February meeting update

February 12th 2013

The meeting started with a welcome from Isabel our President to Dorothy Cox Regional Coordinator, who came to advise us on the forthcoming Group Meeting, which this year is being held in Llanarth.
 A congratulations card is to be sent to Ann Jones who has been elected to the position of Chair of the Federations of Wales.
Four members were absent from the meeting - Audrey, Joy, Margaret V and Wynne - we wish them all a speedy recovery. We were all pleased to see Margaret W join us after having recovered from her recent operation. 
An invitation was received from Cross Inn WI to join then on Monday 11th March for a 'Welsh Tea'. Four members will attend this event. Knowing the abilities of Cross Inn for holding events, we are in for a very enjoyable evening.

A warm welcome was given to Melda Grantham, Ceredigion County Council Registrar. Melda gave an interesting and amusing talk on her work as a Registrar.  She began with the registration of births and told us about the odd names given to children back in the 1970s.  We didn't realise that parents can pick any surname they like and it does not have to be the family name. Registrars prefer to see the mother registering the baby, as the father tends to get things wrong and the names cannot be changed once the baby has been registered.
Melda then explained the complications that can arise when registering a death, sometimes causing great distress. Ending her talk with marriage, we didn't realise how expensive it has become to get married. Those of us married in the 1960s were only worth 7s/6d (or 37 1/2 pence), whereas now it's in the hundreds of pounds. The most unusual place she has issued a licence to was a sheep shed, which became an enchanting venue for a wedding. 

Denise thanked Melda for her amusing talk. Refreshments were provided by Betty and Linda. The competition "Old Book" was won by Betty and the raffle was won by Linda.
Mydroilyn Young Farmers were using the main part of the hall to rehearse a short comedy sketch and they invited us to view their performance after our meeting. It was very amusing sketch and a great ending to a very enjoyable evening.