Felixstowe Scribblers Report of Meeting 6th September 2005

Felixstowe Scribblers Report of Meeting 6^th September 2005

Apologies

were received from Judy who is briefly back in Britain but expects to be at Scribblers again in October and looks forward to meeting and hearing the work of new members. Diane is home from South Africa but has a lot of preparation work to do for her history project. Louis is in Canada, Scott and Bill are also on holiday whilst Ann is recovering in Majorca after her daughter's wedding! Mark's partner is unwell so had to look after his son.

In

attendance were Alex, Kate, Liliane, Belinda, Ruth, Jack, Les, Gordon, Peter, Dick, Ken, Caz, Christine, Morag, Lisa, Rachel, Geoff, Tony and Dave.

THE SOCIAL

A lot has happened since our last meeting here at the Library. It was a lovely social that everyone enjoyed at the Grosvenor and, glad to say, there were no tears for Belinda and Geoff as they haven't left the country yet!
They should be with us for one more meeting after today.

THE COMMITTEE MEETING

A report of the meeting has already been circulated and can be viewed in full on our website at http://nar8or.blogspot.com Main features surrounded the decision to retain the present format of meetings although, should membership continue to grow, then some plans have been formulated.

A reminder that our meeting on the 1^st November will be a Halloween 'special'. You are all invited to prepare your ghostly stories to read at the meeting which will be held by torchlight [so if you have a spare torchlight or two, please bring it along to add to the atmosphere!

A winter social is planned for the Grosvenor on Tuesday January 31^st 2006 and a summer evening beach party is planned for 27^th June next year.

Also planned is an anthology with half the proceeds going to charity. At present three possibles have been suggested. Cancer Research, Macmillan Nurses and the St Elizabeth Hospice. Other suggestions are welcome.
Details will follow later when the charity will be confirmed.

MESSAGES FROM SCRIBBLERS OF OLD

There have been a few messages over the past week or so. Edward Giles one time respected member of the Scribblers is unable to come along to meetings anymore but is looking well and wishes to be remembered to everyone. Since the loss of his wife, Edward has made a decision to stay in his lovely Suffolk home.

Debbie has also been in touch via the Online Jotters. She was responsible for providing a website for the Scribblers when our original website 'broke down' and requests for it to be repaired fell on deaf ears. Debbie was our saviour then but circumstances saw her move to France with her partner Alex and they now sound very happy and relaxed in Cavron St Martin. I wonder if she will ever finish the very interesting book that she was working on before leaving England.

Word too from former secretary Marilyn Lamond who returned to England from Spain with husband Steve. Having moved to the Midlands they now expect to move to the South Coast soon. They have their Spanish home up for sale. Sad news that their lovely dog Jade died recently.

Patricia, a lady with a really great talent for poetry, has joined the Online Jotters and sends her wishes to the Scribblers. It is a long time since she was able to attend a meeting but now the Online Jotters will help her to keep in touch. They all send their wishes to Scribblers old and new.

A MESSAGE FROM ELLEN

Apologies for non-attendance of the previous two meetings. I gave up my teaching job in July and I have started private tuition and have become very busy teaching in the evenings, which includes Tuesday evenings. It is with
regret that initially, while I am building up my business I don't think I will be able to make the Felixstowe Scribblers meetings. Please accept my apologies; I have thoroughly enjoyed the company, the laughs and the stories and maybe when things settle down this end, I could rejoin, with your kind permission.

Please send my regards to all the group, thanking them for the hospitality and welcome and I wish the Scribblers the best of everything for the future.
Ellen.

Isn't that sad? For us I mean! I am certain all the Scribblers will wish her every success with her career and that we should be saying thankyou to Ellen for helping to make our meetings so enjoyable.

A GIFT FROM BELINDA AND GEOFF

In their penultimate meeting, Belinda presented the Scribblers with a parting gift for making them so welcome here at Felixstowe - well, isn't that what we do best? - It was a lovely gesture that has swelled the tea fund and ensured we
have biscuits and a good old brew up for many meetings to come.

