The Speaker, Lesley Bensley had requested to start at 7.30 instead of 8 to which we readily agreed. She had come to talk to us on ‘Talking Stock’ the story of the Oxo cube. She had come with her partner Steve (who willingly participated during the talk, at one point added by Sooty, you had to be there) and they had brought a huge collection of OXO memorabilia, tins, boxes, boilers, games and 3 lovely dolls. We were told Oxo began in Argentina as a liquid in around 1801 and only came to be made in Britain in the 1860s still in liquid form. The cube was not produced until 1910 and of course is still going strong. It was a very informative talk and Members got to handle some of the exhibits. Lesley and Steve are definitely ‘Oxo Addicts’.
After the talk we got down to the business of the Meeting. The Egmanton Fun Day had proved successful, the treasure hunt and guess the weight of the cake had raised £26 profit, after a donation to the Village Hall, thank you to everyone who participated. An extra thank you to our fellow Member Nina for bringing ‘Pirate Johnny’ who certainly was loved by the children.
Two of us had also been to County House for a Meeting to discuss new accounts and information forms to be used for 2017 and had a very informative discussion with Members from other Institutes.
By the time you read this four Members will have been to the Tea and Tents weekend at Walesby Scout Camp. This year they are taking self-made bunting showing Egmanton WI and have also had t-shirts printed to advertise the Institute. Also taking a bunch of dried herbs to burn to keep the insects away.
Emma has made a ‘Hanging Brasket’ for a National Competition, making a hanging basket out of two pairs of bras. For our ‘Grow and Sow’ raffle, we have to invest £10 and make it grow for Federation funds, this month the prize was a pair of Charles Rennie Mackintosh mugs which was won by Julia and the monthly raffle was won by Carol.
The competition for ‘a tin’ was won by Sheila.
The competition next month is ‘something floral’, the ideas are endless so come on ladies get thinking out of the box.
The speaker next month is Dave Newman who will be showing us ‘Life in a Victorian Garden’, Thursday, 18 August at 7.30pm.
The programme for 2017 is well under way and hopeful we will have something to whet your appetite.