Skittles

Around 30 members had a social skittle evening at PJ's (once the Social Club, and before that the Fisherman's) on 19 November. A good time was had by all, although I doubt if the Association will ever cause a stir in the skittle world. Our secretary Glynn was the sticker-upper and if scores were low, it was nobly done to save him bending too often. The buffet was excellent, good value and very welcome after some experiences elsewhere in Seaton. The Committee are to be congratulated arranging this.

Germany?

Jeff Day, our illustrious chairman was in the last edition of one of our weekly papers; the "View from Seaton". In fact he made the front page by floating the possibility of a twinning arrangement with Germany. Over the last few years, both Weil-der-Stadt and Heimbuchental have sought links with us. The problem as always been the lack of resources at our end but as Jeff suggested in his article, all that is needed is someone to take the project on. It is a big task, but other towns manage two exchanges, and Seaton has a wealth of talent and dedication to call on, so their is no reason why we cannot do it. Anyone who is interested should contact our Secretary; Glyn Roberts.

Jeff Day becomes Thury's Citizen of the Year

There is a lot of news and photos to to be added to the site over the next few weeks stemming from our twinning trip to Thury-Harcourt. Expect the normal appeals for anecdotes, stories and photos, as well as several new links. Before this, however, there is a need to highlight an exceptional achievement. Jeff Day, our chairman, has received a remarkable double honour by becoming the citizen of the year in both Seaton and Thury-Harcourt in the same week. Thury's Mayor Paul Chandelier (seen with Jeff above) presented Jeff with the award last Saturday at a reception held for the Seaton twinners. He congratulated our Association on having an excellent website and explained that through it, his Council had discovered the award bestowed on Jeff by the town of Seaton and decided that they too wanted to recognize his great work for international friendship and understanding. Consequently they had made him Thury's Citizen of the year, and had had a special medal produced. A reporter from the newspaper, Ouest-France was at hand and the next edition duly carried the headline

Jeff Day, décoré, devient citoyen de l'année

which can be loosely translated as Jeff Day, honoured for his service becomes citizen of the year.
The link to the online article in Ouest-France is on the list of external links on the right together with a second article on the twinning visit

The sentiment expressed in the article by Thury's mayor very roughly translates (and this is not a accurate word for word translation by any means) as -

It is friendship, not politicians that makes a better world . In twinning we are building a Europe with our fellow English and Germans. It is what Jeff has been doing for twenty-seven years and this deserves a medal!

A photos of close-ups of both the French medal and the English lapel badge have been added to
the photo gallery of commemorative items

Part of the presentation is shown in the video below

The inscription says Jeff Day 27 years service of Twinning Seaton-Thury Harcourt 22 May 2010

Our Chairman Jeff Day is Seaton's Citizen of the Year

Two of our committee were honoured at the Seaton Town Council AGM on May 10th. Our chairman Jeff Day was elected as Seaton's Citizen of the Year 2010 in recognition of his sterling work on behalf of the twinning exchange with Thury-Harcourt for the past 27 years, of which 17 has been as chairman. The citation, after reviewing the benefits of the twinning arrangement went on to say - "None of this (the benefits of twinning) would have been possible without the dedication and sheer hard work Jeff has done. In Thury-Harcourt, as in many other European Countries, their twinning association gets financial and administrative help from the local council. In Britain, everything depends on individuals. In Devon, many twinning associations are in decline or are moribund. The reason that Seaton is not in this group is simply because of Jeff, and his very special qualities that include infinite patience, consummate diplomacy, total dedication, deprecating modesty and a wry sense of humour. Each time the Association has faltered, Jeff has come to the rescue. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that today Seaton may be without its twinning dimension, if not for Jeff. Seaton values its relationship with Thury-Harcourt, and it is appropriate that Seaton acknowledges the service that Jeff has performed. Jeff hopes to stands down next year after 17 years of service as chairman and so next week when he and the twinners of Seaton visit Thury on his last trip as president, he goes with the citizen of the year award in recognition of the service Jeff has done, not only here but also for our French twin town. It is an award greatly deserved.

Congratulations also to our secretary Glyn Roberts who was praised at the meeting by County Councillor Jim Knight for his service as a Special Police Constable. Glyn and other Association members shown below were at the presentation to congratulate Jeff

Message from Glyn Roberts - Our New Secretary

Greetings Everyone,

For the benefit of those of you who don’t know me, my name is Glyn Roberts and I am following in the illustrious footsteps of Clare, who stepped down at the AGM. Should you feel the need to contact me there are several ways as set out below;

By post, phone or fax to the details above; there is an answer machine on that number so please feel free to leave your name number and a brief message and I’ll get back to you – eventually!

By mobile or text to 07837793466

And finally e-mail to glyn.roberts@live.co.uk.

