Audlem W.I. Christmas party

Audlem W.I. Christmas Party

The three stages of man are, they believe in Father Christmas, they do not believe in Father Christmas and finally, they are Father Christmas!

Through the bleak month of December the thought of the coming festival is pleasant, like the reflection of a fire on our faces (I'm getting a tad whimsical now as I don't have a fire!) To make Christmas perfect, the ground should be covered and the trees draped with snow. The bleak world outside should make us enjoy all the more keenly the comforts we possess, and no matter how carefully you stored the lights last year, they will still be snarled up again this Christmas and a Christmas miracle is when your family doesn't get into a single argument all day, there are no 'assembly required' gifts and you didn't forget to buy the batteries!

Christmas Day is the pleasantest day in the whole year. On that day we think fondly of distant friends- although we hope some will stay distant- and we strive to forgive any injuries or insults we have received and aim to begin the New Year as a fresh start and trust that the chapter of our life, about to be written, will contain more notable entries, a fairer sprinkling of good actions and fewer ugly blots than some of the earlier ones!

Instead of being a time of unusual behaviour, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, is in short, about the only chance people have to be themselves, and the WI Christmas party is no exception, especially when the requested dress code is- a Christmas Jumper!

True to form, our members arrived in a variety of guises, having descended en masse, stripping the rails clean at such notable high end establishments as Aldi, Lidl, Tesco and Primark. Once a Christmas sweater was only acceptable as a cry for help, but now they have become 'de rigueur' amongst the fashionable ladies of Audlem causing our meeting to hit an all time low in dress attire- a standard we had all worked extremely hard to achieve!Left at home were a variety of spouses, still shaking in fear after those immortal requests, 'Notice anything different?

The WI Committee had worked very hard at creating the right Christmas atmosphere- several trays of Prosecco, crackers and a huge variety of sandwiches and cakes- however this was a party and we needed games.As they arrived, each member was given a bell to pin on their jumpers. This was in preparation for a game, however it had the extra effect that if any of our members went missing during the party, or wandered over to the Lord Combemere, we would also be able to locate them as they jangled!Managing to usher over 50 ladies into sitting in a circle whilst delicately balancing their drinks was no mean feat, especially as they also had to hold a parcel ready for the first game.Everyone wins in this game. All members bring a present with the attitude being that if you can't wrap Christmas presents well, at least make it look as if they put up a good fight!

After checking that everyone knew their left from their right, the game commenced with Joyce Clydesdale bravely reading a story which entailed a lot of 'rights' and 'lefts' with members passing the presents in these directions.Simple eh? You might think so, but utter confusion followed as some people ended up with two presents and others had none, fortunately Jean Cook and I saw fair play and finally, after a lot of hilarity, everyone received a present from an unknown person and order was restored!

Meanwhile Joyce took a brief opportunity to lie down in a darkened room for a few minutes. She had forgotten the simple rule that men are generally more law- abiding than women. Women have the feeling that since they didn't make the rules, the rules have nothing to do with them.

Following this riotous start, our ladies took their places around the tables and the bell game commenced.A simple game- if you spoke to someone and they responded with the word 'no', (always a lady's prerogative), they had to pass their bell to the other person- the aim of the game being the winner was the person who collected the most bells.We have some cunning ladies in our group! By the end of the Christmas feast, whilst most of our members were still pondering over the names of previous PM's- a table quiz- one or two ladies surreptitiously circled the hall offering more cakes to unsuspecting members who politely replied 'no'!

Elizabeth Huntbach was the overall winner with a batch of bells (is that a collective noun?) to be proud of.On the downside, her scarf was almost strangling her with the weight of her bell collection- some would say poetic justice, others would say using her feminine wiles! She was presented with a Christmas candle for her competitive endeavours.

We now approached our finale which we had named 'The Dementia Game'.Each table had to remain silent- a challenge in itself- whilst they were allowed to memorise a tray with 25 objects on. Following the removal of the tray, each table was asked to write down how many objects they could remember. Needless to say, our highly intelligent and competitive ladies rose to the challenge and the winning table recalled 24 out of 25 objects! No ignominious failures there!

Finally it was time to hand out birthday bouquets to Helen Drake, Anne Godfrey, Chris Jenkins and Joan Vernon. Jackie Creber, had done a sterling job preparing the bouquets, as well as washing up and cleaning the kitchen floor!
Joyce Clydesdale was presented with a silver trophy, kindly donated by Anne Watson, for her expertise in winning most of the competitions over the past year.
June Perry, our pianist extraordinaire who has 'Jerusalem' down to a fine art now, played carols and we all lustily joined in, with bells a jangling!May we say a huge thanks to the WI Committee- Doreen Hubbard, Anne Hollins, Joyce Clydesdale, Jean Cook, Sue Davies, Helen Drake and Christine Salisbury who threw themselves into the party preparations with such gusto and did all the clearing up afterwards.

Sadly our new President, Daphne Mounteney, was ill and unable to attend, although she still managed to bake a batch of delicious scones which were to die for! Though we missed her guiding hand, the party appeared to go well.
Let us not forget that one of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don't clean it up too quickly, savour the moment and never worry about the size of your Christmas tree, because in the eyes of children, they are all ten feet tall.

Finally, remember- keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and receipts for all major purchases!

Have a Happy Christmas and we'll see you all in January.

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