Dear SHTA Friends,
This is a relatively short newsletter due to the fact that we’re at the end of one SHTA year of activities and yet to start our next. Many of you will have been enjoying a holiday, perhaps away from home, actually be on a holiday at the moment, or be looking forward to one shortly. SHTA also takes a break during August to take advantage of the gorgeous weather which we’re currently experiencing!
A couple of recent events to report to you are as follows:
We held our third Bangers & Boules evening at The Anchor Pub on Thursday 27th July. Teams representing five French towns in the Top 14 rugby division (given that the Rugby World Cup takes place next month in France), played against each other in a round-robin. Emerging as the two most successful teams were Bordeaux and Montpellier who played against one another in a very tight final where the former finished victorious.
Congratulations go to Sandra Breen and Phil Cooper who managed to overcome the fact that they were a player less than every other team to take the trophy. Players and spectators then enjoyed a two-course meal including, of course, bangers and mash in the upstairs function room. We look forward to repeating the event next year to see who will topple Breen & Cooper from their position as holders of the title!
Secondly, our Annual General Meeting took place on Thursday 20th July in the Jury Room at the Guildhall. Minutes of last year’s AGM were confirmed, summaries of the year and the accounts were presented and elections for new Committee members were held. Your new Committee for the year 2023- 2024 is as follows:
Chair: Stuart Jones
Vice-Chair: Mark Moorhouse
Secretary: Christine Ratcliffe
Treasurer: Steve Laslett
Committee Members: Carly Cooper; Jan Cooper; Sandra Jones; Siobhan Matthews, Rick Ratcliffe, Steve Thomson.
Congratulations to all of the above on being elected – their contact details are at the end of this newsletter – and many thanks to all of you who attended the meeting. We look forward to another successful year where we continue to prioritise getting together, friendship, supporting each other and maintaining our strong link with Honfleur.
Two of our key social features during the year are our film season and popular Christmas Dinner & Party. Our Film Sub-Committee has already met to start making decisions regarding our nine monthly French films, the first of which will be coming your way, as usual, in September. Big thanks go to those of you who have given suggestions for films; every effort is made to include a wide selection of both
contributors and genres of film. Planning for the SHTA Christmas Dinner & Party is well and truly underway.
We will confirm the date, venue, price and format of the evening so that you can put the details in your diary in good time, hopefully, to avoid clashes around that time of year.
One of our former members donated around 30 French novels to the Association a year or so ago. Since then we’ve been successful in selling some of these for very modest prices at our film nights and have been able to donate the proceeds to the British Heart Foundation. We still have quite a few books remaining and will bring them to future film nights, so would be happy to make additional donations on your behalf if you decide to contribute.
Amongst our current membership there are four people who have regular French lessons with a tutor, Ann Scott. If you’d like to contact Ann to discuss the possibility of having lessons, her details are email ann@patrickgeorge.com or mobile 07773096080.
May I please remind you that Membership Subscriptions are due to be paid by the end of September. They remain for yet another year at £12.50 and can be paid online to SHTA: account number 42027168; sort code 30-90-09.
We, the new Committee, look forward to presenting you with another programme of exciting and interesting activities throughout the next year and wish you an enjoyable rest of the Summer.
That’s all the news for now.
Best wishes, Stuart & the Committee