friend to friend newsletter april 2012

7/31/2019 Friend to Friend Newsletter April 2012

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The first day of the month of

May is known as MayDay. It is the time of year

when warmer weather be-

gins and flowers and trees

start to blossom. It is said

to be a time of love and

romance. It is when people

celebrate the coming of

summer with lots of differ-

ent customs that are expres-

sions of joy and hope after

a long winter. Traditional

English May Day celebra-

tions include Morris danc-

ing, crowning a May Queen

and dancing around a May-

pole.

The beginning of SummerAlthough summer does not

officially begin until June,

May Day marks its begin-

ning. May Day celebrations

have been carried out in

England for over 2000

years.

The Romans celebrated the

festival of Flora, goddess

of fruit and flowers, which

marked the beginning of

summer. It was held annu-

ally from April 28th to May

3rd.

How was May Day Cele-

brated in the past?It was custom for every oneto go a-Maying early onMay Day. Herrick, a 17th

century English poet wrote:

Theres not a budding boy,

or girl, this day,But is got up, and gone to

bring in May.Decorating HousesMay Day began early in themorning. People would goout before sunrise in orderto gather flowers andgreenery to decorate theirhouses and villages with inthe belief that the vegeta-

tion spirits would bringgood fortune.

Washing in the early

morning dew

Girls would make a special

point of washing their faces

in the dew of the early

morning. They believed

this made them very beauti-ful for the following year.

May Day traditions

The May QueenThe rest of the day was giv-en over to various festivi-ties. There was dancing onthe village green, archery

contest and exhibitions ofstrength. The highlight ofthe day was the crowning

of the May Queen, thehuman replica of Flora. Bytradition she took no part inthe games or dancing, butsat like a queen in a flower-

decked chair to watch her

subjects.

May Day GarlandsYoung girls would makeMay Garlands. They cov-ered two hoops, one at right

angles inside the other,

with leaves and flowers,and sometimes they put adoll inside to represent the

goddess of Spring.

Friend to Friend

April 2012

Inside this issue:

May Day Traditions 1

Denby Dale Group 2

April Craft Fayre 2

Honley Group 3

Holmfirth Project 3

Northlight Gallery Mosaic 4

Dementia Awareness

cafes

4

Marsden Group 5

Meltham Lunch 6

Netherton Group

Meltham Mens Group

7

Riddles 8

Trip to Skipton 9

Answers to last quiz 10


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Please can you support the Craft Fayre.

HOLMFIRTH MARKET

SUNDAY APRIL 29TH

10.004.00

Hope to see you there!

Denby Dale Group

April Craft Fayre in Holmfirth Market

Hints on how

to choose a

residential

home!

This month, Linda Reilly, who works for Mencap in Kirklees, came to explain tous the problems of being a mentally handicapped person. Mentally handi-capped is where the name for the charity came from. She started by explain-ing that most handicaps start at birth, some children can recover from them,but others with Downs Syndrome are stuck with it throughout theirlives. Mencap have residential homes and run respite care clubs and organiseactivities which their members like, such as sports and music.

Mencap was started in 1946 by Maude Cooper (who is now 106 years old andcounting) and her friend. They had Downs Syndrome children, but did notwant them to have to go to Storthes Hall. It was not until 1969 that mentallyhandicapped children could attend ordinary schools.

Linda then asked us to write a list of our favourite things such as the colourswe like to wear and holiday destinations and then explained how frustrating itwould be if we could not tell our friends and family what and why we likethose things. The homes try to treat their residents as individuals and letthem eat when they want and go to bed when they are ready, not when TheMatron says.She also gave us hints on how to choose a residential home - not that we areinterested -1. Go and see lots of them2. Take a deep breath as you go in and smell it!3. Speak to the boss - Do you like her/him?

4. Ask lots of Questions5. Ask your grandchild to look the Care Quality Commission Report up onthe Internet or ask for a report at the home

Then we had to show that our own brains are still working as Jean tested uswith a Crossword with all the vowels missing. Marjorie Brown, Joan Noble,Greta Hinchliffe and Dorethea Tarbett can all apply to be on Countdown now.

