Posts Tagged ‘calendar girls’

The WI

Sunday, July 29th, 2012

Women’s Institute: gatherings of British women in regional groups for the purpose of camaraderie, and  fund raising for local charities.

Maybe it will resonate with you, like it does with me, if you remember the wonderful movie “Calendar Girls.” This true-life movie came from a group located in Skipton, a stones throw from here. In real life, a group of friends decided to spice up the yearly calendar with tasteful nudes of themselves to raise money for a leather couch to go in the local hospital waiting room. One of the ladies had spent many hours in that waiting room while her husband was receiving cancer treatments. He died, but the calendar raised enough money to build an entire wing for the hospital, and it became a movie to boot! This is the 10 year anniversary of the calendar.

I got to attend one of their WI competitions; a dozen groups entering their jams, jellies, wines, cakes, clothespin dolls, book marks etc. Name a craft, and they were going head to head for the coveted silver trophies. It was a hoot! And I got to spend time with a half dozen of them over tea to learn of their stories, recipes, gossip, and affections for each other. One of the ladies, (Susan) gave us many of her entries — elderberry gin, red current wine, chutney, marmalade, cookies, bread and more. She had earned many points for her chapter’s group score. (Karl’s sister Pamela, and cousin Ann-Marie are members)

If I lived here, I would be a WI   🙂