President’s report - CWA Evening Branch

22nd Oct 2024

As an ex history teacher (and due to the sheer abundance of activities that our branch has participated in) I’d like to present a chronological representation of the events of the CWA Guyra Evening Branch for 2023/2024. We keep extending this branch and its capabilities beyond what we thought was possible.
Our October Meeting & AGM saw us all frocked up in support of Ovarian Cancer. Sarah organised a frocktober evening at the pub for late October and dresses of all colours adorned the pub. Fabulous night fundraising for an extremely worthy cause.
November we hosted a screening of Rachel’s Farms at the Guyra School and our awesome Agricultural Officer Bec hosted an informative panel on regenerative agriculture in the region.
December we were bowled over at our Christmas celebrations and we were joined by our family & friends as we spread Christmas cheer and swapped our favourite recipes.
Our Christmas stall at the Guyra Street Carnival was well stocked with cookbooks and baked goods, and our gift wrapping service was again well received.
Our January meeting was held in the library - what a fabulous space. Huge thank you to our member Wendy (and resident librarian) for hosting us and showing us the fabulous resource.
The annual lamb & potato festival saw our members serving lamb rolls & potato bake with the Guyra Day Branch in the canteen on the highway.
The annual art show continues to GROW and our curator Lynda took on this huge task and with her trusty helpers. Our member – the Hon Aileen MacDonald OAM MLC opened the art show and an excellent opening night and subsequent showing for the period of the L & P festival showcased the work of our talented artists & supporters.
In the February sunshine we cooked, crafted, grew veggies & flowers, preened chooks and volunteered for our community at the annual Guyra Show. The catering for the cattle section Calcutta on the Friday night is still being praised and saw us being gifted $2500 from the Cattle Section of the show society.
As we marched on, autumn had begun and for our March meeting we decided to turn back time and hold our meeting in the Guyra Museum. Huge thank you to our member (and local historian & general fountain of knowledge) Aunty Dot. Members brought their favourite old things and shared their stories. We even spotted a couple of our members in the local history documented on the walls.
The annual Anzac Day dawn service saw attendees services toasted sandwiches and small packets of Anzac biscuits, made by our members.
May we continued to have some fun in between all the formalities. The state conference in Coffs Harbour was attended by our delegate Daria and observers Jenni, Bec & Lynda. They were also joined by 6 other members who attended the gala dinner. The mountains to the sea was the theme and the Guyra ladies travelled to the sea and had a ball!!! Jessira’s biscotti made it to State Judging (and after it seemed like 57 batches, she’s vowed never to make it ever again!).
We hosted a mother’s day morning tea at the Guyra library for our members and mothers in the community, and were treated to a talk from Tahlia, a local florist, and were able to take home our own arranged bouquets.
As the winter months rolled on, our willingness to help out wasn’t waned. We supported a local charity event for a family doing it tough and once again baked and supplied morning & afternoon tea. Through out fundraising efforts we were able to gift the family some vouchers to help with daily living, as they have had to relocate to Sydney for a lengthy period of time.
Is it August already – how the time flies, we took ourselves on a French Adventure, and hosted the Guyra Combined Services Dinner at the Bowling Club. Red, white & blue adorned the room, with lights by Justin, Jessira’s bulk temu decoration purchases and everyone’s on point themed outfits. Bec & Fiona ran highly entertaining activities – with trivia rounds and scone baking! Yes it was all about tea & scones for a moment and the local community groups saw what the CWA was all about.
In the words of the Village People – Go West and boy we did! 13 ladies made the trek to Armatree in Central West NSW one Saturday morning in August for a weekend full of friendship and fun! We were hosted by the CWA Armatree Branch, and shared ideas, formed new friendships, drank a lot of wine, checked out a local garden on a farming operation and of course - have plans to return (or even go further afield)!
The Working Dog Auction catering gig at the showground was a big day – and a huge thank you to all of those who supported with baking before the event and making sure the day ran smoothly on the day. Beth’s scones were the treat of the day!
Spring has sprung and we’re still embracing winter crafts. A come and try crochet morning was held at the Guyra library, in conjunction with the Armidale Regional Council and well attended by a whole range of skill sets. Our handicrafts officer Jenna on hand to help teach new comers and a range of others helping out as well. With plans for this to be a monthly activity the Guyra Show crochet section may just have a few more entrants next year.
If it’s not been mentioned – we can and do offer catering! So much so, we’ve unofficially becoming the catering queens. Supporting new mothers & their families, grieving families, and community groups. I’d like to think there aren’t too many people in our community that haven’t tasted some of our cooking in the last 12 months. We’ve gifted 5 local non for profit community groups $500 each - a great way to give back directly to our local community.
We’ve sold strips of tickets at the pub for the meat raffles and cooked many & varied baked goods for good spirited competition. In the winter months we enjoyed soup after our meetings. Jenna’s handicrafts have surprised and amazed us. Kylie got our brain gymnastics working with clapping and clicking our fingers in rhythms. We’ve learnt lots of things about France, fungi, fire ants & micro bats.
Looking to the future we’re extremely excited to see our cookbook which is currently being compiled and we’re launching at the Christmas stall in November. Also our Rural Women Cocktail evening with special guest Annabelle Brayley is shaping up to be a year highlight, so if you haven’t already, make sure you secure your tickets!
Finally, a huge thank you to my fellow executive to your help & support in many ways over the last 12 months. Our marvellous Mary Poppins for being the eyes & ears of our group and knowing & acknowledging all the special events & people in a far & wide arc from Guyra! And lastly all of our members for your friendship & dedication and ensuring that many hands make light work and making this branch the best evening branch in the district.
Kate Mathews
President

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President’s report - CWA Evening Branch

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