Chairman Shirley Watts opened the January meeting with a New Year greeting. Thank you letter have been received from Sue Smith (HQ) and Margaret Fullard (Federation) – they had thoroughly enjoyed celebrating our 50th birthday with us in December. We were

Chairman Shirley Watts opened the January meeting with a New Year greeting. Thank you letter have been received from Sue Smith (HQ) and Margaret Fullard (Federation) - they had thoroughly enjoyed celebrating our 50th birthday with us in December. We were reminded that a few new committee members are required including a chairman. In a change to the programme Mrs J Naylor spoke on The Golden Age of Radio. Her programme was enthralling as most of the members are of an age to remember the 40's and 50's when radio reigned supreme. We had to use our little grey cells to remember the signature tunes of the various bandleaders and members of the comedy programme casts of those far off days. Well earned applause greeted the end of her programme. Diary date - February 17 - Charity Evening for guild funds - Shephall Centre at 8pm, tickets £2, wear something red. The prettiest fan competition was won by Linda Crawford, Doris Harvey won the raffle. The next meets at the Shephall Centre will be at 7.30pm on February 2 when Don Gardiner will give a talk entitled Chasing the Cherry Blossom. Paper folding takes place in the social half-hour, all visitors welcome.

Stevenage Museum Events: Main Exhibitions: Body Art: the human canvas - 28 January - 2 July Explore the rich variety of ways that human beings decorate their bodies - the who, how and why. From make-up and hair styles to body shaping, tattooing and piercing. Hear local people talking about their style and see examples of beautiful body art and accessories from around the world. Small Exhibitions - Kadoma. 7 January - 19 February Find out about Stevenage's links with its twin town Kadoma and admire some of the arts and crafts Zimbabwe is famous for. Weekend events - Chinese New Year Celebrations - Saturday, January 28 noon - 4pm. Join in our Chinese themed arts and crafts. Make paper lanterns, lucky red envelopes, banners and little dragons or make your own section of our big dragon and join in the parade. 2pm Dragon Parade - Adults must accompany children. Free, just drop in. Grimm Tales - Saturday, February 4 National story telling week. Stories for all the family by our fantastic storyteller, come along to join in the laughter as the Brother Grimm's characters come alive and go on some wild adventures. 1pm Rapunzel: 2pm Rumpelstiltskin: 3pm. Hansel and Gretel. Cost: £2 (£1 concession) per story, numbers are limited, so please book in advance. Lunch and Listen looking for something interesting to do in your lunch hour? Why not drop in and enjoy one of our lunchtime talks? Cost per talk: £3 (£2 concessions) Numbers are limited so please book in advance. Tuesday, January 24 12.30-1.30pm Farming with Steam Life on the farm in the early days of steam power was an exciting and sometimes frightening experience. Find out about the Derby Walking Digger and the uncontrollable Romain Croskill cultivator. Local historian and author Tom Doig, will trace the rise and fall of steam in agriculture and its possible resurrection. Down Memory Lane Fridays 10.30am - noon. Join us for a coffee and the chance to share your memories. January 20 - Mixed Memories. What are your most vivid memories? Can a smell or a sound help you to remember? What takes you back instantly to the good old days? Under 5s Mondays 1.30-2.30pm. Do you look after young children? Join us for storytime, activities and a snack. 6 February: Hand-print Art. What's New - Themed Birthday Party Launch: Saturday, February 11 from 2-4pm. The museum is introducing new birthday parties. Come along and have fun trying some of the games, arts and crafts that will be on offer and find out how you can book to have your 5-11 year old's party here. Ancient Egyptians- party includes writing in hieroglyphs and the mummy race. Victorian Party - includes dressing up, parlour games and crafts.