October’s always a special month for Seven Hills WI. It’s a time for partying as we mark the anniversary of our official forming meeting and this year it was a little sad too as Kim and I addressed the group as President and Secretary for the very last time. Our October meeting saw us celebrate our fifth birthday (five! Time flies!) with a birthday social, pot luck supper and cake competition. We had an abundance of food from crisps to pasta salad, mackerel pate to sausage rolls, and everything in between! And then there were the cakes. Special mentions go to Anna P’s Kinder egg cake with photos of me, Jen and Kim, and Vicky’s M&M and Maltesers dairy-free cake. After a gruelling taste test (it’s a hard life!) we chose Sam’s sponge piñata cake with a hidden filling of M&Ms as the winner. Well done Sam and thanks to everyone who entered the competition or brought food for the buffet, you are all brilliant!
Sam’s piñata cake
In true kid’s party style we played a round of pass the parcel although we had to draw the line at musical chairs; we’re still scarred from the musical chair incident of 2010… It was a lovely night and great chance for members to have a chat in a more informal setting as we marked reaching the grand old age of five. It makes me so happy to see how far SHWI has come in the past five years and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next five hold.
Members with the winning birthday cake
October was also a time for goodbyes and hellos as six members of the current committee stepped down, one new member joined the committee and roles were swapped around. As you will no doubt already know, after founding the group with Jen back in 2009 and being officers for the past five years, Kim and I decided to step down from our positions of President (me) and Secretary (her) as from November’s committee meeting. Kim and I will continue to be SHWI members and are looking forward to being able to fully enjoy meetings without worrying about organising them! Other committee members to step down this year are Ruth, Katie, Chelle, and Louise – thank you for all your hard work ladies – while we welcome Sam as a new committee member. We are very pleased to say that current committee members Kirsty and Laura will be taking over as President and Secretary so you’ll be hearing more from them soon. Good luck K-Bo and Bainbridge!
Lindsay (centre) with Kirsty (left) and Laura (right)
Kim and I were overwhelmed with the thank you cards and gifts our lovely members bought for us and would like to say another big thank you for everyone’s kind words. So many people told me at the meeting that through founding the group we had changed their lives for the better and that’s something I will continue to be proud of for a very long time. I look forward to seeing you all at meetings and thank you to each and every member, past and present, for making SHWI such an amazing group to lead.
With love, Lindsay x
President of Seven Hills WI