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Petersfield Twinning Association
Promoting goodwill and friendship with Barentin in France and Warendorf in Germany
Designed by Phil Chapman.
NEW YEAR NEWSLETTER 2007
Dear Fellow Twinners,
First let me wish you a very happy New Year with good health.
I trust you have spent a pleasant Christmas time and are now looking forward to plenty of activities, including some with the Twinning Association.
Second, let me bring you up to date with what has been happening since the last Newsletter:
The Indian Evening changed into an American Supper in October, as Bridget West who had offered to organise this event was ill with pneumonia. I am glad to say that she is now very much better and was able to go to Warendorf a month ago.
Fourteen people, including our Town Mayor, Bob Ayer, and his wife, travelled to Warendorf in early December, where on Friday, 8th the two mayors signed the second Charter putting the final seal of approval on the twinning between our two towns. The evening was capped by a celebratory dinner in the local State Stud (with a visit to numerous stallions en route to the meal!). A splendid buffet dinner was prepared for us by one of the Freundeskreis’ members, and he certainly did us proud, as he did again the next night for a Christmas party, held in the Freckenhorst Bürgerhaus - an old Westphalian farmhouse now a sort of community centre. In addition to yet more good food and convivial company, we were visited by Saint Nicholas, with bishop’s mitre and crozier, who presented every Petersfielder there with a Christmas goodies bag. He seemed to know an awful lot about each of us - somebody had obviously primed him in advance! - and this set the seal on a most enjoyable evening.
While we were in Germany some of us visited the Christmas markets in Münster and we all explored the one in Warendorf, much smaller but still well worth a visit. On the Sunday morning we were treated to the opening of a photographic exhibition in the theatre, where we viewed photos taken by their Twinning Chairman, Beate Trautner, during the visit to Petersfield last July. We were also shown an excellent video film of the week’s visit made by two of the others on the trip. Later that day the school choir of the Mariengymnasium (the grammar school that is now planning its third exchange with Churcher’s College) sang English and American Christmas carols and songs in the Market Square, while people stood and listened as they enjoyed a mug of hot punch. The next day members of both committees had a meeting over hot coffee and Christmas cakes to discuss various ideas for furthering twinning activities between our two towns. If you know of any individuals, groups or businesses who would like to make contact with others, whether in Warendorf or in Barentin, please tell them to get in touch and we will see what can be done
In that connection, there are two German girl university students who need to come to England this summer for about 6 weeks as part of their degree studies. They are looking for work placements for that period. If you know of any possible opportunity for either of them here in Petersfield or nearby, please let us know. We shall also need to find them some accommodation for their time here. If you think you might be able to help, again please let us know. There have already been several French and German young people doing similar placements, as well as one or two Petersfield youngsters working in Warendorf.
Now to future events:
1. On Saturday, 3rd February we are holding a Bring & Buy Sale and Coffee Morning in the Pop In Club in the High Street. It will be open to the public from 10a.m. till 12.30p.m., but help to set up from 9 o’cl. onwards would be much appreciated. We should be glad of items to sell - books, cakes, biscuits, bric-a-brac, plants, etc. The more we have to sell the more money we can make for the funds. If you can help please complete and return the appropriate slip at the end of this Newsletter.
2. Also in February, as previously notified, there will be a St. Valentine’s Day Sausage and Mash Supper at The Half Moon, Sheet. The dessert will be apple crumble, and coffee is included in the price of £13 per head.
The committee thought a more ‘homely’ meal than the usual formal dinner would make a change at this time of the year. If you would like to join us on that occasion, please send back the appropriate slip by 5th February at the latest. Please feel free to bring a friend or two. We shall hold a raffle at this event.
3. This year’s A.G.M. will take place, also at The Half Moon on Monday, 5th March, at 7.30 p.m. The business part of the evening will be followed by either a lighthearted quiz (as last year) or an even more lighthearted Frog Frolic (similar to a beetle drive but slightly different and more crazy). Put the date in your diaries. A reminder will follow nearer the time.
4. The biennial visit from Barentin to Petersfield will this year take place over the weekend of Saturday, 28th April to Tuesday, 1st May. It has been felt for some time that the short 2 night stays we have had both here and in France tend to be rather overcrowded and somewhat exhausting. So it was decided that this year we would try a 3 night stay. This will enable us to take our French friends out for a full day somewhere (probably on the Monday) and also allow families to arrange to do something with their guests on the Sunday. We do not yet know which ferry route the French will take, nor when on Saturday they will arrive. However, as soon as we know we will pass on the details. Meanwhile, we are looking for host families for that weekend. By now, after 14 years of twinning visits between here and Barentin, many of you have good friends whom, I am sure, you will be looking forward to welcoming here again. Please let us know as soon as possible whether you can host some visitors this year. We need to let the Barentinois know how many we can accommodate so that they can arrange matters on their side of the Channel.
