Association Reports
Allington-AllARA:-
On the 25th July, 53 members travelled by coach to Camden, North London, for their cruise on the Regent’s canal. We arrived at Camden Lock in time to have coffee before we joined our Cruise Boat, “My Fair Lady”. We were welcomed aboard and settled down to enjoy our trip from Camden Lock to Little Venice. During the journey, we were served a very tasty lunch of soup and sandwiches. Travelling along at a very steady pace, we passed London Zoo, went through the Maida Hill Tunnel and finally arrived at Little Venice, the junction where the Grand Union Canal meets the Regent’s Canal. Our ‘Captain’ said that if we wished we could continue onto Birmingham ( a trip of 96 miles) but, as we would probably not get home in time for tea, we declined! We travelled back to Camden Lock and spent a few hours looking around Camden Market - an interesting place, with lots of body piercing and tattoo shops as well as fashion stalls - slightly different than Maidstone Market!. Then we made our way home after a very pleasant day out. Many thanks to Philip for arranging the trip.
Ashford-AARA:-
Some of the events that members are looking forward to include such delights as A Turkey & Tinsel in Bournemouth in November, Weymouth in April followed by another holiday in the summer to the Isle of Wight.
Ashford South-ASARA:-
Our visit to the BBC TV Studios in August, was very interesting, we were split into 3 groups for our visit where there is a huge screen showing all the incoming news stories, and we were told how this is logged in for the different news programmes and that they even have their own travel agents sitting there ready to make instant arrangements for a journalist to dash off across the world.
We were taken to viewing galleries for different studios—especially interesting was Studio One where shows such as “Strictly Come Dancing” and the “X Factor” are recorded and we saw dancers practising for the Eurovision Dance Contest. The section of the floor where the cameras roll is about 2 feet thick to prevent vibrations and is coated with a special black paint which is washed off and repainted after every show. Our guide gave us an insight to weather forecasts, news reading and panel games and much more—we now realise how much goes into making a TV programme.
Cliffe Woods-ClifARA:-
Clifara have had another busy 6 months. Our 10 pin bowlers now meet fortnightly and their numbers are growing. They are getting very competitive and scores and strikes are mounting. We have started Tai Chi classes, early days yet. Our Garden Group have been visiting members gardens and has proved very popular, some could have been entered for Chelsea!. In July we went to Torquay and stopped at the Daish’s hotel. The weather could have been kinder but it did not stop our enjoyment. Our next holiday is to Lake Annency in September with Simply Groups. Next year will include the Isle of Wight in January and Bournemouth in July. Our Social secretaries work extremely hard to ensure we have a thriving and enjoyable club. Our grateful thanks to them both (and their husbands).
Coxheath & Loose-CalARA:-
CalARA have had another very active year. Among the outings we have enjoyed were visits to the Museum of Childhood, a theatre trip to Eastbourne, ‘The Living Crafts’ Exhibition at Hatfield House, the Eastbourne Air Show and a day trip to Sudbury and Lavenham. We had a very successful holiday staying at the Embassy Hotel in Great Yarmouth (see attached photograph). We travelled in a coach used by the England Football Team’s WAG’s and there was much discussion and amusement as to who was sitting in Victoria Beckham’s seat. Our Entertainments group has taken its 2007 show out to various local venues and the funds raised donated to the local hospice. Rehearsals are now well underway for their 2008 show.
The Art, Craft, Line Dancing, Luncheon, Solitaire, Tai Chi and Walking groups, also our monthly Book Stall and Raffle, have all continued to be well supported. Our year will end with our members going to the KentARA Len Phillips Big Band Concert and CalARA’s visit to the Royal Albert Hall for the RPO’s Christmas Concert. Arrangements for a holiday to Weston Super Mare and a visit to the O2 to see the Tutankhamen Exhibition in 2008 are in the pipeline, so you can see we already have much to look forward to during another ‘active’ year ahead. CalARA send their good wishes for another successful year to all members of KentARA and look forward to meeting many of them at various events during 2008.
Ditton & Malling-DamARA:- We have a very interesting future to look forward to with visits planned to have a night ride on the London Eye and see the Brighton Ice Show. Possible trips in 2008 will include visits to the two famous exhibitions being held in London, namely Tutankhamen at the British Museum and the Terracotta Warriors at O2, also we may be planning to visit, if open, the new Planetarium being built at Greenwich.
