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The last few months at the Memorial Hall have been successful in terms of our business, but very difficult for those of us who are personally involved. As many of you are aware, our much respected vice-chairman, Norval Jackson died suddenly in November leaving a gap in our team which cannot be filled, also our stalwart chairman, Ivon Baker, is still suffering from a long-term condition which means that he has been unable to be with us for several months. In addition, our key volunteer, Sheila Otterburn, whose contribution to all our fund raising events has been immeasurable, has been suffering from a very serious illness. Fortunately Sheila is now well on her way to recovery but her husband, Geoff, who has been the Hall’s manager for several years and has been crucial to its financial recovery, has decided that the time has come to tender his resignation. All who know Geoff will appreciate just how much we are going to miss him and Sheila, but we do wish them both a long, happy and very well-deserved retirement. It goes without saying that we are now desperate to enlist people who may be willing to volunteer to help from time to time. We need people of all ages who want to see the Hall continue to function and are prepared to take an active part so that the Hall has a future. If we cannot do this then there must be a question mark over the Hall’s future. We really do need your help. Anyone interested in supporting us in any way please contact the Hall any weekday morning between 9am and noon, telephone 477522 or telephone 477913 and speak with our secretary, Mal Danks. We are pleased to report that local groups continue to use the Hall for a wide variety of regular activities. These include: Slimmer’s World; WEA (Lectures and Yoga); “DanceTastic” aerobics; Art groups and classes; the Friendship group and the Teatime group; Salsa; Meditation; Holistic Therapies and “Night Owl” Sequence dances. Further details for any of these activities are available at the Hall. On Saturday 10th July, we will be holding our very popular Community Coffee day when we invite community groups to spend time at the Hall, so local people can find out what they do. We also provide coffee and cakes and paper backed books at reasonable prices. We will, of course, be holding one of our famous “Play your cards right” stalls for which we have some super prizes. Our very successful Night Owl dances will be held on June 25th, July 31st, August 27th, September25th and November 27th. Later on in the year, will see a return of the fabulous “Miscellany” concert party and there will be Halloween celebrations at the end of October. Half the tickets for the Miscellany Concert on Wartime weekend Saturday are already sold, so anyone wishing to attend should contact us or the Tourist Information Centre as soon as possible. We are now in a position to make some decisions about the long-promised kitchen improvements. A public meeting was held earlier in the year and all ideas were welcomed. It was universally agreed that a new cooker, new sinks, increased storage space and improved hot water facilities are vital. There were many more suggestions but, of course, how much we can do will be governed by how much we are able to afford. Our annual General Meeting will be held at the Hall on Wednesday 2nd June at 7.30pm. The Hall belongs to the people of Pickering and is a unique community facility maintained by a dwindling group of keen and hard working volunteers. We need your support and would very much welcome your attendance at this meeting. Even if you can spare a small amount of time, please come. Mal Danks, Secretary. |
