Friday 14^th November  AGM

Held in the Town Hall, King's Lynn, the AGM was attended by thirty seven members, including our President, the Mayor, Councillor Barry Ayres and the Mayoress.  The Mayor welcomed those present and the meeting was then presided over by Chairman, Penny Harrison.   Her report and those of the Treasurer, Carl Webb, and the Exchange Secretary, Annie Ricketts, had already been circulated, but the Balance Sheet for the financial year ending 31st August 2014 was presented and adopted.  The Hon. Auditor, Mr John Hodson, was  reappointed.  There were no nominations for new committee members, but the re-election of all those due to stand this year was carried.  All the Officers (Secretary, Penny Dossetor, Treasurer, Cal Webb and Exchange Secretary, Annie Ricketts) were also reappointed, as was the Chairman, whose term of office ends next year.

Arrangements for the visit to Emmerich next year from Thursday 21^st to Monday 25^th May were discussed.  While some members would prefer to travel by coach, it was felt unlikely that there would be enough people wishing to travel this way to make it a viable option.  Annie Ricketts had prepared a letter and form which she asked those interested in visiting Emmerich next year to complete and return to her in good time.

After the meeting an excellent two course buffet supper was served in the Assembly Rooms, bringing the evening to a convivial end.

Friday 6^th to Monday 9^th June - Visit from Emmerich

The Emmerich coach pulled up on the South Quay outside the Hanse House at exactly 9.30 am with 20 members on board.  There should have been 21 but the chairman, Brita Weber, had been prevented from embarking on the ferry in Holland the night before because the ID card she had decided to use instead of her passport was out of date!  The rest of the party were greeted by their hosts and provided with a brunch in the Hanse House before being given a tour of the building by Dr Paul Richards.  The rest of that day and the whole of the Saturday was free for the guests to spend time with their hosts, most of whom were already old friends.  On Sunday 8^th June everyone gathered for a lunch in the Town Hall, with firstclass catering provided by students from the College of West Anglia.  For dessert there were cupcakes with designer icing depicting the emblems for both clubs. By this time Brita had arrived, so both she and the King's Lynn chairman, Penny Harrison, made speeches, both of them speaking in both German and English.  To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Twinning all the guests were presented with tote bags with the logos of the two clubs and appropriate wording, with a copy of the latest edition of the King's Lynn magazine and some tourist information about King's Lynn as well as the Friday edition of Your Local Paper, which included an article about the twinning.. 

After the formalities and the lunch the diners were able to enjoy a Race Afternoon, organised by Steven Hayter.  Once the bets had been placed the excitement mounted as the films were shown and it was interesting to see the different gambling strategies employed by the players.  Some considerable sums were won ... and lost, and it was probably just as well that the money was not for real.  The person who ended up with the most virtual money was one of the student caterers, who was delighted to be presented with a signed copy of  Dr Paul Richards' latest book.

As always, Monday came round all too soon and the visitors departed en route for Holt where they were to take the North Norfolk Railway to Sheringham to be picked up again by their coach and eventually transported to Harwich to catch the night boat back to Holland.  Although there had been torrential rain in King's Lynn on the Saturday, the Friday and Sunday were fine and everyone appeared to have had a good time.  The visit was written up in the local papers in Emmerich with pictures of the German group at Sheringham station, one of which is shown below.

Now it is time to start planning next year's visit to Emmerich.

Sunday 6^th April 2014 - Afternoon Tea at Hunstanton

Twenty members enjoyed a lavish afternoon tea at The Old Lodge, Old Hunstanton, on the afternoon of Sunday 6^th April as the first event of the year.  This provided an opportunity to give those present some advance information about the forthcoming visit from Emmerich.