FAME ACADEMY

Tony has adapted one of Gordon's famous stories - the one about the knees - for a sketch that will be performed on the evenings of the 7^th and 8^th of October at Rushmere School Ipswich. These are special nights when the admission includes a fish and chip supper. - Contact Tony for details of how and where to get the tickets.

THE MINI SERIAL

It seems that a lot of filming sessions have taken place with many more to come. I understand Rachel Sloane is being filmed for her cameo role this Saturday and could cause a few nasty shocks for anyone in the vicinity.Last weekend saw the Volunteer LifeBoat assisting the filming with, shall we say, less than flat seas. Thanks to them all and of course to the two actors involved in the scenes, Nigel and Jacky.

There are a couple of short clips that can be viewed at

http://www.felixstowetv.co.uk/miniserial/

A reminder that if anyone would like to be an extra that they phone or email Giles Meehan as soon as possible. Tel. EDIT(03.01.06)********contact details removed***********Alternatively contact Chris Gosling at controlroom@felixstowetv.co.uk

THAT ADDED DIMENSION

A reminder that some of the Scribblers gather at the Alex on the seafront after the meetings. Its nice to have an informal chat over a drink - the invitation is open to everyone after meetings. It nicely rounds off the evening's entertainment. Great idea of Alex's…

ONLINE JOTTERS

The Online Jotters has started well and has about a dozen members already which is terrific for something so fresh. Jan has already had her first post on the website with the second one following this weekend. It is intended that posts will be made every two weeks initially. If you haven't joined or know someone who could benefit from this service, then please email

Onlinejotters@yahoo.co.uk

The email will go to Jan to be answered by Yours Truly but - please note - these do not come to me. If you wish to contact me then please send your email to scribblers@ntlworld.com

THANKS to everyone who suggested and helped me through me predicament. In the end it was Diane back from her holiday in South Africa who came up with the goods. Thankyou!

AND SO TO THE READINGS!

The long pieces were read out by Kate and Dick. Kate began by reading out 'Shock Waves' the middle part of a story she is writing. Dick read the third part of 'Samantha's Sock that he is writing for children. Following on from that came a really diverse collection of work involving out of body experiences, vampires, dentists, dating on line, sexual activities courtesy of Les, colour prejudice, overcoming drug addiction and violent flying insects to name but a few topics.

Jack

started the ball rolling with his poem 'Got Your Head in the Clouds', followed by Belinda with 'A Perfect Stroke'. Lisa provided 'A Nasty Shock' at Liverpool Street Station, and Gordon 'Dracula's Curse'. Les created 'Below the Belt' that provided the punch line of the night. Rachel's 'Resurrection' was a stunning piece of writing whilst Alex changed his style and for once delivered an untitled short story with a twist in its tale. Ruth, who has just sent six chapters of her new book off to an agent, read another excerpt to the group. Tony read his 'Fly By Day' whilst Christine read the 'Nasty One' together with 'The Shelter'. Liliane gave us another insight into her family with 'Lock Up Your Daughters' and Peter recalled 'A Stab in the Face' Dave rounded the night off 'On a Promise' …if only!!!

Time was limited so rather than name and shame Caz, Ken and Morag for having no homework [!!!], we were still unfortunately unable to fit in Jan's submission 'Nick'.

THE NEXT HOMEWORK

The new assignment was chosen by Jack as a special request with 'Sensations' his choice. Belinda will do one of the 1,500 open themed stories for her last meeting in England and Peter will do the other one. Following this meeting a diary, [promised earlier], will provide a record of those who have read out long pieces. This will ensure everyone is given the opportunity on a fairly even basis.

The rest of us are tied to that strict maximum of 500 words for the themed homework.

Our next Felixstowe Scribblers meeting is in two weeks time on Tuesday 20th September at the usual 7.30pm start time.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling

Dave.