After a bit of juggling with the tickets the raffle was won by, Olive Turnbull,Joan Noble, Dorethea Tarbett and Greta Hinchliffe

Julie Barber


3/10

On a very wet and ra-ther cold day, the Hon-

ley group turned out in

full with about 15 la-

dies attending. It was

good to see so many

there. First of all, we

had a bit of a chat over

our cups of tea and bis-

cuits and Shirley caught

up with some infor-

mation which needed tobe passed on. We also

discussed where we

might go on our next

trip out.

Janet had brought along

a Radio Times front

covers quiz and we

worked our way

through with much Oh

I know that face but just cantremember who it is com-

ments! After that, we played

Suzannes mime game which caused much hilarity

but which ended in a suitable 12-12 draw for the 2

teams. We ended the session discussing what we

would rescue if there was a house fire and could

just get one thing out with us. Apart from hand-

bags etc, it was agreed that something irreplacea-

ble like family photographs or personal, senti-

mental objects would definitely be our main prior-

ity. It was a good afternoon in good company!

Suzanne

Honley Group

Holmfirth Project Group

Janice and Katrina who

joined us today will alsobe spending time with us,

helping with oral historyinterviewingWe welcomed Jill who is

going to help us with pro-ducing artefacts to com-memorate CoronationYear. She showed us avideo from the 1950s togenerate some ideas anddiscussed these with themembers over lunch.Based on these we shall

start work on this part ofthe project on May 18th.

After a lovely lunchShirley S expanded onthe project and in partic-ular the folders peoplewill be working on tocreate a record of theirexperience of the 1950sand what they might in-clude.

We then got Shirley

Boardman to tell the group about the Huddersfield Exam-iner Community Awards. We volunteers nominatedShirley S and she has reached the next stage a dinner atthe Galpharm where the winners are announced.

Soon after this a photographer came from the Examiner totake photos for both the Heritage Lottery award andShirley Simmonds nomination. The lottery applicationwas Shirley Ss idea. We all got in the pictures!

Many thanks to Jean , a Netherton group volunteer who

stepped in to help as our volunteer numbers were downand to Janice who helped with washing up.

Holmfirth Project 20th

April 2012

Today saw the start of ourexciting new DiamondYears project, funded by

the Heritage LotteryFund.

Shirley Simmonds startedus off with a brief outlineof what the year aheadholds.Then David Cockmanshowed a DVD of his

photographs of the areaaccompanied by a spiritedrendition of the Holmfirthanthem Pratty Flowers.David is going to guide usin photography of the dis-trict and will take photosof the members at work.

We shall end up withDVDs for our membersand for reference by thewider public.

David is also a local his-tory expert.


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For more information, please con-

tact:

Nisah Imtiaz 07969 339 435

Brian Garbett 0113 270 8673

Dementia is a hard thing to deal

with. To have a loved one with

Dementia or be living with De-

mentia yourself can be difficult

and a painful thing if you are on

your own.

The Dementia Awareness Cafes

aim to make life manageable and

more enjoyable for people living

with dementia and their carers.

They are a place to meet other

people in similar circumstances,

spend quality time together in a

welcoming environment and getinformation about wider support

available.

Tea and Company Dementia Awareness Cafes

All cafes runfrom

1.30pm

until3.30pm

Northlight Gallery Mosaic Exhibition

We all have a story to tell

The Holmfirth, Honley, Netherton and Marsden Friend to Friend Groups have beenworking on a Mosaic entitled We all have a story to tell. This will be on display atthe Northlight Gallery from May 4th onwards for the groups involved and to familymembers and members of the public from May 5th onwards. For more information,you can contact the Friend to Friend office on:01484 687773

Northlight GalleryArmitage BridgeHuddersfieldWest YorkshireHD4 7NR


5/10

Marsden Friend to Friend sends best wishes to all the Groups and would like to say how muchwe enjoy reading the Newsletters. The new format is very good, it includes something for every-one and we do enjoy reading about what the other Groups are doing. Well done Suzanne!

