St. Martin’s Hall was full (socially distanced full!) and there was a real buzz on Wednesday 13th October for the second face-to-face meeting, since the pandemic, of Looe & District u3a.
Christine Barwell, chair, opened the meeting welcoming all, especially the four new members and guest. She began by informing the meeting that Vice Chair and Speakers’ Secretary Nick Bailey and Membership Secretary Fran Bailey would be moving away from Looe after Christmas leaving the Committee with spaces to fill. A move already within the Committee meant that the Membership Secretary role had been filled but the role of Business Secretary and Speakers’ Secretary would be vacant. Chris asked for members to consider standing for Committee.
The Chair was pleased to announce that social events were happening once again, with an RNLI fundraising event, organised by Chris Roy in aid of the new lifeboat the Ollie Naismith II coming up on Saturday October 23rd, 7.30pm at St. Martin’s Hall, (Tickets £10 to include a light supper) and u3a’s Got Talent on Saturday 27th November again in the Hall.
In Groups’ news, the Ukulele group were starting out at Looe Bowling Club on Monday 18th October at 2pm and Tunes in the Afternoon had already begun and would have their next meeting fortnightly from Friday October 15th again at the Bowling Club at 2.
In Community News Chris informed the meeting that there would be no formal Service of Remembrance at the War Memorial this year due to the ongoing risks of large gatherings, but local groups had been asked to lay wreaths in the week leading up to Sunday 14th November. Nick and Fran Bailey would represent us on this occasion.
During the month of October, Looe Riverside Church are hosting The Big Covid Debrief on Wednesday evenings from 7-9 pm and Thursday and Saturday mornings from 10-12. This is an opportunity for anyone to chat over tea and cake and reflect on the last 18 months. Fran explained that this was already proving popular especially with some who had spent much of that time in isolation.
Looe Community Players will be holding a Craft & Jazz Bazaar on Saturday 6th November from 11am to 4pm at Looe Community Centre to raise money for the new lifeboat appeal. This would include many stalls and live music.
The Raddy Collection Exhibition showing a large archive of local photographs and prints will run in the Old Guildhall Museum between Wednesday October 20th and Saturday 30th October, 11am – 4pm.
Next Month’s Speaker will be Dr. Keith Hooper who will talk about Dickens and Christmas.
The formal meeting was followed by a short comfort break and then a most interesting and informative talk from Mike Haywood, an expert on the voyage of the Mayflower to America in 1620. Not only did Mike bust the many myths surrounding the story of this epic voyage but enhanced his talk using his wonderful paintings depicting different points of the journey. Mike has gifted his paintings to America where they will be shown in the Mike Haywood Gallery in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
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