Dear SHTA Friends,
As long as this reaches you before the clocks go back on Sunday 30th, I’ll have just about squeezed inside the deadline for an October newsletter; many apologies for the delay, better late than never!
First of all, a big thank you to those of you who have paid your subscriptions on time before the end of September. For anyone who hasn’t managed to do this for the year 2022-2023, could I please urge you to do so as soon as possible; SHTA bank details to do this are on our website. Your new subscription entitles you to a Member’s Card, some of which were distributed last night at the Empire Cinema. This handy pocket-sized booklet includes dates of cinema nights, other SHTA events throughout the year and Committee members’ contact details. If you’re a paid-up member and you’d like your card, please get in touch to receive it; you’ll wonder how you ever managed without one!
A major event coming up soon is, of course, the Christmas Party & Dinner, this year being held at Tan Bueno Restaurant in Sandwich on Thursday 1st December, arrivingat 6.30 pm with a complementary glass of wine for a 7.00 pm start. To enable you to make your choice you’ll find the delicious-looking menus on our website:
sandwichhonfleurtwinning.org.uk
Two courses will cost £28.00 while three courses are £32.00. If you’d like to join the 40 people who have already signed up for this, please email me in the first instance. There is scope for a further 20 to attend. Sandra Jones is collating menu selections and table plans, while MC for the evening is Rick Ratcliffe, ably assisted by fellow Committee member, Steve Thomson. Naturally, being a party, there will be a festive theme with quizzes and games, six bottles of wine going to the winning team, along with a prize for the best Christmas outfit!
Wednesday of this week saw a good turn-out at the Empire Cinema for a screening of ‘La Doublure’. As usual, it was a pleasure to see some familiar and new faces.
Our film for next month is called ‘Paris Pieds Nus’ (English title: ‘Lost In Paris’), which will be shown on Wednesday 16th November. The film is a 2016 French-Belgian comedy written, directed and co-produced by Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon. A synopsis from IMDb goes as follows:
“Martha, an eighty-year old former Canadian dancer, has been living in Paris for decades. Now losing her head, she is threatened to be sent to an old people’s home. No way. Martha decides to call her niece, Canadian librarian Fiona, for help. Alas, when her relative arrives in the French capital, Martha has disappeared. Worse, Fiona loses both her identity documents and money after falling into the Seine. Now, alone in Paris, the young woman is desperate. It is at this point that Dom, a homeless man who lives in a tent on the Île aux Cygnes, unexpectedly comes into her life …, for better or worse.”
The film is a certificate 12A and lasts 1 hour 23 minutes. As always, the cinema doors will open at 7.00 for a 7.30 pm start, the cost remaining at £7.50. If you’d like to book your place, please contact Jan Cooper, as usual, on jannicooper@icloud.com.
Hopefully, you’ll be familiar with the dates for the Group Visit to Honfleurnext year; if not, they are: Friday 23rd – Monday 26th June 2023. Currently we have 30 people who have signed up for the biennial trip and, ideally, we’d like a
further ten or so to take the total to travel by coach and tunnel/ferry to 40. Obviously, a larger number of participants reduces the cost per person. The approximate price for the four-day trip which includes most meals, all visits and activities will be somewhere between £130 and £150; amazing value, especially these days, I’m sure you’ll agree! We encourage new and longer-term SHTA members to be involved in this trip which will give you fantastic memories and quite probably friends for life.
A final event to mention to you for this half of the 2022-2023 year is our traditional Vin Chaud Stall during the evening of the Christmas Lights Switch-On. As many of you know, this provides an opportunity for the locals and visitors to the town both to sample our famous brew, and also to acquaint themselves with SHTA, what we do and represent. This year’s event takes place between 4.00 pm and 7.30 pm on Saturday 3rd December. If you’re able to spare us an hour of your time to assist us on the stall, please contact Christine Ratcliffe. Thank you.
That’s all for now. I hope you’re keeping well and braced for all sorts of weathers and every other kind of wider development in the near future!
Best wishes, Stuart & the Committee