Our March activities session was both interesting and good fun. We again talked about mono-logues. In this session we read about Albert Ramsbottom the Evacuee, written in 1940. It is anamusing monologue about Albert and his mother being evacuated and starts as follows:

Have you heard how young Albert Ramsbottom,Was evacuated from homeWith his mother, clean socks and a toothbrush,

Some Syrup of Figs and a comb.

The antics of Albert and his mother proved to be very funny indeed but also evocative of the1940s both in terms of the phrases used in the verses and war-time conditions, for example Al-bert breaks the rules of the blackout. We all laughed throughout the reading and commented onseveral things that were mentioned in the verses.

We also did a 1950s television quiz. Members had to read the cluesto titles of television shows that were popular in that decade. Thisquiz took quite some time to complete, after all the 1950s were a longtime ago! However, after much memory searching and deliberation

the members completed the questions. Well done ladies, you did verywell!

We also read an article entitled When we were brung up proper.This was also very amusing; it related to conditions and attitudes ofthe 1950s and stirred up many memories of those days. It was a goodsession enjoyed by all.

At our next session we concentrated on our scrapbooks. These will be completed over the nexttwo dedicated sessions. Members enjoyed creating their own designs from our scrapbook mate-rials. Some of the designs had pictures of country and coastal scenes while others featured ani-mals, birds and dolphins.

Our members have proved to be very creative during the scrapbook sessions and have pro-duced some excellent pages. The books are very attractive indeed and I am sure that our mem-bers will enjoy looking at them in the future and remembering the times that they created eachpage. it has been a good, fulfilling and interesting project.

Our best wishes go to our members who have not been able to attend the sessions due to ill-ness, we are thinking of you and wish you well.

Cynthia Phillips

Marsden Group


6/10

After a very satisfying lunch, we all settled for a poetry session and very good it was too! MrsFoster was the poet and most of the poems were her own. She was very interesting and amus-ing. Some were quite professional and one was very appropriate for the coming Jubilee.Thanks to all the volunteers who helped on the day. Mrs Foster was thanked by Richard to agrand ovation.

Poem by Mrs Dorothy Foster

The opening of the 2012 Olympics, must have a British theme.

Maybe 1000 Morris men, waving hankies, on a simulated village green.

There could be an equestrian display, Tetley's dray horses would impress I'm sure.

Followed by uniformed men, synchronised buckets, collecting manure.

One man and his dogcould feature.

With whistle and massed band.

The obedient flock of sheep, marching on command.

How about a giant Maypole?

That will impress the crowd.

Mrs Jones will iron out the ribbons, The Floral Dance could blast out loud.

Another idea occurred to me.

Why not a jolly sequence dance?

Over 60s only, it may be their last chance.

Bring them into the arena, on a Kirklees bus, waving their Metro passes aloft, they'd be a creditto us.

We couldchoreographumbrellas, to open and close together.

Britain can equal China's show, if we can only defeat the weather.

Meltham Lunch
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/One+Man+and+His+Doghttp://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/One+Man+and+His+Doghttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/choreographhttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/choreographhttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/choreographhttp://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/One+Man+and+His+Dog


7/10

We had a go at making Easter boxes. We had box templates alreadycut out so these just needed folding and sticking in place. The boxeswere then finished with paper flowers and a filling of straw and achocolate egg added. We had some fabulous results which can beseen in the photo of Maureen Hirst. We finished the meeting with anEaster quiz.

Our next meeting was creative as well as we were busy knittingdishcloths to sell on the Friend to Friend stall being held this Sundaythe 29th of April at the Holmfirth Charity Market.

To finish our meeting we had fun with a game called Porky Pies,where you have to guess the true meaning of an old phrase. For ex-ample:

"TO BE TAKEN ABACK"This phrase, meaning surprised, is believed to be derived from:

(A)American saloons in the Gold Rush era where pretty young girls

would lure gentlemen travellers to the back of the bar. The girls

would have accomplices there who would mug the gentlemen for

their money and valuables.

