A message from Carolyn

To all my friends at Clophill & District Flower Club - September Newsletter

Since our last meeting I have had a very busy time but I have enjoyed it all and I have survived!!

I would like to thank all our members who contributed to the Flower Festival 7th/8th September at St Mary’s Church Clophill to celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the Church. It was a super weekend and the Church looked great with 24 designs enhancing the features of the Church.  I was so pleased that so many of you came to stage designs both large and small. Ann S and I felt very proud of the arrangers that had attended our classes over the years and now their skills excelled. The festival was a celebration of the Anniversary and it attracted lots of visitors over the weekend.  All the flowers were sponsored by businesses and individuals and a profit of £1,600 was made to go towards the maintenance of the Church. It was lovely to see so many members coming to support us over the weekend. I think our fame is spreading!

​The following weekend we celebrated the wedding of my grand daughter Kate in Derbyshire. It was a very special family occasion that of course needed lots of flowers, so I was busy for two days. The colour scheme was purple, orange and lime green – quite different but effective.

Then it was the Area Flower Festival 19th – 22nd September at St Mary’s Church, Hitchin.  It was an amazing event for our Area and it achieved all our aims and exceeded our expectations.  We wanted to showcase our skills, talents and love for flowers in a beautiful location.


​We wanted to promote NAFAS and our Clubs and to bring our members together. We wanted the public to see what we do and to know about flower arranging.




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The Church was filled with floral exhibits and I was again proud
of our arrangers who staged two beautiful exhibits.

Ann Swain, Chris Rogers, Sue Kerr, Margaret Sudderby,
Nancy Roberts and Marion Wildman decorated the high altar
area in green and white and was the main focus in the
​centre of this large building. 

Gillian Hill and Chris Baker created ‘Happiness‘ that was very striking using lots of sunflowers and gerbera. Karen Harwood, Lesley Sturdy, Doug Howard and I also created exhibits.

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​St Mary's Church, Hitchin is the largest church in Hertfordshire and we filled it with 44 large exhibits arranged by Clubs and members, both experienced arrangers and some who have never arranged on a large scale before. We know how much thought and planning, travelling and time our members willingly gave and there was a very happy atmosphere throughout the staging and weekend. 

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There was a NAFAS Information Area with exhibits and programmes, posters and information about our Area Club. The Flower Arranger Officer was busy promoting the magazine and was giving free back copies that our members had donated. There were stewards there to tell the public about NAFAS and where their local Club meets. Hopefully, we have raised an awareness of NAFAS and we will gain new members at our Clubs.
 
We worked in partnership with St Mary’s Church, Hitchin by using their church and they organised the publicity, refreshments, programmes, stewarding and the wonderful music that entertained the 1,600 visitors throughout the weekend. The church members worked extremely hard for four days to take full advantage of the fundraising opportunity that we gave them. The Church has now informed us that they made a profit of over £16.000, that will help to improve the facilities in their beautiful church.  The agreement worked well as we wanted to design, stage and sponsor the cost of the flowers and the Church desperately needs funds.

 I really appreciated Ellie Meaking, NAFAS Director,  joining us at the Preview Evening on the Thursday and felt very proud showing her around the festival.  Kim Wilde also attended to officially open it. We had visitors from a wide area of the country, the photographer from The Flower Arranger, some National demonstrators and the local press, so hopefully the ‘Abundant Blessings’ will be remembered as a very happy occasion celebrating the skills and talents of the members of Home Counties Area of NAFAS.

At our Club meeting on Thursday 3rd, we are having a Dabble Evening. There will be 5 different activities for you to dabble at, as well as chatting to others. These evenings are always very social. Please come and just bring a pair of scissors. Everything else will be provided.  There will not be a charity table as there will be too much going on!
       
Education Fun Day on 23rd October Memorial Hall, Wheathampstead 10 – 3pm. This will be a fun day with a demonstration by Gill McGregor on foam- free mechanics, talks and practical activities on many aspects of designing without foam and competitions. Everyone is welcome.  Tickets are £20 for the day available from Celia.
        
​Tickets for our Christmas demonstration will also be available. £6 for members and £12 for visitors. We have Katherine Kear coming from Gloucester to celebrate ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’.  It should be a great evening.

With my best wishes,
Carolyn        
 Chairman of Clophill & District Flower Club