also the helpers must have a lot of patience. There is a woodwork room, wrought iron room & handicrafts, also a large garden centre; it made us feel very lazy & ungrateful, when we saw how they managed with their disabilities. We had tea & cakes (also home made). After lots of phoning around for transport & names, I was pleased the afternoon went so well. June 21st We had a very interesting afternoon. It was Judith Spencer from the Florists Shop in Rushden High Street. Her arrangements were beautiful & they were put in our raffle & six lucky ladies were winners. We sold raffle tickets at 50p each as Mrs Spencer’s demonstration was £15. I felt ill that day so I could not really enjoy the meeting. Sheila was very good & helped me and read the prayers & organised most of the afternoon. July 12th Our meeting has been brought forward a week this month. I am on holiday next week & it is our strawberry tea, so as not to put too much worry on Sheila. I changed the speaker, Mr Robinson, Head Gardener, who couldn’t come, to Mr Frank Roberts. Oh dear, nothing runs smoothly. Mr Roberts couldn’t make it, but he got Mrs Thorpe to come & give the talk instead. My husband & I picked strawberries the afternoon before from Thurleigh & then on the morning I was so poorly, I dare not go to the meeting. I phoned my good friend Sheila & told her my husband will help me put out the tables & get everything ready in the morning. Could she manage? She kindly said she would & we asked a few friends to help her. I am very grateful to her; my husband said everything went well, the speaker was good, the tea was lovely & it was a member’s birthday, it was her best one ever she said. Thanks Sheila for all your help. August 16th We have 44 Ladies on my register now, what an increase from when we started nearly 7 years ago, a lot are coming from Rushden. Its wonderful to hear them say they enjoy coming to the meeting. Our Thanks to our Heavenly Father for his help. Today we have Mrs Marion Barker to give us a cooking demonstration. It was a mouth-watering afternoon. Pastry plaits of sausage meat, onion & mushrooms, & some of tomato & cheese, Pavlova, mousse & jelly creams, “Oh the smell”. We raffled the goodies afterwards; there were some lucky ladies with delights to take home today. September 20th Our 7th Birthday (7 years and still going strong) Thanks be to God, who I am sure His presence is with us every month. We had our own service. Starting off with the Ladies Friendship Hymn, ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus’, played for us by Edie. A reading by Bertha (her favourite parable of the Sower, St Luke’s Gospel), Hilda sang ‘The Old Rugged Cross’, such a lovely voice & a lovely poem read by Sheila & a special prayer written by Ann. A talk from Mr Hill about his holiday with Joan; they went to see the Passion play at …. Also a Birthday Tea & Birthday Cake made by me. It was a happy & friendly afternoon. Just how I like it to be. I gave Thanks to Sheila, my faithful friend & helper, my Woman Friday I called her, also to Marion who has given up being treasurer, she was a great help to me. Thanks go to Mrs Joan Hill for taking the Treasurers job from Marion & to Mrs Bertha Ellis for running the raffle each month for Joan. Thanks must go to the ladies who wash the cups for us & for everyone who comes to make the meetings so friendly. October 18th Our speaker this month is Mr Peter Rose. He is a good friend of mine, also his step-father John came. Both of them are special people. Peter came to demonstrate the making of his lovely ceramics, he also brought some along to sell. It was good to see him doing so well. He was a very ill man on crutches when I first met him at the W.I. Craft Fayre. He is getting much better by his interest in ceramics. We also held a Bring & Buy Table for Newton Bromswold’s St Peter’s Church. November 15th Mr George came with slides & gave us a talk about Old Rushden. It was very interesting to most of the ladies. It took us back to our childhood years. How old places had been knocked down & new places built in their place and the old shops. We were going through the names of the old shopkeepers and what tales were told. Our Pianist Mrs Margaret Lines is still very poorly & gone back into hospital. We have sent her a card. We all are worried about her & we pray she will soon be better. Dec 13th We went to Castle Ashby for a Christmas dinner. The coach left Rushden 12 o’clock. It was £6 for members, £7.50 for visitors. The meal was just wonderful, we had crackers & the decorations were up, it was lovely. Dec 20th It’s our Christmas Party. We had carols. Ann said her prayer she had written. Sheila had brought Mrs Margaret Lines a box of biscuits from us, she is still very poorly & also we bought her mother Mrs Young a box of biscuits, she