RHAYADER WI CLOSES 2009 ON A HIGH
Rhayader WI held two very important meetings at the close of 2009 with the AGM and election of the new committee being held on 24 November closely followed by the Christmas Party on 8 December.

The Tellers for the AGM were from St Harmon: Prydwen Price and Sheila Rowe who conducted the Committee Elections

After completing 6 years as Treasurer, Mrs Pauline Haydon gave her last report. She reminded members of the fundraising events held during the year including the hosting of the Digital Switchover presentation, stalls at the Charity Fayre and the Green Fayre, raffles, Bring and Buys and the book club held during meetings. The biggest expenditure for the WI remains the hire of the Wye lounge for meetings.

The Committee's Annual Report was presented by the Secretary, Sandra Betty,  who outlined the year saying that our WI seems to be never endingly busy. 2009 started with a very interesting January meeting with demonstrator Linda Rowe leading members in designing mosaics onto tiles. Members produced beautiful work and thoroughly enjoyed the evening. She went on to outline the monthly events in her report. These included the 'Coming Together' Project for the new Rhayader Museum at CARAD; Jacky Pugh's Cookery; local author Lorraine Jenkins; a talk by Drs Mike and Stephanie Warwick - Running the Marathon in Bhutan; Sylvia's Travel slides on Yellowstone Park and Line Dancing.  Also the Craft Group enjoyed meeting on Wednesdays. Members had attended all the County events and had produced some wonderful work which was entered into the County Show. Rhayader's entry won the 'Rose Bowl' competition and Jane Narborough won the floral exhibition for the 'Brecon Cup'. These went forward to the Royal Welsh Show where the Rose Bowl achieved 6th place. All members acquitted themselves well with their entries for the show. Members went on outings to Eardisland and Aberystwyth for the annual musical at the Arts Centre. Members worked hard on their Carnival float 'SOS Bees' which had been the 2009 resolution. A photo of this had been entered onto the National Web-site. Once more good use was made of the Community Support Minibus to attend various county events,  thanks to drivers Jane and Shirley. 

President Jane Narborough thanked everyone for their support over the last year. She also thanked Pauline for her 6 years as treasurer. She thanked Shirley for organising and driving the minibus and Gwen and Jen for organising outings. Val Evans was thanked for all the hardwork she had put into being a committee member, President and Secretary over many years and she has agreed to be Entertainments Co-ordinator.

In response to an article on Dilys Jenkins (formerly Mrs Ron Davies) a former member which had appeared in WI Life, a letter was read out that had been sent to the magazine by Secretary, Sandra Betty. She also forwarded photos of Dilys and Vicky Pugh in the Welsh Costume made by Joan Hicks. A reply had been received from the Editor.

Members enjoyed a 'Taste and Try' after the elections. The Raffle winner was Ida Davies and a Competition 'Guess who is in the School Photograph' was enjoyed by all members.

The December meeting was very well supported by members and visitors and guests from Newbridge and Howey WIs. Members were told that two full Shoeboxes for our troops in Afghanistan had been delivered to Bradleys by Liz Lloyd's husband John and were received with pleasure. A donation had been sent to St John's Ambulance Rhayader in lieu of fee for Federation Chairman Marilyn Thomas who was asked to speak about the Resolutions - as a response to flooding had appeared in the Queen's speech members need not vote on this subject nor the Armed Forces subject. Members were to return their voting slips for the Resolutions from WI Life to the Secretary at the January meeting. Shirley also finalised bookings to the Holiday on Ice show at Cardiff.

The evening's entertainment was by TONIC with Glyn, Janet Ann and Don from Llanidloes, this was their last public performance. It was excellent with entertaining poems, sketches and songs and they surpassed themselves with their vigour and ability to have everyone laughing and in stitches. Members and visitors had a wonderful evening and the group were thanked by President Jane Narborough and a vote of thanks given by Liz Lloyd. The Competition for the Favourite Christmas decoration was won by Anne Philips, 2nd Morfa Shaw, and 3rd Liz Lloyd'.

OCTOBER MEETING

President Mrs Jane Narborough welcomed everyone to the October meeting.

Members enjoyed an evening of dance and music when they had a demonstration of Line Dancing by the Rhayader Line Dancing group. Hilary McPhee and friends encouraged members to participate in some of the dances and the evening was very enjoyable. Hilary requested that a donation was made to the Rhayader St John's Ambulance in lieu of any fees.

Local History Evening at Llanddewi was well attended by our members and was very entertaining. Thanks to Shirley, the Community Support bus was again used to take members to the meeting. Four members will be taking part in the quiz at Howey and also in the quiz at Crossgates. Books and a hamper will be donated to the forthcoming County Chinese Auction. 

The Craft Group had a very enjoyable evening at Ten Green Bottles at New Radnor where they each made a glass suncatcher surprising themselves with their skill at soldering, the evening was rounded off with an excellent meal. The Craft Group meets every other Wednesday at Hafan Day Centre from 7.00pm to 9.00pm, all welcome.

