Recent Events

THACS Spring Show Saturday 21st April 2012

Well done to all who took part in the THACS Spring Show on Saturday 21^st April in Tewin Memorial Hall.

There were 278 entries by 80 exhibitors at the Show, with classes for Flower Arranging, Horticulture, Arts and Crafts, Photography and Culinary. Several judges commented on the high standards of the exhibits, especially in some of the Arts & Crafts categories.

Tewin Cowper School provided three display boards full of lovely art work done by the pupils. There was also a banner made by Tewin Toddler Playgroup and a colourful poster made by Tewin under-five pre-school children.

The children were also well represented among the exhibits, especially with their lovely paintings of spring flowers, their illustrated handwriting and their photographs of historic buildings.

Our thanks go to the head teacher, Alison Simpson, and to Ruth Kearns, who did so much to help in liaison with our school representative, Lynne Burgess.

The adult classes were equally well represented. Filling the centre of the main hall were the displays of spring flowers to welcome the visitors who visited the hall in the afternoon. There were several tables full of culinary exhibits and beautifully made hand-crafted items, together with displays of poetry, prose, illustrations and excellent calligraphy. There were also 48 excellent photographs covering five subjects.

The adult trophy winners were Susan Whitbourn for Flower Arranging, Anna Clark for Horticulture, Shirley Ashby for Arts & Crafts, Jules Bridgman for Photography, and Joy Lawson  for Culinary. Rebecca Burnside received the Les Borg Cup for Children’s Photography whilst Leah Barker won the Tewin Cowper School Award for the highest number of points in the children’s classes for horticulture, arts & crafts and culinary. A full list of all the prize-winners is shown on the next page.

Many thanks to everyone who helped at the shows; to the judges, who give their time and expertise freely, to the committee, who, as usual, worked so hard to make the show a success, to all the helpers behind the scenes, setting up and clearing the hall and manning the door, to those who helped with teas, cakes, lunch for the judges and washing up, and most of all to the exhibitors, without whom there would be no show!

The next THACS show is the Autumn Show, also at Tewin Memorial Hall, on Saturday 15^th September, open to the public from 2.15pm.

Visit to Anglesey Abbey gardens on Monday 20^th February 2012

We got there at last! The visit was originally organised for Wednesday 8^th February 2012 but we had to cancel it because of the bad weather and dangerous conditions underfoot. However, we managed to successfully re-organise it for Monday 20^th February and retain most of the participants.There were 38 passengers aboard the coach and the weather was much kinder. The snow had all melted at the gardens and it was dry and a little cold as we explored. Unfortunately, the staff at the abbey had not been able to provide guides for the tours we wanted but that did not distract from our enjoyment of the beautiful and inspirational winter garden. In view of the cancelation of the guided tours, we revised the return departure time from 4:00pm to 3:00pm. That still gave us more than four hours there and that was enough to explore the gardens, enjoy the restaurant, and browse the shop and plant centre. It all made for a very enjoyable visit. Hopefully, it will have encouraged some of the group to introduce more winter colour and interest into their gardens so that they can enjoy looking at their gardens throughout the year.

Flower arranging talk and demonstration on Monday 7^th November 2011

Joyce Furssedonn brought boxes of foliage and flowers, ornaments and vases, to the Memorial Hall for a fascinating talk and demonstration to about twenty five members and friends. She produced three very different arrangements. The first was a Christmas wreath with a difference:  The second arrangement started with a gold vase and an inner glass container holding the oasis. The third and final treat was an arrangement of pink roses plunged into a glass vase filled with gel and pink baubles. These impressive arrangements were auctioned at the end of the demonstration by Joyce’s husband for THACS, and the evening ended with refreshments and a chance to chat to Joyce and admire her work.

Degas' Dancers exhibition at the Royal Academy on Wednesday 16^thNovember 2011

Forty-four members and friends were transported by Chambers Coaches to Piccadilly, outside the Royal Academy.  Nine of these had elected to have a shopping day in the West End, and the remaining visitors entered the Academy for what proved to be a very interesting exhibition. There were examples of Degas’ sculpture as well as the beautiful paintings and pastels, including the much-loved ‘Little Dancer Aged Fourteen’ with studies made for this sculpture all around the room in which it stood. Visitors to the Tate will be familiar with this sculpture, but it was here presented in a new light, with so much supporting material.

 Updated  AF 2/05/2012