is a wonderful mother to Margaret & she & her father & family are very worried. Mrs Pearl Martin kindly bought Margaret a card & we all signed it. We had games, pass the parcel, sweets in a jar, a Christmas card for everyone. Sheila dressed up as Father Christmas & gave us all a good laugh. We had a lovely tea. May Peace be all over the world this Christmas. May God’s Healing Power & loving Blessings be with all we know. It will be a worrying Christmas this year, a war might start in the Middle East. Jan 17th 1991 War was declared today on Baghdad & Iraq. Our troops are called out there to join the American Army. Let us pray that it was the right decision that they should go & that there will be few casualties & there will be a quick & peaceful settlement. We had a nice letter from Margaret Lines thanking us for her card & biscuits. Today’s speaker was Mrs Rowthorn. Most of us knew her; she used to live in Avenue Road. Mrs Rowthorn writes poetry & books all about the old days. We found it all very interesting to hear about her grandparents and how they used to live. February 21st 1991 Ladies Friendship dinner 12.45 pm. It was a very busy morning. Many thanks go to Sheila, Marion, Joan & my husband Ernie for all their help. We had Orange & Apple Juice for Starters. Cut Ham & Chicken Roll with potatoes (mashed), Brussels & Carrots, Gravy; Fruit Salad for Sweet & Coffee. It turned out well & everyone enjoyed it. I had invited our speaker for to-day to join us for dinner as she was coming from Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Mrs Aubrey enjoyed the meal & was glad to have the extra time while the washing up was done, she brought lots of silk flower arrangements from a Craft Fayre the day before. Her talk & demonstration was about making roses out of Satin Ribbon. They were lovely, we all had our try. But she kindly presented Sheila, Marion, Joan & myself for the lovely meal. March 21st 1991 31st March is Easter Sunday. This was our Easter meeting, with hymns, prayers, readings all for Good Friday & Easter Sunday. Our speaker was Mrs Brook from Castle Ashby, she demonstrated some lovely arrangements with dried flowers & grasses. We enjoyed Easter biscuits & birds nest cakes with our cups of tea. April 18th 1991 Our speaker today was Mr Frank Dymant, he brought lovely slides on Churches of Northamptonshire & also slides & the story of Queen Eleanor’s Crosses. It was most interesting. I announced I had booked a Christmas dinner for us all at Castle Ashby again this year. December 12th. May 16th 1991 Our speaker today was Mr Frank Roberts, he brought his TV & video to show us about the work of the St John’s Order in an Eye hospital in Jerusalem. It was moving to see how many people were suffering with blindness & poor eye complaints. But so pleasing to know this wonderful organisation is helping them. June 20th 1991 Our speaker today is a special friend who we like to come & give a talk at our meetings; she is a charming lady and so interesting to listen to. Her talk today was about her hobby, collecting & making furniture for her dolls houses, she brought little things she had been making & some separate rooms, especially to be able to show us how they are furnished. They were marvellous. A clever lady. July 18th 1991 Mrs Emtage was today’s speaker, she also brought her lovely slides on Barbados, she lived there for many years. It was also our Strawberry Tea. We were lucky to get any strawberries this year, they are nearly over. August 15th 1991 We were so lucky, Mrs Gould came and talked and showed us her handkerchief collection, as some months ago she had an accident & had been in hospital & last week I was told she was on crutches, she managed to come to our meeting without them & sat down & talked to us. It was a lovely afternoon. September 19th 1991 Our 8th Anniversary Service & Birthday Tea. We had the Ladies Friendship Hymn “What a Friend we have in Jesus”, Readings & Prayer from Joan, Testimony from Ann, Prayer from Sheila written especially for the meeting by Ann, Reading of Faith from Pat, Hymn “O Jesus I have promised”. We had a lovely Birthday Tea and a Birthday Cake. Sheila & I announced we would like two ladies to run the meetings, as I am moving to Devon & Sheila’s husband has retired from his work & she wants to spend more time with him. October 17th 1991 Mrs Ann Whitworth helped me out by coming at the last minute to show us some lovely dried flower arrangements also a Christmas table decoration. My other speaker could not make it. She was so good I’m glad she came & I will ask her to come next year. We had two Bring & Buy Tables. One for the Friendship & one for Newton Church run by Pat. November 21st 1991 Mr Bryan King came last year and brought some beautiful slides of Nature so I invited him again this year