PRESIDENT June Lloyd started our October meeting by reminding us it was our 67th birthday and two of our founder members, Jean Bayliss and Betty Jackson, who were with us this evening, still attend meetings on a regular basis. She went on to welcome everyone and our speaker, Fiona Rhodes who was to speak on the subject of Hatched, Matched and Despatched.

Having dealt with the business side of the evening, Fiona was invited to talk to us. Fiona was a Deputy Registrar covering various areas of Worcestershire for many years. She explained some of the legalities of the profession i.e. who could register a birth and who could marry whom. She stressed that when dealing with a bereavement it was essential to treat everyone as normally as possible and to keep emotions in check. For a marriage ceremony two Registrars are needed – one to conduct the ceremony and one to deal with the paperwork. She had to retire from a job which she really loved for family reasons and has gone on to become a Civil Funeral Celebrant where the family have their own choice of music and most give their own eulogy for the deceased. She has conducted nearly four hundred farewells, mostly cremations, the youngest sadly being only twenty-four weeks and the oldest would have been one hundred years old the day after the service. Fiona took questions throughout her talk which made the whole evening interactive. The Vote of Thanks was given by Margaret Dalton.

Supper followed and then the result of the competition was declared. This had been extremely well supported this month and had been won by Jean Bayliss, the subject being “A Wedding Photograph”.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, 14 November - 7pm for 7.30pm and will be our AGM with a quiz to follow if time allows. The competition is “write a poem about 5th November”. For further information contact June Lloyd on 01386 830844. New members and guests are welcome as always. See also www.littletonswi.moonfruit.com

MARGARET DALTON