WORLEWIND BAND:

On April 3 at 7.30pm the WorleWind Band will be doing its first concert at Weston Museum to help raise money for the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Tickets are now available from the band and from the museum - £5 per person. It will be a wonderful evening of light and popular music so do come along and support this worthy cause.

For more information on the band please see our website http://www.worlewindband.co.uk/

THE INNER WHEEL CLUB OF WRINGTON VALE:

Members held their annual interclub in Shipham village hall. Over 90 ladies from clubs in District 20 enjoyed a sumptuous meal followed by a talk by Cliff White about his work behind the scenes at the Antiques Roadshow.

The event was organised by Pauline Carr, vice president of Wrington Vale, who gave the vote of thanks to the speaker.

District chairman Rita Jollife responded for the visitors and thanked the club and president Tina Forsey for a most enjoyable evening.

CONGRESBURY OVER 60S CLUB:

Members enjoyed an extremely interesting talk by Ian Parsons as he showed slides of his tour of Borneo which gave a fascinating glimpse of this equatorial country.

Very mountainous in parts, it is the third largest island in the world and home to many orchids including the rarest orchid in the world. It was also most interesting to see slides of the varied wildlife which included hornbills, monkeys, chimpanzees, pygmy rhino, pygmy elephants and the rare and beautiful clouded leopard.

At the next meeting on ….. the entertainment will see the welcome return of vocalist Chris Rainbow and it will be the last chance for members to book places for the outing to Stratford upon Avon on April 22. Members come from not only Congresbury but also the surrounding villages and Weston so if you would like to join this lively club please contact the chairman or secretary on 01934 832004 for further details of the club’s activities.

WRINGTON FRIENDSHIP CLUB:

There was a good attendance for the AGM and the chairman, Fred Parsons, thanked all those members who helped out at each meeting.

He said that the last year had been an enjoyable one and the programme for this year was full and varied. He agreed to serve again as chairman and Gina Moss was re-elected as treasurer.

Ann Prowse agreed to become secretary and Dennis Hoare and Irving Prowse agreed to join the committee. Two new members were welcomed and members went on to enjoy a whist drive.

At the next meeting Terry Merrett-Smith will give a talk on Rogers & Hammerstein.

New members aged 50 plus will be made very welcome at this friendly club which meets at Wrington Memorial Hall, Silver Street, on alternate Fridays at 2.30 pm. For further details please contact Fred Parsons (chairman) on 01934 863562.

The Wrington minibus brings many members to the hall, if you would like to use this service please contact Gina Moss on 01934 862911.

RAFA CONCERT BAND - (BLAKEHAY RESIDENT BAND):

Last Friday a small band played at a formal dinner in Ashton Court Mansions, Bristol. The feedback from the VIPs and guests was the meal plus the band’s programme of music created the right atmosphere, especially the impromptu sing-along during the evening.

Don’t forget the first of our concert appearances in the town this year on April 26 is the annual ‘Music in the Air’ at the Blakehay. Tickets on sale now from the box office.

We have a few vacancies for competent players to join us so if you can hit the right notes please visit our website www.rafaconcertband.org.uk or ring 01934 820205 for details.

Future 2014 engagements include: April 26 - Music in the Air Concert, Blakehay, Weston; June 20 - National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas; June 21 - Armed Forces Day, Weston.

HEWISH AND DISTRICT WI:

For our March birthday meeting we had Nicola Eaton as our speaker.

What a very popular lady, not just because of the chocolates we tasted but all the tips she gave out on using chocolate and cocoa while giving her excellent demonstration.

Best wishes and a speedy recovery go to Margaret Brees and Pam Disney on their recent knee operations.

The group outing on June 24 will be a visit to Hampton Court. The price for the coach and entry is £27.

Next month’s walk on Wednesday will start from the car park near the Commodore Hotel in Kewstoke, 10am start. Ring Jean on 520235 for any queries.

At our meeting on April 17 the speaker will be Becky Cawsey talking about ‘Policing through the ages’ the competition is A Tulip.

To finish the evening off we enjoyed a slice of beautifully decorated birthday cake.

We meet in the Hewish village hall at 7.30pm. Visitors will be very welcome.

PROBUS LADIES CLUB OF WESTON:

On March 18 at the club’s AGM at Dauncey’s Hotel, outgoing president Pat Griffiths passed over the chain of office to new presentiment Pat Lodge – Pat was also a president some years ago.

Probus is a club for retired professional and business women and holds fortnightly meetings. In addition, there have been many day trips including visits to Wells Cathedral Gardens, and Buckingham Palace. We look forward to our new president’s year.

MARK FRIENDSHIP CLUB:

Attendance at the meeting on March 20 was rather disappointing, but as always there was a warm welcome for those present.

We were sorry to hear that two of our members, Alan Hitchcock and Doreen Pearson, were in hospital. We wish them both a speedy recovery.

Menus for the anniversary lunch were given out to allow everyone to make their choices. Money is to be with the treasurer in May.

