February - Subscriptions for the year 2005 are rolling in, and membership is on the increase again.  There are so many happenings around the Institute that it is difficult to resist the temptation to join! 
Several of us went to hear Michael Portillo speak at Cheltenham Town hall, the final event of the year to celebrate our Federation's eighty-fifth birthday.  We enjoyed a polished performance by a polished actor, and questions from the floor were answered honestly, and in a very relaxed manner.  He looks forward to making television documentaries when he leaves Politics at the next Election.
Many of us are clutching our tickets for the ballet with eager anticipation.  We are off to see
Cinderella on ice at the Everyman theatre, performed by a Russian company who have delighted us in previous years.  We were unlucky in the ballot to visit the Welsh National Opera, but The Jane Austen trip to Bath in April may compensate.  Of course, it's not all fun and games.  Many of us will be on the roads and pathways and in the hedgerows for our annual Litter-pick, which is a most ennobling and unenjoyable task.  HOW can we discourage people from discarding their rubbish without a thought for local beauty and tidiness?  Thank goodness the WI members themselves are the epitome of beauty and tidiness, to counteract the nasty bits!!
Come and join us: third Tuesdays of the month in the Village Hall, 7.30, and Second Tuesdays in the Church Rooms for Scrabble at 2 p.m. You are all welcome.

Don't forget to support the two teams we are fielding in the first round of the Gloucestershire Echo Quiz Challenge on Wednesday 2nd March at 7PM in Bredon Village Hall.  Rosemary sprigs will be very much in evidence! As always, there is always lots to do at our monthly meetings and plenty of welcoming faces to do it with.  Do join us!