5. Visit to Warendorf August 2007: As we told you last time, this year’s visit to Warendorf will take place from Friday, 17th August to 24th August. We know that we shall be treated to wonderful hospitality yet again. During the time when we are due to be in Warendorf there will be two traditional events happening - Mariähimmel- fahrt over the weekend, and the Schützenfest later. According to pictures and reports we have seen from previous years these two events will be well worth seeing. If you do not speak any German but would like to join the group going, don’t worry as most Germans speak some English. We are offering some basic German lessons for those who would like to take up this offer. We have two members who have already expressed interest. If you would like to join them, please telephone (01730 302862) as soon as possible. The sooner you start, the more prepared you will be! Again there is a return slip at the end of this Newsletter for you to complete and let us have.
We are still enquiring about travel costs. Flying is not as convenient as it was 2 years ago, as Air Berlin has moved its routes to Bournemouth and the timetable was somewhat antisocial in 2006. Also the fares and timetables for as far ahead as August are not yet available. The most likely route we shall take is to go by coach and ferry. We have been given some figures by Richardson’s Coach Company and these would mean a cost of £179 per head if 25 travel, £128 if we have 35 for the coach. Coach travel is by far the most convenient, as we shall be carried virtually from door to door and we shall also have the use of the coach while in Germany. Please let us know if you would like to go to Warendorf. All those who have been already will assure you of a wonderful week. If you know a family in Warendorf and would like to stay with them if possible, please mention this on the return slip.
There will be other activities as the year progresses and we will let you know about them in the next Newsletter.
Meanwhile, at this time of good food and - maybe - overeating, we were sent some useful advice recently:
The best exercise for a slimmer you that you can practise is to shake your head slowly from side to side whenever you are offered a second helping.
There’s something in that!
Until the next Newsletter, best wishes for the coming months,
Your Chairman,
John Kent
The Twinning Charter is signed The Twinning Charter
Maybe I have been a little naughty, but do I get a present? I do hope Nikolaus has something nice for me!
The main square in Warendorf A quiet corner in Warendorf
The main street in Warendorf The screen in Warendorf church
Warendorf Relaxing in a local hostelry
To return to the Current Newsletter click on this link
First let me wish you a very happy New Year with good health.
I trust you have spent a pleasant Christmas time and are now looking forward to plenty of activities, including some with the Twinning Association.
Second, let me bring you up to date with what has been happening since the last Newsletter:
The Indian Evening changed into an American Supper in October, as Bridget West who had offered to organise this event was ill with pneumonia. I am glad to say that she is now very much better and was able to go to Warendorf a month ago.
Fourteen people, including our Town Mayor, Bob Ayer, and his wife, travelled to Warendorf in early December, where on Friday, 8th the two mayors signed the second Charter putting the final seal of approval on the twinning between our two towns. The evening was capped by a celebratory dinner in the local State Stud (with a visit to numerous stallions en route to the meal!). A splendid buffet dinner was prepared for us by one of the Freundeskreis’ members, and he certainly did us proud, as he did again the next night for a Christmas party, held in the Freckenhorst Bürgerhaus - an old Westphalian farmhouse now a sort of community centre. In addition to yet more good food and convivial company, we were visited by Saint Nicholas, with bishop’s mitre and crozier, who presented every Petersfielder there with a Christmas goodies bag. He seemed to know an awful lot about each of us - somebody had obviously primed him in advance! - and this set the seal on a most enjoyable evening.
While we were in Germany some of us visited the Christmas markets in Münster and we all explored the one in Warendorf, much smaller but still well worth a visit. On the Sunday morning we were treated to the opening of a photographic exhibition in the theatre, where we viewed photos taken by their Twinning Chairman, Beate Trautner, during the visit to Petersfield last July. We were also shown an excellent video film of the week’s visit made by two of the others on the trip. Later that day the school choir of the Mariengymnasium (the grammar school that is now planning its third exchange with Churcher’s College) sang English and American Christmas carols and songs in the Market Square, while people stood and listened as they enjoyed a mug of hot punch. The next day members of both committees had a meeting over hot coffee and Christmas cakes to discuss various ideas for furthering twinning activities between our two towns. If you know of any individuals, groups or businesses who would like to make contact with others, whether in Warendorf or in Barentin, please tell them to get in touch and we will see what can be done
In that connection, there are two German girl university students who need to come to England this summer for about 6 weeks as part of their degree studies. They are looking for work placements for that period. If you know of any possible opportunity for either of them here in Petersfield or nearby, please let us know. We shall also need to find them some accommodation for their time here. If you think you might be able to help, again please let us know. There have already been several French and German young people doing similar placements, as well as one or two Petersfield youngsters working in Warendorf.
