On the 22nd October we had our second International Evening. This time we celebrated Mexico. Last year the Greek Evening was so good more people wanted to come and we moved to a bigger venue in Llangefni.

Again it was organised by Dame Enid Bibby who set a fun quiz and gave us a presentation on Mexico and its origins, themes and traditions. The second presentation was a visit as a Guider from Elaine Green. That was such an interesting insight to the things they saw and did.

On the table their were different Mexican snacks for us to try, and the hard working committe handed out teas and coffee in the break along with some delectable chocolate cakes, a delicasy over there. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy.

Saturday 18th May saw a great turnout to our annual show at Llangefni town hall. We had a lot of fantastic entries, and delighted to share some photos with you.

This year The Annual Meeting was held at the Carreg Bran Hotel in Llanfairpwll. They accommodated for us very well with use of their room which had amazing candelabras hanging from the ceiling.

The room was full with each WI represented with approximately 120 people in all. The Federation Secretary opened the meeting with health and safety information followed by a role call. Jerusalem, the WI anthem was sang with gusto, first verse in Welsh and the second verse in English.

The Federation Chair, Yvonne Tatam, introduced guests from other federations and past Chairs. After a minutes’ silence for members who had passed on during the year, Mrs Tatam spoke at length. Last year, the £25 challenge had been a big success and this year she announced the 500 club was being relaunched.  She then covered the sub committees and all the successful events they held throughout the year.

This was followed by the Treasurer, Christine Linford reporting on last year’s finances followed with 2019 projected forecast. The Vice Chair, Audrey Jones, MBE, then informed us about membership and stressed the importance of spreading the word that the WI is still a great place to belong to, with many benefits.

Yvonne Tatam spoke about The National Council and Wales Committee conferences she had attended throughout the year and what they do, and the benefits for the federation. Edwina Morris-Jones, was next to stand and gave information about the various training courses at Denman. This was followed by The Denman Bursary draw. The winner was Judith Scholfield from Rhosneigr WI, who won a course of her choice. The reserve was Margaret Thompson from Trearddur Bay WI.

The Federation Secretary gave a summary of events for the forthcoming year and the speaker was Sheila Maxwell from Harlech WI. She spoke about the wonderful charity ACWW – Pennies for Friendship. The Associated Country Women of the World supports women and children from all over the world. It was very informative, and although many people knew about them, it was interesting to find out its origins and exactly what the charity does.
 
The Presentation of the Cups followed with representatives from the winning WIs being presented with a certificate and have their photograph taken. For the Darts Tournament, Llangefni was the winner. The Rose Bowl was presented to Amlwch and Lynne Coulson from Menai Straits had the highest points in the Annual Show. This year the  best programme was won jointly by Llangoed and Llanfaelog WIs.

Last year, every WI was challenged to increase their membership by at least one new member. One WI had worked hard - in March they only had ten members but increased thir membership to seventeen by October 2018. The Chair talked about the AFWI website and Facebook page and explained the MCS System and the importance of keeping it up to date.

A vote of thanks was given to everyone including Sheila Maxwell and everyone retired for a tasty lunch of soup and a sandwich in the restaurant/bar area.

The afternoon speaker was Mr Arwel Hughes, a Funeral Director from Amlwch. He spoke at length about his business, how he started and with many amusing stories. He opened the floor to questions, and the afternoon continued and finished with much laughter.

A vote of thanks was given and everyone agreed it had been a very enjoyable day.
 

Our quiz night in Llangefni, saw a great turn out with twenty three teams. Fifteen of our WIs came along. It was so popluar, some had more than one team.

Quiz mistress Sue devised and read out the questions. She had us laughing along with her as she kept us on our toes, explaining why her answer was final.

There was a good mix of questions, the human body, geography, music and general knowledge. There were sixty of them in all. During the break, in which we had tea and sandwiches, we were able to look at the Dingbats and a picture quiz. It's surprising how you see a familiar face and the name of that person vanishes completely from your mind! Dingbats was a real mindbender with the answers making us laugh because its so obvious when you know. There were a lot of groans and sighs as we given the answers.

We finished the evening with a raffle and a vote of thanks from the President was given to the Sports and Leisure committee who organised it all. They did a great job!

The winner with a score of 72 was Llanfaelog WI, and they all received a box of roses.
The lowest score of 44 ensured the winners all got tubes of smarties!

On Monday, 21st we had our first President's Evening held at the WI hall in Llanfairpwll. This was an opportunity for officers or representatives from each WI to meet up with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Federation.

The weather was particular cold and wet, and yet approximately twenty four people arrived to take part. Fifteen out of sixteen of the WIs were represented.

The two officers from the board gave a talk about current membership and finance with focus on how to attract new members in 2019. They also talked about the role of the Federation.

A lively discussion followed about recruitment, and spreading the word on about, dymanic organisation the WI has become. Lot's of great ideas came forward, especially how some were getting involved in the community and local schools.

Refreshments were served half way through the evening, and it was a chance for members to mingle and meet each other.

All in all, it was very enjoyable and successful.

We have many interesting events throughout the year, and this is where we will be reporting them. Come back soon..