We were fortunate to have one of Essex's newest WI Advisors, Jo Adams, chairing the meeting and she conducted us briskly and capably through the business of the day, before introducing the speaker. Anita Marie Sackett spoke about toys of the forties and fifties, plus books and comics of the period. This brought many memories of favourite playthings long forgotten. To further this theme, the competition was for a toy or other item from the period. A surprisingly large number of entries arrived for this.
Other stalls held the 'Mystery Gift' selection, run by Church Langley, and the Raffle organised by North Weald. The pretty floral arrangements came from Hastingwood WI.
After the talk came tea with sandwiches, sausage rolls and cakes - such a lot of cakes! Members had been very generous. We had a table quiz, set by Roydon Village, which proved quite fiendish, and then the raffle was drawn.
Finally, after thank-yous had been said, the National Anthem was sung and we set off home, having enjoyed a friendly pleasant afternoon.