and he did not disappoint us, his slides were about the other side of Spain, lovely countryside, birds, butterflies & flowers. Not the usual pictures you see of Spain. It thought it was packed beaches, bullfights and greasy food. Now I would like to go & see where Mr King went. He sold cards, calendars, etc. for RSPB which he belongs to. I invited him back again next year. December 12th 1991 We had a lovely Christmas dinner at Castle Ashby. The weather was fine, but very cold. December 10th 1991 Our dear friend Margaret Lines died after a long struggle with cancer, she will be missed. She was a founder member & our pianist. December 19th 1991 Our Christmas Party. What a lovely time. My husband Ernie dressed as Father Christmas & played his keyboard. We had 8 carols to sing in between Pass the Parcel, Sweets in the Jar and then lovely Refreshments. There was plenty of laughter. Such a lovely afternoon to finish off the year. The Lord’s name be praised. £10.50 was collected at the Christmas meeting, in memory of Margaret. It was given to her husband to be sent to Marsden Cancer Appeal Fund. January 13th 1992 Ladies Friendship meeting at my house. It was an important one, as we have sold on our house and I must get someone to run the meetings or else it will fold and that will be very sad as they are so friendly and you can feel the Lord is amongst us each month. How wonderful Mrs Bertha Ellis is leading the meeting & she has five helpers. Sheila is staying on to help just with the cards & Register. Ann is reading the prayers, Pat is taking over the tea, Joan is still Treasurer & Marion is running the Raffle. I am so relieved the Lord answered my prayers. I wish them all a healthy & happy New Year 1992. It has been a very special 8 years. Margaret Stock. January 20th 1992 Today we had our first meeting of 1992. Everything went well and our new leader Bertha Ellis paid a lovely tribute to Margaret Stock, thanking her for all she achieved in founding & running the “Ladies Friendship” & building it into such a success over the past 8 years. On behalf of us all she also wished her & her husband every happiness when they move to their new home. It seemed strange to see Margaret sitting with the other ladies, but I know she felt relieved & happy that she had found someone to take her place & keep the meetings going. We extend our warm welcome to Bertha with our Best Wishes in her new role & know she will have full support from all the LADIES. S. Rodwell February 20th 1992 We had a very enjoyable afternoon. Mr Patrick Norman was our speaker, he is the son of R.W.N. who used to write “Air Ada” in the Rushden Echo & Argus, and was also a well known Character in Rushden. We had two special presentations to make, one to Bessie Lines, who had reached her 80th birthday, and also one to Mrs Ruby Wilmer, on the occasion of her and her husband Frank’s Golden Wedding. They were both presented with a bouquet. We hoped to present Margaret Stock with a leaving gift, and a card, which all the members have subscribed to, but unfortunately she could not be there so we are hoping she will be here at our next meeting in March, so we can present them to her. Sheila has received a letter from Mrs Pearl Martin, she regrets she will no longer be able to come to the meetings, as she helps with the Church Magazine, and very often it clashes with our meetings, but she sends her best wishes for the future. After the meeting Tea and Biscuits were served by Pat & other ladies. Marian could not be with us at this Meeting, she was moving house. B. Ellis. March 19th 1992 Another lovely afternoon about 29 ladies attended, our Speaker was Mrs R. Hallworth, she showed us Photos of various places in Rushden, which she made into a Competition. First to win was Mrs M. Odell, Mrs Maidwell 2nd, and myself 3rd, it was enjoyed by everyone. We presented Margaret and Ernie with a Royal Stewart Rose Bowl, Chocolates and a tea towel, plus a card from all the Ladies at the Friendship Meeting. Sheila gave a lovely little speech, and wished them both every happiness in their new home in Devon. Our next meeting will be our Easter Meeting with a tea. B. Ellis. April 16th 1992 Mrs Ann Whitworth came and spoke to us about flower arranging and also did some lovely Spring Flower Arrangements. A Competition for a flower arrangement in an egg cup was judged by Mrs Whitworth, and won by Mrs Sheila Rodwell (a basket with small Easter eggs in it was the prize). Being Maundy Thursday Pat Bugby read a special reading, being our Easter Meeting, we all enjoyed a lovely tea afterwards, it was a very nice afternoon. B. Ellis. May 21st 1992 Miss Beaumont our Speaker was unable to keep her appointment, so my husband, Mr Gordon Ellis, stepped in and showed slides of our holiday last year in South Africa. Mrs Maidwell played