Chairlady, Lily Waller, also reminded everyone about the Easter Bonnets meeting on April 17, when we hope to have a record number of entries.

Entertainment was provided by Jean Routley as she took us on a journey through her musical memories, starting in the 40s with Vera Lynn through to the present day.

It was sheer delight to listen to such lovely music played by such an accomplished pianist.

The next meeting will be on April 3 when Bob Thomas will give an illustrated talk on old Burnham.

SANDFORD WI:

Our WI is flourishing! Spring has seen an influx of new members, all attracted by our interesting programme of monthly talks and demonstrations and opportunities to join the lunch club, book club, arts and craft, skittles, theatre club, etc, as well as visits to many places of interest.

Our most recent evening was spent having fun at some craft, with all of us ending up with a lovely key ring and pretty origami box for gifts.

Should you want to join us for a ‘taster’ session, we meet on the second Monday of every month at 7.30pm in Sandford village hall. You would be most welcome.

WESTON PROBUS CLUB:

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of one of our past chairmen, Trevor Osbourne, who will be greatly missed by all our members.

Usually we meet on the first and third Thursday of each month but in April our first meeting will be on the 10th when Gina Merrett-Smith will be talking on the subject ‘Charles Worth - genius of fashion’. This is a special meeting with members’ ladies being invited.

On April 24 Chris Cudlipp will tell us about ‘Bulb fields of Holland’ and new members are always welcome. If any retired gentlemen are interested please telephone 01934 625330 or you can obtain details on our website www.probusweston.com

WESTON BRASS:

Our 10 piece played its first concert this year in Weston Museum. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening for both band and ladies of Weston WI. Some very favourable comments were made by the organisers and the band hopes to play for them again soon.

With this flexibility within the band, it is possible to provide a small or large ensemble, depending on the size of venue.

The next concerts for the band are Middlezoy Church on May 10 and Banwell Church on June 7. The band will be pulling out all the stops in rehearsals to ensure that these two concerts will have varied and interesting programmes and that the band will be on top form on the night. As the band is always keen to recruit new players, it was great to see a new young cornet player at this week’s rehearsals. The training band continues to prosper, and conductor Steve Howard is working hard to train these learner players to a level where they to can join the main band.

Band secretary Gill Rogers has more information on both the training and main bands and of course our website www.westonbrass.com is packed full of interesting information.

WESTON YOUTH ORCHESTRA:

The next concert will be held at the Playhouse Theatre in Weston on April 27. We hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be an enjoyable evening of music featuring both our junior and senior orchestras as well as a number of solo items.

The programme will include Beethoven’s Romance in F, Mozart’s Overture to Don Giovanni, ‘Danse Macabre’ by Saint-Saens and much more. Tickets are priced at £9 for adults and £5 for children aged 12 or under and are available from the Playhouse box office, from any orchestra member or from Coles Shoes, Orchard Place, Weston. For more information about Weston Youth Orchestra please visit our website www.westonyouthorchestra.org.uk where you can view past concert programmes, listen to samples of our performances and find out more about becoming a member.

BURNHAM-ON-SEA LODGE 123 MOOSE INTERNATIONAL:

Members of Burnham Moose and Ladies’ Circle took over ‘Dickie’s’ function room at Brean Leisure Centre for their annual ladies night last Saturday.

Almost 90 guests filled the spacious room, for a delicious three course meal, speedily served by leisure centre catering staff.

This is the night when the Moose brothers honour members of the Ladies’ Circle, don their dinner suits, the ladies wear their evening dresses and socialise the night away.

After dinner speeches were made and toasts proposed, with thanks delivered by compere Terry Cornelius, Governor Bryan Mudge and Ladies Circle president Rita Harris. The evening concluded with the usual super raffle, raising over £270, followed by a mixed disco of old, new and classic numbers.

Lodge Governor Bryan Mudge said; “It was a great evening and Brean Leisure Centre staff gave their usual wonderful service.”

WORLE HISTORY SOCIETY:

Worle History Society is meeting at 7pm on April 3 at Worle Community Centre, Lawrence Road, Worle. We will be welcoming back Barry Mather to resume his talk on Banwell in the 20th century.

Entry fee for members is £1 and £2 for visitors. All are welcome and further details can be obtained by calling 513985 or visiting www.worlehistorysociety.net

WESTON SOROPTIMISTS:

Last Sunday Weston Soroptimists celebrated their club’s 75th year. Held at Batch Farm members were entertained by Sidcot School choir. Those who attended included the regional president Sue Perry, members of other clubs in this region and members of Woodspring Inner Wheel amongst others.

WESTON CHESS CLUB:

Weston travelled to Taunton last week for the first of the division two matches between the teams in the Somerset leagues.

They found themselves out graded by a total of 53 points on the middle boards and this was reflected in the final score of 4.5–1.5 to Taunton.

For Weston Peter Chaplin, Mike Cooper and David Wood all drew their games with losses on the remaining boards.