(B)Military encounters where one army distracts another and then sneaks around the back of them to launch a sur-

prise attack from behind.

(C)Sailing boats, where a shift in the wind would cause the sails to fill from the wrong side and blow the boat back-

wards

The answer can be found at the back of the newsletter.

Netherton Group

Maureen Hirst

After one of Micks fine lunches,ham salad followed by trifle, its

down to a game of dominoes

whilst being regaled by Pam

Ayres on CD.

David C.

Meltham Mens Group
http://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Ahttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Ahttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Bhttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Bhttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Chttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Chttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Chttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#Bhttp://www.amherstlodge.com/games/porky_pies/porky10.htm#A


8/10

1. A man builds a four-walled house. Each of the walls, on the out-

side, face due south. The man looks out the window and sees a

bear. What colour is the bear?

2. Which is greater - half of quarter or quarter of half?

3.

How do you write 1000 with eight 8s?

4. I have a tail, and I have a head, but I have no body. I am NOT a

snake. What am I?

5. There's an electric train travelling south. The wind is from the

north-west. In which direction would the smoke from the train be

blowing?

6.

While driving a father and his son had a car accident and then were

rushed to two different hospitals. The son was about to be operat-

ed on when the surgeon said "I can't operate... This is my son!' Who

is the surgeon?

7. What does an Island and the letter T have in common?

8. What falls, but does not break, and what breaks but does not fall?

9. What's the missing letter? J ? M A M J J A S O N D

10. If you drop a 10 kg iron bar and a 10 kg bag of cotton from a height

of 50 meters which will reach the ground first?

Answers in the next issue!

Can you solve these riddles?


9/10

Annual trip to Skipton Meltham

On Friday 6thJuly, the Meltham group will be making their annual trip toSkipton. This year, there are spare places available to any other groupswho may be interested in going along. A 51 seater bus needs to be filled!The trip leaves from Meltham and anyone joining will have to make theirown way to Meltham for the coach.

The total cost of the trip is 17-00 and thisincludes:

Narrow boat ride Fish n Chips Raffle number Tips for the bus driver, caf and boat.

If anyone is interested and would like to book a place, please call the

Friend to Friend office on 01484 687773 for a booking form.

Suzanne would like to say a BIG THANK

YOU for all the messages about the new

format of the newsletter. It makes it

all worth while when I receive suchlovely compliments and I certainly enjoy

producing it! I love reading about all the

various group activities and there are

some splendid poems and articles. Keep

them coming!


10/10

Answers to the March General Knowledge Quiz:1. An orange swift is a MOTH.2. Poirot was BELGIAN.3. A Rhode Island Red is CHICKEN.4. The highest point on Earth is at the top of MOUNT EVEREST.5. Purple is made up of RED and BLUE.6. Jesus was betrayed by JUDAS.7. The Italian city with a leaning tower is PISA. 8. The square root of 9 is 3.9. The Grand National is held at AINTREE.10. The fruit most commonly used to make wine GRAPES.

Friend to Friend

TO BE TAKEN ABACK (See page 6)The answer is C

11. From an acorn grows an OAK TREE.12. The Spanish flag consists of RED and YELLOW.13. SEAN CONNERY played Bond in You Only Live Twice.14.

Ginger wine is made from ginger and RAISINS.

15. A gosling is a young GOOSE.16. Jesus was trained as a CARPENTER.17. Picassos first name was PABLO.18. The Good Ship Lollipop was an AIRCRAFT.19. The largest island in the Mediterranean is SICILY.20. The snail in the Magic Roundabout is BRIAN.

Friend to FriendUnit 8 Bridge Mills

Huddersfield Road

Holmfirth

HD9 3TW

Tel: 01484 687773

Www.friendtofriend.org.uk

Email: [email protected]

Registered Charity Number 1092163

friend to friend newsletter april 2012

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