Request from Thury-Harcourt

Our Association has received a request from Guy Le Coz to help in accommodating a 45 year old French woman for between 2 and 4 weeks in May this year. The woman is currently unemployed and seeks to improve her English in order to widen her job prospects. She is willing to pay towards her keep, but would hope that she will be able to offset costs by baby-sitting, etc. With the examination season arriving, she might also be able to help with French conversation practice.
If anybody is interested in helping can they contact Graham Jones and he will put them in contact with Guy who is dealing with it at the Thury end

News (and Photo Appeal)

The inactivity of the blog recently should not be taken as a indication that nothing has been happening with the Association. In fact a lot has been going on unreported and members have been involved with both social and fundraising events. Last month 10 members travelled to Axminster to play the Axminster twinners at skittles. Last month also saw the Grizzly Run and the Association supplied a number of race marshals, and in return the organizers made a very generous donation of £350 towards the work of the Association. This is possibly the biggest single donation in our history the Association is grateful to the members who made this possible by volunteering to be marshals.
Does anyone have photos of our members at either event for our archives and/or publication on the blog?. Please contact our archivist Graham Jones or any member of the committee .

2008 Photo Competition Result

Those of you at the AGM will know that Peter Motson emerged as the winner of the 2008 photo competition, winning a bottle of wine (French of course). Many asked for the winning photo to be published on the blog so here it is

Val and Jeff listening out for the death watch beetle on the ferry. Peter also submitted some others, and these have been loaded onto the Association's Picasa web album
http://picasaweb.google.com/Seatontwinning/PeterMotsonsPhotosThury2008#

The link has also been added to the photo links to the right

February Newsletter about AGM

Please find enclosed the minutes for the 2008 AGM. Please bring them with you to this year’s AGM on Friday the 27th February at 7.30 in the Crossroads Christian Centre in Homer Lane Seaton. If you’re not sure where this is do phone a member of the committee to find out. Please also remember that the annual subscription is now due (£7.50 for individuals, £15 for families). It can be paid to Avis in advance or at the meeting itself.
There will be wine and nibbles available and the evening is always a pleasant one.
After the business of the meeting there will be a quiz, as well as the usual raffle, for which donations of gifts would be appreciated.
At the meeting you will learn about arrangements for the visit of the French this August. Our plans are almost complete and we believe we have a very enjoyable programme.

Bookings for the skittle evening with Axminster Twinning Association on March 16th may also be made at the meeting.

Members of the committee are helping with the marshalling of the Grizzly Run on March 8th this year, in order to raise funds for the twinning. If any member would also like to help please inform the committee at the meeting.
We look forward to seeing you at the AGM

Thury-Harcourt makes "The Independent "

Our twin town got a rare mention in a British national newspaper on the 1st January. The "Independent" ran a small article about the introduction of the euro into Europe and cited some experiences from Thury-Harcourt which are reproduced below. The only greengrocers I can remember on the market square is shown below in a photo from our archives taken in 2004 , so perhaps that is the shop in question . The resolution is not enough to blow up the price tags clearly, but there does seem only to be the one price. Pity the article was less specific about the nearby shop of Marie-Elizabeth
(thanks to our members Richard and Sandra Worthington for flagging this article up)

(From the Independent)

Catherine, a green-grocer in a small Norman town, has all her prices neatly marked in euros and nothing but euros. Ten years after the creation of a single European currency, seven years after the appearance of euro notes and coins, large French shops and most restaurants and cafes still defy Brussels and list their prices in two currencies.
In Catherine’s small shop on the market square of Thury Harcourt, the prices are exclusively chalked up in euros and euro-centimes. Does this mean that she is a fan of the euro, which is ten years old tomorrow?
“No, not all. The euro has been a calamity for ordinary people. Inflation has been higher, whatever the politicians say. The gap between rich and poor has grown. In France, there are no in-between people left any more. Either you rich or you are struggling.”
Marie-Elisabeth, a shop-keeper in the next street, is more positive – sort of. “Most customers think only in euros now. It is just the very old ones who like everything to be converted into francs. And yet there is no real affection for the euro yet, not like we had for the franc. The franc was like our mum. The euro is like our step-mother.”

December 2008 newsletter

Dear Members,

Please note the following important dates and information:

1 AGM This will take place at the Crossroads Christian Centre in Homer Lane on Friday 27th February at 7.30pm. There will be wine and nibbles and the meeting will be followed by a quiz.
Please note that membership subscriptions will be due. As notified at last year’s AGM the payment will be £7.50 for individuals and £15 for families. There will also be a raffle. Please bring a prize if you can, be it a spare bottle or box of chocolates that has survived Christmas or any Christmas present that is surplus to requirements.

2 Axminster Twinning Association have invited us to an event they are organising in March, as follows: a social evening with a skittles tournament and a finger buffet, from 7pm on 16th March 2009 at the Harbour Inn in Axmouth. The cost will be between £9 and £10 per person. If you would like to join in what promises to be a very enjoyable evening you can sign up for it at our own AGM on 27th February.

3 Fundraising: as ever, with the visit of our French friends due next August ( Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd) the need for fundraising activities becomes more urgent. We are always looking for fresh ideas for fundraising (and funraising) and for new people to get involved with activities. If you have any ideas please bring them to the AGM. Also if anyone feels they have anything to offer in terms of committee membership please come forward.
We are very pleased to announce that the Carnival Committee has generously given us the sum of £100. This is a very welcome boost to our funds, but there is much still to do.

4 CHRISTAS SOCIAL: As usual this will take place in January, when all of us have a little more time than in the pre-Christmas rush. This will be at the King’s Arms in Seaton, on January 16th at 7.30pm. The cost will be £10 per person. This is less than a month from now, so we really do need you to BOOK STRAIGHT AWAY PLEASE. Bookings with payment should be made to the Treasurer, Avis Hilder at the above address. Cheques should be made payable to Seaton and District Twinning Association.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fund Boost

The Association is delighted to report that the it has received a donation of £100 from the Seaton Carnival Committee. Our Chairman Jeff Day went along to the town hall on 26 November along with representatives of other local groups to collect the cheque and made a short speech of thanks stressing that the Association is not a clique but a but a part of the town, and open to all.