Our DAMARA Singing group are well on their way to achieving their goal of £1,000 which they donate to a different charity each year. A special speaker in February will be Ann Widdicombe who we understand is a brilliant speaker, we look forward to her visit. Tony Mulcuck
Herne Bay-HebARA:- HebARA had a very successful and enjoyable year. We have had good attendances at meetings throughout the year and our various trips and holidays have been well supported. These have included a holiday at Bodelwyn Castle, Wales, a trip to Hampton Court Flower Show, a mystery tour which took us out of the county to a lovely arboretum in Essex and a delicious pub lunch in South Mersea. 34 of us have just returned from a superb holiday in the Scottish Highlands, we are all a few pounds heavier as the food was so good and we had the good fortune to see a shoal of dolphins leaping and diving in the sea, a sight we shall not forget. For our Christmas trip we are going to Brick Lane Music Hall and our holiday will be at Holme Lacey. We will be having a New Year Party instead of a Christmas one as we have so many things going on in December and in March we have a visit to the Paul James show. We look forward to another fulfilling year in 2008. Mavis Middleton.
Hoo St. Werburgh-HooARA:- We celebrated our 2nd Anniversary in July, membership continues to be above the 100 mark. In recent months members have enjoyed outings to: ‘The Royal Mews’, ‘The Kent Coast’, a canal cruise through the Chilterns’ and the ‘Sound of Music’. The short mat bowls section goes from strength to strength with the help of our Lottery Award, they appreciated the friendly advice at their first taste of serious competition at the John Hardiman competition at Ditton in August. Members of our Craft Club also had a very enjoyable day at the KentARA Craft and Hobby Fair also held at Ditton in August. Our Chairman, Brenda Patching has arranged some interesting speakers this year, most notably, artist Terry Harrison, magician, Tony Western. Finally, mention of club member George Hodge, who celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this year and still plays a mean game of whist.
Joydens Wood-JARA:- Our club never has a dull moment! During the summer months we’ve had two very enjoyable holidays to Blair Atholl, Scotland and to Torquay and in addition a ‘Tinsel & Turkey’ break is planned for November. Days Out have been to De Panne, Belgium with a stop on the return journey at the Hypermarket in Calais, a guided tour of the New Forest and Buckler’s Hard which also included a boat ride on the River Beaulieu, a day in Cambridge with a guided tour of the wonderful Kings College Chapel and a visit to the American War Cemetery, and also a visit to Longleat.
Our monthly meetings include an interesting speaker on such diverse subjects as ‘An Insight into Funerals’ by Ron Pavey (one of our members) and ‘The History of Playing Cards’ by Alan Payne. Monthly activities include Pub Lunches—one interesting venue being Ye Olde Leather Bottle, Cobham, with its Dickensian associations. There are also Walks, Theatre visits, Dances, Quiz Nights and Jazz Nights. Sheila Walter.
Kemsley-KemARA:- Members enjoyed a ramble followed by a pub lunch at the Maypole, a tribute night at Lily Spice, Detling Hill. We have also enjoyed a pub lunch at the Cherry Tree, Sittingbourne, which was so successful we have decided to have our Christmas Lunch there. Future events will include a Greyhound Evening at the Sittingbourne Dog Track and a coach trip to the Lincoln Christmas Market. Derek Carnell.
Longfield & New Barn-LanbARA:- In September 97 members from LanbARA went on their 3rd Fred Olsen Cruise on the ‘Boudicca’. This time the cruise was to the Baltic ports via the Keil Canal, visiting Warnemunde, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Copenhagen. All ports were interesting but agreement was that certain highlights such as the incredible Seventeenth Century ship ’Vasa’, so large but raised almost complete from the harbour in Stockholm. Again there was the Sibelious statue in Helsinki, which is very well known. Less well known is the circular Rock Church which was blasted from solid rock and has a copper roof. Tallinn was a great favourite with everyone—a real Rupunzel city.
On Boudicca, the cabins were very comfortable, the food as usual excellent and the entertainment most enjoyable. One of the advantages of travelling with this line is that embarkation is from Dover. Life on board was most pleasant with much socialising, often meeting in the shopping area, where there were deals impossible to resist, such as amber and Faberge jewellery. Some of the group were able to persuade their partner that the little Faberge egg was a ‘must have’. The photo shows the majority of the group, the ship’s photographer couldn’t find a large enough space for us on board so here we are with ‘Boudicca’ in the background just before we left Copenhagen. Shirley Wadhams.
Maidstone-MaidARA:- This quarter we have welcomed several new members and associate members to the club and many of them joined us on our last holiday and outings. We spent 5 days at Raven Hall, Ravenscar, Yorkshire, a beautiful location perched high on the cliffs. Surprisingly 22 of us walked the 5 miles to Robin Hood Bay while the rest went by coach. The weather was perfect and we also visited Scarborough and ‘Aidensfield’. Our outings included ‘The Dancing Queen’ at Bromley and a day in the New Forest. We look forward to hosting the service at Rochester Cathedral in October. Irene Hales.
