October 2006

The October meeting of the Women's Institute was held in the WI Hall with president Gwynneth Richardson in the chair.  Jerusalem was sung and the minutes of the September meeting read and signed.  The speaker, Dorothea Desforges, was introduced and her title of 'Life, Love and Laughter' was the maxim for a story of a most interesting life.  Dorothea was born on Hessle Road in Hull, but was evacuated at the tender age of six to live with relatives in Canada during World War II.  Her aunt Vi and uncle Alan went out from Sproatley in Holderness  as some of the early Canadian pioneers and managed to farm the inhospitable land of Saskatchewan on the prairies.  It was there that Dorothea arrived in the summer of 1940 with an abundance of mosquitoes and temperatures of 30+ degrees.  By the age of 8 she was proficient in killing, plucking and gutting chickens and in skinning wolves for their pelts.  The few short years experience in that country later caused her to write her first book '1940-45, the In-between Years' followed by 'Beyond the Brave' a story of the Canadian pioneers. Returning to Hull after the war led to jobs in such diverse situations as a greyhound stadium, a telephone exchange, market research and a travel agency, eventually owning her own Agency and travelling widely.  More recently Dorothea has been a Travel Expert employed by Radio Humberside and also a Theatre Critic, the latter reflecting her love of acting.  Despite several bouts of ill-health many more books were written mainly as a result of her own life experiences and some of the fascinating people she has met through travels, acting, in hospital and just life in general.  Dorothea was thanked for  a most inspirational talk and members had a chance to purchase some of her many books.  

WI business followed with news that the home team came fifth in the area Quiz, the winners being the Sewerby team. The Bingo night raised £157.00 for King's Mill School.  The competition for the  evening for a cheeky postcard was won by 1 Eileen Maw, 2 Gwynneth Richardson 3 Joan Pinder.  Next meeting: 14 November, speaker Don Matthews  with a talk about old maps.  The competition will be for a home made Christmas card.