Astley Meet Report - March 26
Midlands Astley meet 6 - 8th March 2026
We had the usual warm welcome from Stewards Linda, Mark and Daphne when we arrived at the lovely Astley village hall for an Easter themed weekend. The afternoon coffee break gave us an opportunity to catch up with friends we had not seen since we were last here in November. After taking our supper into the hall we enjoyed an informal evening of dancing and highly entertaining floor spots ably MC’d by our steward, Mark. I led a small but effective band for the dancing with Gay, Tom and Tim with Beth occasionally providing some percussion. The quiz, prepared by Linda, had an Easter theme and was won jointly by June and Gill.
On Saturday morning June led a craft session making the cutest Easter chicks from wool, Dena later appropriated hers as an Easter bonnet. Glen held a Border Morris Stick Dance workshop, while Janine offered a session for beginner ukulele players who then performed in the ukulele band later in the evening. There was also a very fiendish jigsaw to keep people occupied. The annual AGM was held in the afternoon followed by the members’ meeting. They were both informative and well-run meetings but, disappointingly, although quorate, there was not a 100% turn out from all 21 units attending. Tim commented that AGM might stand for “All Go Missing”! We are very fortunate to have such an able and hard-working committee, and they certainly deserve our support, without them these wonderful meets would not happen.
In the evening the shared supper was preceded by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Daphne and followed by a parade of Easter bonnets. Astonishing creativity had been at work, and I was surprised and delighted to be chosen as the winner! Saturday Day visitors included Chris who joined us in the band, and we had another lively evening of dancing and entertainment, MC’d by John C., plus a raffle.
The Midlands Uke Orchestra performed a few numbers and raised the roof with their flamboyant performance!
There were lots of smiling faces and plenty of laughter the entire weekend. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be members of this wonderful group.
Ann Mundy