the piano for the hymn, Pat led us in prayer, Sheila gave the vote of thanks, and every one enjoyed the meeting. Tea and biscuits were served. It was a lovely hot summer’s day. A coach has been booked for an Afternoon Mystery Country Trip, followed by afternoon tea on Thursday, June 11th. Marion ran the raffle. B. Ellis. June 11th 1992 A lovely sunny afternoon, about 28 ladies enjoyed a Mystery Country Trip followed by afternoon tea at Perry provided by the ladies of the Baptist Chapel, everyone enjoyed themselves, and we hope to do something similar later in the summer. B. Ellis. July18th About 22 ladies attended the meeting which was led by Mrs Bertha Ellis. Prayers; Mrs Pat Bugby. Our Speaker was Mrs B. Palfrey, who took us back into the past years of her life. A very enjoyable afternoon, a vote of thanks was given by Mrs Sheila Rodwell. Mrs Marion Sanders arranged the raffle, and the tea and biscuits were served by two of the Ladies. Our pianist was Mrs Maidwell, who we are most grateful to for playing for the Hymns. B. Ellis. July 16th About 22 ladies attended the Meeting. Mrs Wendy Muncey was our speaker, who spoke on special things in her life and what they meant to her and her family. This afternoon should have been our strawberry tea, but unfortunately the strawberries had finished so we enjoyed a lovely tea of sandwiches, fruit salad and fancy cakes, which was served by the Ladies. Sheila gave the birthday cards to the birthday people, and mentioned that Mrs King would be 80 years old on her birthday next month, and she would go to visit her, as she has not been well, so she has not been to our meetings lately. B. Ellis. August 20th 1992 We had a lovely meeting, beginning with a hymn, then Pat led us in prayer, our speaker was Mrs Phillips who spoke about poems and readings, relating to the Bible, it was a lovely talk. Marion sold the raffle tickets, which we had some lovely prizes, e.g. Plums, Eggs, Marrows and Damsons. Mrs Maidwell was our pianist; the vote of thanks was given by Sheila. Tea and biscuits were served after the meeting by some of the ladies. In the notices I thanked everyone who had brought things for Sheila’s stall at the Village Fete, at which at the end of the afternoon nearly £1000 was raised, for St. Peter’s Church at Newton Bromswold, a very good effort. B. Ellis. September 17th 1992 Today was s special Meeting, it was our 9th Anniversary. We had a lovely time, Mrs Maidwell was our pianist. Ladies took part in the service, including RubyWilmer, did a reading, Joan Hill a reading, and also Mavis James a poem, Pat Bugby led the prayers, Sheila Rodwell gave out the birthday cards to the appropriate people. We had a lovely card remembering our special day from Margaret and Ernie. I made an Anniversary Cake, and also did an arrangement of flowers, which I gave towards the raffle prizes. Marion Sanders arranged the raffle, which there were some lovely prizes. After the meeting we had a lovely Anniversary tea. It was lovely to have Betty Teague with us from America on this Special Occasion. B. Ellis. October 15th 1992 We didn’t have a speaker today, so we had our meeting, a hymn, prayers led by Pat, a raffle by Marion, birthday cards were given out by Sheila. A bring and buy stall raised £13 for Ladies Friendship Meeting followed by a nice cup of tea and biscuits prepared and served by Pat while members played a game identifying famous faces by photographs, for which a prize was awarded for the best number right. I gave out about a Coffee Morning at Pat Bugby’s in November, with proceeds going towards Newton Bromswold’s church. B. Ellis. November 19th 1992 Our monthly meeting was very well attended, Mr Bryan King, RSPB, was our speaker showing slides on his visit to Morocco, the buildings are very different to what one thinks, also the lovely flowers and birds, it was really very interesting, enjoyed by all the members. A Christmas Shopping outing has been arranged to Peterborough, on Wednesday the 25th of November, with about 19 people going, we are looking quite forward to it, and also we are hoping the Christmas Lights will be on. B. Ellis. December 17th 1992 Today was our Christmas Afternoon Meeting. 22 ladies attended. Readings and Prayers by Mrs Pat Catlin and Mrs Pat Bugby. Father Christmas made a visit (Mr Bert Catlin) where he gave a small gift to each one present. Games were enjoyed and singing Carols. Sheila Rodwell gave a vote of thanks and presented Mr B. Catlin and Mrs P. Catlin with a little gift. After the meeting everyone enjoyed a lovely cup of tea, and seasonable refreshments made by the ladies. Mrs Muriel Maidwell was the pianist for the afternoon. Sheila took Mr & Mrs Wilding a plant & a card on the occasion of their Golden Wedding. B. Ellis. |
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