Medway–MedARA:- A most enjoyable day was had on a visit to Little Baddow in Essex where a cruise on the canal had been organised followed by a lunch at Maldon. An afternoon of entertainment given by the DAMARA Singers proved very popular with most members singing along with them. Once again we are looking forward to our Christmas shopping trip to Bromley and Polehill. Peter Vickery.
Meopham & District-ARAMAD:- During the last year we have enjoyed many outings and two holidays. It was our 10th Annual General Meeting on the 18th September, we enjoyed cheese, wine and a quiz. To further celebrate this anniversary members travelled to Eastwell Manor nr Ashford for a buffet lunch on the 25th September. The staff did us proud with a lovely buffet. After lunch members wandered around the Manor House and the vast gardens. A great venue for special celebrations. Jean Steele.
Ramsgate-RamARA:- Once again the August Summer Fair was a resounding success, thanks to the hard work of the Committee and Members. Over £700 was raised and the entire proceeds are to be donated to the Crossroads Charity. At our September meeting two of our members, Roy and Joyce Young, celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary and were presented with a bouquet of flowers to mark the event. We are now looking forward to our Tinsel & Turkey holiday at Ifracombe in November and a day trip to the Ostend Christmas Markets and the Calais Illuminations in December. In the meantime the committee, with the help from a few members, are busy rehearsing a Christmas Concert for our party on December 10th. All the tickets have now been sold for the New year’s Eve Party. Pamela Curtis.
Romney Marsh-MarshARA:- Many indoor and outdoor activities have been enjoyed this year by MarshARA including day trips, lunches and rambles across countryside and coastal locations; a guided tour of Hythe included St. Leonard’s Church; ‘the church with the bones” -2,000 skulls and 8,000 thighbones are stored in the crypt. Recent membership to our local Leisure Centre means even more activities to enjoy. July saw us in Germany having a great time, although the weather was miserable. And an evening at Folkestone Races was enjoyed in August; with some members looking happy at the end of the evening. At our August monthly meeting we held a fire drill, it was very successful, evacuating over 100 members in 1 minute and 28 seconds. Doreen Farrell.
Sittingbourne & Milton-SamARA:-
They have a lot of treats in store for their members next year, which includes a visit to the Tutankhamen exhibition in January, ‘Romanza on Ice in February, The show ‘Joseph’ in April and a fabulous holiday to Yuoghal, Co Cork, Ireland in May.
Southfleet-SouthARA:-
SouthARA continues in robust good health with a full membership and a waiting list. Thirteen new members are to be admitted. In April/May visits were arranged to the Bank of England and the Churchill War Rooms plus The Wetlands Trust at Chiswick. Many members took the opportunity to learn about their local city with a guided tour of Rochester. In June there was a club holiday to the Little Bentley garden centre at Colchester and a concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, also in June there was a club holiday to Dubrovnik. If there was some apprehension as to what scars the 90’s war may have left, these were dispelled by the splendid reality of what is surely still one of the World’s “must see” cities. A first class hotel, beautiful scenery, warm seas and of course, good company ensured a great time was had by all. In July, a super evening concert at Hever Castle, was much enjoyed. August saw a group of stalwarts brave a wet and windy day at the Folkestone Races. Needless to say, the weather was not allowed to dampen spirits and the day was voted a success-some even came home a little richer. A busy year so far then and with the activity diary well populated deep into 2008, there is plenty more to come. Bob Attwood.
Swanley-SwanARA:-
In July we had a visit from Ann Chance with her Musical Extravaganza and in August Tony Western (a member of the Magic Circle) demonstrated his skills with “Magic, Mentalism and Mumbo-Jumbo”. For September Jack Gilbert devised a very good quiz, but was unable to attend because of the after effects of a slight operation. The quiz was presented to everyone’s enjoyment. Our visits have been confined to going to lunch on two occasions at a very good restaurant at Bexhill-on-Sea. We were there again for a fish and chip tea recently. Our Ten-Pin Bowling section has finished its year and prizes have been presented to the winners of the competitions—the ladies trophy was won by Barbara Engelman and the men’s by Bob Clarke. Jim Jones.
Wilmington-WilmARA:-
The club had a very busy summer that even adverse weather could not spoil. There have been visits to The Thriplow Festival, A Country Tour ending at Eastbourne Catering College, a Mystery Tour, both Blenheim and Buckingham Palaces, holidays to Bournemouth and Wales, all well attended and enjoyed. The monthly walks have taken place despite the lack of a designated organiser. The venues for the Luncheon Club have been varied in an attempt to suit all palates. For the energetic Line-dancing and Petanque session, for those that love music, trips to concerts, so hopefully most tastes have been catered for. The photo shows our members enjoying themselves at Barmouth in Wales. Patricia Stevens. (Hon Sec) (Apologies for the mistake in the last edition, I forgot to change the heading when I altered the layout of the type. Ed).