Widows Lunch

The Widows Lunch was held at West Surrey Golf Club on 19th October. Organised as usual by Bro. Leo Cash, there was an excellent carvery to feed the 17 Brothers and Wives who attended. Among the 10 Widows in attendance was Pat Cooke widow of Founding Brother Brian Cooke. No other information has been supplied other than Bro. Steve Rowden won the Apple Crumble Doggy Bag! One assumes this was a raffle but not certain whether this was a prize or a penance! 

A panoramic view of the diners!

Good old Bro. Leo, another Top Notch Nosh!

Breed giving Bro. Mervyn instruction on table etiquette

Cheers M' Dears!

Oh dear! It looks like Bro. Tony has dropped gravy on his expensive polyester tie!

Bro. Steve with his Apple Crumble Doggy Bag!

Surely, he'll never eat all that!

I think he will ! Pat Cooke with her Carer Diane

President's Sunday

Guildford President's Sunday was held on 21st October and commenced with Mass in Chilworth Abbey. The 26 Brothers,  Ladies and Family members were privileged to hear Fr Dunstan Keauffling saying Mass.

With souls fully recharged, lunch, expertly controlled by Chamberlain Bro. Sam Shaw, was taken at the Guildford Golf Club. Bro. President then welcomed everyone before a carvery lunch was enjoyed in the newly decorated dining room. Grace before meal was said in Latin by Fr Dunstan who later gave an entertaining speech, in English thankfully, using the flexibility and rigidity of steel as a metaphor for Catenian membership. The young tend to have flexibility and the old rigidity. Somewhere along the way there is a happy medium!

Never ones to miss a free meal, Bros. Andy Fogell and William D'Souza jetted in from Europe especially for the lunch. Below is a selection of photographs taken on the day. 

Welcome!

Thanks, It's good to be here!

Grace before meal said by Fr Dunstan

Kicking off with the Soup du Jour!

Moving on to the mains!

Bro. Treasurer looking relaxed and happy in the knowledge that everything is paid for!

Everyone ignores Bro. Jan who appears to be frisking Fr Dunstan and Bro. Mervyn

Having a moderately good time!

CCTV footage of the occasion!

Thanks for coming everyone!

Can we go now?

Skittles Tournament News Extra!

The much loved and highly competitive skittles tournament was held on Saturday 6th October at St Clements Church, Ewell. However, due to an oversight by your usually diligent Blogmaster, not all the photographs taken on the night were published on the ensuing Blog. So, here is the 'News Extra' version showing more of the action!

To reiterate, the Guildford team comprised of: Bro. John Mercer and his wife Francine; Bro. Ron Vaz, Provincial President; Gabriel McHugh; Bro. Stephen Ballard and Guildford Vice President Bro. Andy Fogell.  

Bro. John and Francine have organised this event along with Gabriel for 15 years and they faced a confident Kingston team which included Bro. Ron's wife Nifa. The skittles were a little thinner than Guildford were used to which made hitting the red skittle, worth 2 points, somewhat harder.

Bro. Vice President, Any Fogell, aiming for the skinny skittles closely observed by Francine Mercer (left) and Gabriel McHugh  

The skinny skittles

However, at the end of the evening, Guildford prevailed thanks to high scoring Bro. Stephen and retained the Barry Dale Cup. After 15 years of competing, this was yet another enjoyable and successful evening for Guildford which included a delicious fish and chips supper.

Not bad!!

I'm not picking them up!

The writing is on the wall!

Bro. Andy and Bro. Ron with the coverted Barry Dale Cup!

Well done Brothers!

Ours for another year!

Guildford Circle's October 2018 Meeting

The 711th meeting of the Guildford circle took place on Wednesday 3rd October at Guildford Golf Club. In all, there were 60 attendees consisting of 52 Guildford Brothers, 4 Visiting Gentlemen and 4 Visiting Brothers. The Visiting Brothers included: Bro Dominic O’Shea, Provincial Vice President; Bro. Paul Sloane, President of Ascot & Sunningdale; Bro. Jim Smith President of Richmond & Twickenham, and Bro. Pat Gogarty Provincial Counsellor.

Later in the evening, Scrolls were presented by Bro. Dominic O'Shea firstly to Bro. Kevin Deeming marking his 10th Anniversary also to Bro. James McGrory in celebration of 30 years with the Catenian Association. After dinner, there was an interesting and informative talk by Bro. Simon de Lusignan, Senior Academic, GP and Professor of Primary Care and Clinical Informatics at the University of Surrey, on his role within the community. 

 Bro. President welcoming the Brothers and Visitors

Bro. Vice President proposing a toast to Absent Brothers

Absent Brothers!

Bro. Dominic O'Shea presenting a 10 Year Scroll to Bro. Kevin Deeming

At last!

Bro. Dominic O'Shea presenting a 30 Year Scroll to Bro. James McGrory

About time!

Bro. Simon de Lusignan addressing the gathering

That's all Brothers, goodnight and God bless!

LSD Part One

This is a rather long blog so it appears in two parts. Parts 1 and 2, surprisingly. 

Wednesday 5th September was LSD Night. No LSD doesn't stand for Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, it stands for Ladies Sons and Daughters. The evening was no hallucination as proven by the photographs below expertly taken by Bro. Chris Devereau. There was a good turnout with a headcount of 102 including 35 brothers and 44 wives and family. The Circle was pleased to welcome Fr. David Osborne and his wife Helen also Lucy Brown CEO of 'Disability Initiative' and Guest Speaker. 

It was a special evening for Bro. David Corning and Barbara who were celebrating their 65th Wedding Anniversary. In recognition of this happy occasion, the Circle presented them with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Sadly, we have no photograph of this.

Table for Cats with 9 Wives!

A bad hair day?

Forget the hug, just gimmee a top up!

I've got a few tricks up my sleeve!

What kind of tricks?

It involves slight of hand and a disappearance!

Just like that!

Where am I?

Meanwhile, behind the scenes...

Who loves ya Baby? Aline Mhamma, wife of Visiting Gentleman Jad, with daughter Marina

Is that Vodka in the jug?

Yes, it goes well with strawberries you know!

Fancy another drink? Sure, as long as you're buying!

Do you think they'd notice if we stayed here to watch the Rugby match?

How do you stop people grabbing the wafer from your hand when they take communion?

I simply raise my hand so they can't reach it!

C'mon, give us a smile Bro. Dave!

That's better!

Seriously, I grew a Strawberry this big!

At my school we weren't allowed calculators!

I think it's your round!

Bro. President struggling with his speech!

I wrote notes for his speech on the back of the menu and he's forgotten to take it!

He's not doing very well!

He'll have to go!

He certainly will!

I know, I'll tell a risque joke instead!

Shock Horror!

Ha Ha! That was really funny!

It certainly was!

I don't get it!

I won't be recording that in the minutes!

I did my best! Now it's Lucy's turn 
(Continued in part 2)