Now to future events:
1. On Saturday, 3rd February we are holding a Bring & Buy Sale and Coffee Morning in the Pop In Club in the High Street. It will be open to the public from 10a.m. till 12.30p.m., but help to set up from 9 o’cl. onwards would be much appreciated. We should be glad of items to sell - books, cakes, biscuits, bric-a-brac, plants, etc. The more we have to sell the more money we can make for the funds. If you can help please complete and return the appropriate slip at the end of this Newsletter.
2. Also in February, as previously notified, there will be a St. Valentine’s Day Sausage and Mash Supper at The Half Moon, Sheet. The dessert will be apple crumble, and coffee is included in the price of £13 per head.
The committee thought a more ‘homely’ meal than the usual formal dinner would make a change at this time of the year. If you would like to join us on that occasion, please send back the appropriate slip by 5th February at the latest. Please feel free to bring a friend or two. We shall hold a raffle at this event.
3. This year’s A.G.M. will take place, also at The Half Moon on Monday, 5th March, at 7.30 p.m. The business part of the evening will be followed by either a lighthearted quiz (as last year) or an even more lighthearted Frog Frolic (similar to a beetle drive but slightly different and more crazy). Put the date in your diaries. A reminder will follow nearer the time.
4. The biennial visit from Barentin to Petersfield will this year take place over the weekend of Saturday, 28th April to Tuesday, 1st May. It has been felt for some time that the short 2 night stays we have had both here and in France tend to be rather overcrowded and somewhat exhausting. So it was decided that this year we would try a 3 night stay. This will enable us to take our French friends out for a full day somewhere (probably on the Monday) and also allow families to arrange to do something with their guests on the Sunday. We do not yet know which ferry route the French will take, nor when on Saturday they will arrive. However, as soon as we know we will pass on the details. Meanwhile, we are looking for host families for that weekend. By now, after 14 years of twinning visits between here and Barentin, many of you have good friends whom, I am sure, you will be looking forward to welcoming here again. Please let us know as soon as possible whether you can host some visitors this year. We need to let the Barentinois know how many we can accommodate so that they can arrange matters on their side of the Channel.
5. Visit to Warendorf August 2007: As we told you last time, this year’s visit to Warendorf will take place from Friday, 17th August to 24th August. We know that we shall be treated to wonderful hospitality yet again. During the time when we are due to be in Warendorf there will be two traditional events happening - Mariähimmel- fahrt over the weekend, and the Schützenfest later. According to pictures and reports we have seen from previous years these two events will be well worth seeing. If you do not speak any German but would like to join the group going, don’t worry as most Germans speak some English. We are offering some basic German lessons for those who would like to take up this offer. We have two members who have already expressed interest. If you would like to join them, please telephone (01730 302862) as soon as possible. The sooner you start, the more prepared you will be! Again there is a return slip at the end of this Newsletter for you to complete and let us have.
We are still enquiring about travel costs. Flying is not as convenient as it was 2 years ago, as Air Berlin has moved its routes to Bournemouth and the timetable was somewhat antisocial in 2006. Also the fares and timetables for as far ahead as August are not yet available. The most likely route we shall take is to go by coach and ferry. We have been given some figures by Richardson’s Coach Company and these would mean a cost of £179 per head if 25 travel, £128 if we have 35 for the coach. Coach travel is by far the most convenient, as we shall be carried virtually from door to door and we shall also have the use of the coach while in Germany. Please let us know if you would like to go to Warendorf. All those who have been already will assure you of a wonderful week. If you know a family in Warendorf and would like to stay with them if possible, please mention this on the return slip.
There will be other activities as the year progresses and we will let you know about them in the next Newsletter.
Meanwhile, at this time of good food and - maybe - overeating, we were sent some useful advice recently:
The best exercise for a slimmer you that you can practise is to shake your head slowly from side to side whenever you are offered a second helping.
There’s something in that!
Until the next Newsletter, best wishes for the coming months,
Your Chairman,
John Kent
The Twinning Charter is signed The Twinning Charter
Maybe I have been a little naughty, but do I get a present? I do hope Nikolaus has something nice for me!
The main square in Warendorf A quiet corner in Warendorf
The main street in Warendorf The screen in Warendorf church
Warendorf Relaxing in a local hostelry
To return to the Current Newsletter click on this link
