November! As we reach Guy Fawkes and the smells of bonfires, my mind turns to many happy memories as a child of a bonfire party with school friends, fireworks, my mother bringing out jacket potatoes in cups with lots of butter and homemade sausage rolls. Wonderful memories. Not quite so keen on the fireworks now – they seem so much noisier! Now enough of my ramblings from the past – what of the future? Plans are going well for our return to Worton Hall for the Annual Meeting next March. Presidents, you should by now have received my personal invitation to you, or a representative from your WI, to attend the Annual Meeting on 19 March. My dream is for every WI to be represented. It is one of the rare opportunities we get to be together as a federation. Can you rise to my challenge
and help me out?
To entice you regarding our Annual Meeting, our morning speakers our Marjorie Glasgow, Lord Lieutenant of Oxford, and Henry Astor of Bruern Estates. Mrs Glasgow, an American by
birth, has lived in the UK since 2004. In addition to founding a clean energy company, she has devoted an enormous amount of her time to charitable works in Oxfordshire. She was
appointed HM Lord-Lieutenant in 2021. Henry Astor is a third generation farmer who became custodian of the 1,250 acres at the Bruern Estate from his father in 2017. He is restoring the
landscape to create a farming system that produces healthy food for the locality. A couple of Oxfordshire’s hidden gems!
And just to finish off, I had the opportunity to spend some time with Oxfordshire members recently at the Virtual Sofa Social. The WI is so lucky to have such wonderful members. I think we all learnt something. So, I am going to take the words of one of those in attendance which I think sums up the WI beautifully – the WI is like a chocolate box – so much to choose from but you do need to dig in and see what is there. The WI offers us all something different, but I know there is a lot more for you to discover about our wonderful organisation.
Love and best wishes.
Tracy
Tracy Strain
OFWI Chair
01235 765285
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