The County Newsletter contained an appeal for Shoe Boxes to be sent to the armed forces. They should contain personal items such as shaving gel and toiletries, some members suggested puzzle and crossword books also. Jane suggested that members on each table in the room may wish to put together a shoe box between them or individuals may do so also.

The Competition for an unusual holiday photograph was won by - 1st Morfa Shaw, 2nd Shirley Jones, 3rd Jen Oakley.

The November meeting will be the AGM and members will also be having a 'Taste and Try Evening', this will be held on Tuesday 24 November, 7.30pm at Rhayader Leisure Centre.

SEPTEMBER 2009
President Jane Narborough welcomed guests from Nantmel, St Harmon and Bwlch-y-Sarnau WIs to the meeting.  Jane thanked all those members who had acted as stewards and donated cakes during Victorian Week and helped arrange the 'WI History Box' at the museum.
The County Newsletter was discussed and lists of events sent around members. The trip to the theatre at Aberystwyth in August was once again a great success and six members had enjoyed a talk about Ken Dodd and a lovely supper as guests of Llanddewi WI.  Members will be attending the County Welsh History evening at Llanddewi at the beginning of October and also visiting Howey WI.
Rhayader member, Sylvia Richards, gave a wonderful presentation with slides and video excerpts of her trip to Wyoming and Yellowstone Park. Luckily this year the laptop worked, though for a minute it seemed a bit like 'deja vu' and we were able to enjoy some very colourful and breathtaking pictures of scenery and animals. Sylvia has the knack of telling a good tale and everyone was engrossed in the fascinating journey of Sylvia and her husband, Dave, in Wyoming. 
They visited such places as Deadwood, Denver, Cheyenne and saw the original route taken by the 'covered wagons' on 'The Oregon Trail' of the immigrants to North America. There were wonderful pictures of the snow on the Black Hills of Dakota and the Rockies. There was plenty of art to engross Dave and Sylvia  including 8ft high decorated Cowboy boots and glass beads galore.
Sylvia showed pictures of Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse memorial which was a project started in 1948 and is still ongoing.
The wildlife pictures were stunning and the video shots of beavers cutting down trees and swimming them to their lodge were amazing. There were also some fantastic video shots of the geyser 'Old Faithfull' in Yellowstone Park which were really fascinating.
Jen Oakley thanked Sylvia for a wonderful talk and visitors and members enjoyed a substantial supper. Thanks were extended by members of the visiting WIs for an enjoyable evening and meal.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 27 October at Rhayader Leisure Centre when the Rhayader Line Dancers will be demonstrating their dances.

July 2009 meeting
Members and guests were welcomed to the July meeting by President Jane Narborough. Jane congratulated members on a number of recent achievements - coming 6th at the Royal Welsh Show with the Rose Bowl Competition, the entry to the Carnival parade of their float depicting 'SOS Bees Resolution by NFWI' and the beautiful display members achieved for the Rhayader Church Exhibition during Carnival week. 
Members thoroughly enjoyed speakers Drs Stephanie and Mike Warwick who enjoy running all over the world, including Rhayader's own 'Hill Race', and gave a colourful and very interesting display of slides on their marathon and 'holiday' in Bhutan in 2007. 
They have always enjoyed trekking in various countries and had always wanted to go to Bhutan so to offset some of the costs of the run they had gone as medical support for the group. The slides were colourful and showed a very traditional way of life. The homes looked beautiful, very colourfully and intricately decorated with paintings and carvings and reminiscent of Swiss chalets or Tudor houses being mainly of wood. The theme of decoration was, perhaps rather shockingly to European eyes, often very large and colourful phallic symbols! The country is now becoming a democracy but the people still wore traditional dress for working in and everyday life.  The scenery was stunning and the nature of their agriculture being terraced fields on the sides of the mountains making use of every square yard of land was very sustainable. They showed pictures of homes and everyday life in Bhutan. They also had some tourist activities and visited a number of famous sites including the 'Tigers Nest' monastery perched on the side of a cliff face and other beautiful buildings.
The challenge was a marathon which rose from 7,000ft above sea level to 12,000 ft. It took a lot longer to run owing to the altitude changes. There were some marvellous photos of the runners and of the Warwicks during the run. There were massive temperature changes during the run, from hot to freezing, and also the run finished in pitch dark! Mike had to go back with food to help some of the runners. Only 1/3 of those who started finished; normally the distance would be covered in 4hours and 30 minutes but because of the conditions it took 10 and a half hours! First home was a young Bhutani!  Ruth Hide thanked Drs Stephanie and Mike for a wonderful evening and invited them to have some supper. 
Competition winners of 'My favourite Birthday Card' were Jane Narborough, Sylvia Richards and Mavis Jones. The raffle was won by Julie Farmer. Members are off to see 'The King and I' at Aberystwyth in August and there is no meeting. However the committee will meet as usual and will be looking at Programme Planning for 2010, ideas are welcome. 
The September meeting will be travel slides by Sylvia Richards of her trip to Wyoming and Yellowstone Park and will be on Tuesday 29 September when the competition will be  'Most items in a Matchbox' (England's Glory size). Visitors have been invited for the meeting and supper from St Harmon, Bwlch-y-Sarnau, Llanddewi and Howey.