To the business in hand:
Firstly, there are a number of you who have not paid your membership. This is due NOW please - £7.50 for a single and £15.00 for family membership.

Even more importantly, there are only 10 weeks to go before our trip to Thury. So far only 15 members have confirmed they will be going. That leaves a lot of space on the coach and an even greater space in the bank balance! Names of those wishing to go must be with Avis together with your payment of £85 by the 29th of March please.

The coach will leave the Coach Park on the Underfleet at 10:30 a.m. Departure from Portsmouth at 15:30 with arrival in Cherbourg at 19:30 local time. The committee feels that this late arrival means we will have to forego our usual stop in Bayeux.

Departure from France on the Monday is earlier than usual. We need to be at the ferry for 16:00 check in. Regrettably this means that the market at St.Pierre is also likely to become a casualty but the committee is actively seeking other options – watch this space!

Once again a reminder please; names and money to Avis by the 29th of this month.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any queries.

See you soon,

Glyn

PS Apologies for the short notice of this letter but our computer has just undergone major surgery as is now on the road to recovery.

Visit to Thury May 2010 - Spoiler Warning

Normally, this website encourages it's readers to visit the website of the Thury twinners, however be warned. If you like the destination of our Saturday excursion to be a surprise, DO NOT explore their website because the secret is disclosed on it. True, one has to search, but it is there nonetheless. If you have found it, and have now made a virtual Google Street Scene tour around the rather dreary ring roads (GSS only does the main roads) and have checked out the typically French net curtains in no 38 Rue Maurice Lemoing, do not despair, the centre is picturesquely medieval.

Google Street Scene reaches Thury

Love it or hate it, Google Street Scene (GSS from now on) covers part of Thury-Harcourt along some roads (basically Thury to Caen and Thury to Falaise. For those not familiar with it, GSS provides 360 degree views from street level. One can move along a street looking right, left, backwards and forwards, and as one goes, see buildings, street furniture, street signs etc, and anybody who happened to be passing when the photo was taken (including a lady picking up a dropped 50c coin at the Place Heimbuchental who is just out of shot in the picture below). For those who are interested in Thury, it has a obvious attractions, but in a sense, it has perhaps also a downside in being a another step to a virtual reality universe. Why bother to go there, when one can explore via remote control?. When the Association started in 1982, our twin town must have seemed a very distant place for the earliest twinning travellers who perhaps arrived with a sense of discovery. Now someone, who has never visited, can if they wish, thanks to the internet go with a very good idea of what to expect, even down to the colours of curtains in particular houses. As internet bandwidth and resolution increases, one will soon be able to read the small ads in the shop windows. How long before there seems no need to go at all?

The three photos show two scenes from Thury (Place Heimbuchental and the main street near the post office) and for the nostalgic among those who have been before, the third shows: (albeit from an unusal angle ), a place that has always featured in our visits, and which now, because of altered ferry times, is a place that we are unlikely to visit again in the foreseeable future. A honourable mention to anyone who recognizes it

The Grizzly and Tripping the Light Fantastic

First the Grizzly Run. Today, Sunday 7 March two thousand and one intrepid runners slogged their way round the 20 mile cross country course from Seaton in the internationally renowned race. Congratulations to all of them, however, this posting is to thank the six intrepid members of the Twinning Association who did their bit by marshalling. Last year, the Association was given £350 by the race organizers for our funds in recognition of our efforts then. Hopefully this year, the Association will be in line for a similar bounty thanks to the the work of our members, particularly Gerry Dawson who had the task of marshalling the marshals. - So thanks everybody

And the Light Fantastic?

Check out the 20 new photos added to the album of the French visit in 2009. There was some pretty fancy footwork on show when the rock and roll music started.

Additions to Photo Links

On the list of photo albums to the right you will see that a (very) small collection of photos of the visit by our French visitors in August 2009 has been added to the online collection. There must be a lot more photos out there. If you would like your photos added, please contact contact any member of the committee. It would help greatly, if you could supply them in digitised format on a CD or memory stick which could be copied and returned. You could even email them if you wish, (but remember that nowadays even a modest digital camera takes around 7meg photos and that it can take a long time to load even a single photo)

Changes at the AGM

The AGM was held on Friday 26 February 2010 at the Crossroads Christian Centre.
Following the resignation of Clare Jones as secretary, Glyn Roberts, to be ably assisted by his wife Diane volunteered to take over the onerous role.
Graham Jones stood down as Vice-Chairman and this position is now vacant - Graham maintained this site until last August (Hence the lack of recent updating). The new committee is keen to maintain the site, and hopefully things will get back to normal now. If any computer savvy member feels they would like to take responsibility for this, the committee will be very keen to hear from you

A fuller details of the AGM will follow