Dear Members,
December is always a busy time of the year for our Association and this year was no exception.
Our first event was the Christmas Fayre in Jalon on 1 December. This annual event has previously been run for many years by ARC, the animal rescue charity. They asked us to take over this year and generously shared their mailing list, signs and other items. When bad weather forced us to cancel the car boot sale planned for October, we decided to combine the two events on the same day. This had not been done before but the combination worked well, and it is likely that we shall do something similar next year.
This time we were blessed with good weather and plenty of people enjoyed the music from Forever Young and the Jukes, Santa’s grotto and other activities, the BBQ and a wide range of refreshments. The event was organised by our Goodwill team, and we raised more than Euros 2,500 for their chosen charities. Other charities with their own stalls also reported a very successful day.
On 5 December we had our monthly General Assembly followed by the usual Christmas celebration, including carols, Christmas songs, a Christmas themed table quiz, free raffle, free competitions, an appearance by Santa and finally an excellent buffet of the lovely food brought by our members. The hall in Murla was full and almost everyone arrived in festive attire, creating a lovely atmosphere. Members also contributed generously to our customary collection of items for Caritas, for local people less fortunate than ourselves.
On 8 December we returned for the second year running to the Vall del Pop restaurant in Lliber for our Christmas dinner. This was sold out well in advance with 90 members attending. Once again Elizabeth, Wout and their team served us an excellent dinner in this beautiful setting. Paul and Jude again very kindly provided the music after the dinner and had almost everyone up and dancing. All in all, a perfect evening!
Still to come at the time of writing is the wreath making day on 11 December kindly arranged by Sally Ellis and Christine Brazier. Although we already saw some examples of their creative skills at the General Assembly.
None of these extremely successful events would have been possible without a lot of hard work in advance and on the day. I am therefore very grateful to my fellow Committee members, to Paula and the Goodwill team and to the many other volunteers (too many to name) who work so hard on our behalf. A big thank you also to all the members who attend our events throughout the year. It is your support that makes all the hard work worthwhile!
With my very best wishes for the reminder of the holiday season and the New Year.
Chris