Issue 25
Spring 2007
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STRAY NEWS
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Group News
At the March meeting we 'visited' Denmark. None of the group has actually been there but we discovered several interesting facts about it.
There are many things to see and do in and around Copenhagen. Most famously is the Hans Christian Anderson's Little mermaid unveiled in 1913, sculpted in bronze by Edvard Erikson and paid for by the founder of the Carlsberg Brewery, Carl Jacobson. You can visit the Brewery, one of the many museums and of course the famous Tivoli Gardens to name but a few. In Odense is the Hans Christian Anderson museum and no visit to Denmark would be complete without a visit to Lego Land in Billund, Jutland. Did you know the word Lego is formed from the Danish words LEg GOdt that means Play Well?
The food sounded interesting to say the least! We have all heard of Smorgasbord, but what about Brunsova? This is served with potatoes & meat (it's brown sauce to you non-Danish speakers!) we wondered if it was a loose translation for gravy! All this is washed down with Schnapps and Aquavit- it was discovered the correct way to drink Aquavit is to look at everyone around the table then down the drink in one go! Salty liquorice fascinated us but we didn't long to try it!
The Folklore seem to consist of Trolls, Will o'the Wisps and Dragons known as Lindworms,which may or may not have back legs and live in the sea.
The afternoon was rounded off with tea and delicious Danish Pastries (they came from Sainsbury's and we can highly recommend them)!
Barbara Peel
Since the last Bridge News (sic) we have welcomed into the fold Bryan and Eileen Armitage, Harry Ede and Joan and Dr Ken Young. All have settled in well and seem to be enjoying the convivial atmosphere. After all we play the game for pleasure with a modicum of seriousness. The records show that there are now 42 members and 22 people on the waiting list which is a bit like topsy and just grows and grows. Unfortunately numbers have to be limited because of accommodation restraints etc.
It is understood that somebody was considering starting another Bridge Group but I have progressed no further than this rumour.
Last but not least there was a slight difference of opinion about the initial playing of first deals. It was therefore agreed that when such deals are first played and there is a “no bid” all round then it is permissible to reshuffle and re-deal. If however there has been an earlier bid on a “weak” hand and a subsequent “no bid” all round then subsequent pass-outs attract no scores which would give a somewhat unfair advantage to the initial “weak bidders“! To overcome this it was agreed to allow a further shuffle and re-deal. These matters were agreed by a show of hands - all very democratic!
Jack Duckworth
We are now a flourishing group with twenty five members divided into three groups. Four of our members now play with a local bridge club. Our classes are great fun, we laugh a lot and have all made friends within the group. We will be starting a new beginners group in September so anyone interested send email to Juliet Fabbi See also separate entry.
Juliet Fabbi
The group continues to meet at the Robert Street Centre at 2.00pm on the first Friday of the month.
Topics we have dealt with have been, "The Monarchy", "Academies and Faith Schools", "The Prison System" and "A Magistrate's Work". In March we watched the thought provoking film by Al Gore "An Inconvenient Truth".
On May 4 we look forward to a fascinating session entitled "Islam: a woman's perspective given by Prof. Haleh Afshar.
We welcome new members who would like to engage in topics which concern us all.
Brian Elias (Chairman)
See separate announcement
So far this year we have had three very lively and informative meetings run with great aplomb by Richard and Ian. It is all very enjoyable.
This is the sixth year of the Gardening Group and the third year we have been run by committee. Perhaps others would be interested in how this has worked out and particularly how we manage the finances for what is quite a large group. Four of us are involved and we have one or two meetings a year otherwise we communicate by telephone, e-mail or an informal word after our meetings.
Each member pays £10.00 a year or £1.00 for a visit to see how we run things! We bank with H.S.B.C. They have a “small business “ department and the account comes under this heading. Two signatures were required to open the account but each of us can sign cheques or pay in. There is no debit card but we seem to manage with a small petty cash fund which Barbara keeps. To access this I submit receipted expenditure to Barbara. She collects and records the subscriptions and I pay them into the bank. I write cheques for any large expenditure and record it, passing this back to her.
We think this dual approach to managing the money is a sufficient audit for the sums involved. Finally Barbara submits an annual “Summary of Garden Group Accounts “to the U3A Treasurer.
Margaret Douglas