From Joan Steel

Following the notices, Jill introduced with pleasure our speaker Michael Hoey, who retired from the Royal Engineers in 2009 about the same time as becoming a Grandfather. This inspired him to do something grand to mark the occasion! So as well as cycling the whole tow path of the Grand Union Canal, he walked the Great Wall of China, having previously done charity work organising exhibitions, teaching and doing other community work. Michael’s challenge now was to cross the Grand Canyon in Colorado. He planned to take the route from North to South on the Bright Angel Trail and gave us a vivid explanation with slides of the enormous and truly awesome geography and geology of the area.

The Colorado River is 1,500 miles long and covers 277 miles from East to West. Geologists flock to study the various rocks forming the canyon. Its width varies from 15 miles to 100 miles and the inner canyon varies from a few yards to 11 miles wide at the point where Michael crossed, at one of three crossings where there are three small villages. The fault called Bright Angel Canyon crosses the canyon looking towards the North Rim which is 7000 feet above sea level with 8,500 feet difference between the North and the South Rim.

The climate varies with the altitude, being very hot and wet at the bottom where there is lush vegetation. A forest of mainly pine trees and junipers covers miles of flat land on the mountains, with sage plants covering the ground. There are wild flowers and wild animals including snakes various birds. The trail passes some temples and an Indian reservation where some cattle were grazing. There are some resting lodges where the all-important water taps are to be found for water bottles to be replenished.

The Bright Angel Trail is used by mules carrying freight that is heavier than their own body weight, but they are very nimble on the steep paths. Michael showed us some dramatic slide views and wonderful coloured sunsets. He walked 50 miles in all, walking sometimes 12 miles a day. He was warmly thanked for his interesting talk and heartily congratulated on raising £5,500 to refurbish St Mary’s church.

On December 5th we are making a Christmas table decoration with Londer Gray who is providing everything and we can add our own flowers etc if wished. Please bring £5.

From Joan Steel

Jill welcomed all members to our AGM and 48th Birthday and gave a particularly warm welcome to new members, Rose, Jennifer and Judy. We also welcomed the return of Elizabeth one of our previous leaders, as well as Pam our guest. We were delighted to have our treasurer Jo with us who is recovering well from her illness.

In her report, Jill recalled highlights of the years varied programme of high standard talks and enjoyable activities and outlined the interesting programme to look forward to in the coming year. Jill thanked the committee members for their work during the year and Margaret presented Jill with a gift and thanked her on our behalf for her friendship to us all and her dedicated work over many years to keep the group active and thriving. Doreen our temporary treasurer gave her report and Norma reported on our South Bucks Hospice Fund Raising. The proposal to keep the membership fee at £25 and visitors at £3 was accepted and also to continue supporting the S B.Hospice and Christmas donation to the MS Society. Jill and all the committee were re-elected and joined by Heather, a welcome new committee member.

Business having been completed we commenced supper, kindly made by Doreen and followed with Birthday cake and coffee and gifts were distributed. During the evening we had a quiz on naming the counties of England. Doreen gave us a map and list of county names and it was correctly completed by one group! We have a team entering the Potter Quiz on Oct 18th and our visit to the Law Courts is on 20th October.

The next meeting is on Friday 7th November and is a talk by Michael Hoey on “The Grand Canyon” There will be charity Christmas cards and wrapping paper etc for sale. Workaid have calenders for sale at £5. Please ask Barbara for details. Visitors are welcome to all our Meetings.

From Joan Steel
On July 4th we had Sue and Judith join us to speak about Hearing Dogs For Deaf People. Both Sue and Judith are volunteer fund raisers for the charity, a very important job as it gets no funding from the government. The charity has two training centres, one in Buckinghamshire at The Grange at Saunderton, and the other in Yorkshire. We learnt that nearly 10 million people in the UK experience some hearing loss which causes them to lose their sense of security, confidence and independence. Deafness is an invisible disability which can lead to isolation and loneliness as people withdraw, finding it increasingly hard to communicate. Lip-reading, sign language and hearing aids can help of course but for the profoundly deaf having a hearing dog can be truly life-changing. At the meeting we had Carol Ann with us, accompanied by her hearing dog, Marley, who she clearly adores.
She explained how he has given her confidence and independence, for example, she has an alarm in the bathroom so that when it goes off Marley can find her to tell her the bath is ready – and turn the taps off!

For every paid employee there are 10 volunteers and we met Peter who had brought along his current charge a delightful poodle called Brodie. Peter is a volunteer – a puppy socializer. He will have Brodie for 14-16 months, introducing him to different people and experiences, teaching him basic obedience and attending the fortnightly puppy classes with him.

Volunteers are needed to do regular dog walking duty, be tour guides at the centre, help out in the shop and fund raise and support events organized by the charity. The dogs are bred from the following ,Labrador, Golden Retriever, Cocker Spaniel and miniature Poodles and breeding dogs are looked after in the homes of volunteers . The puppies start their training from 8 weeks old . They are trained to be alert to sounds specific to the requirements of a deaf person, it may be the door bell, the phone, or the smoke alarm. This is very important but most of all the hearing dog becomes the best friend and trusted companion of the deaf person.

On August 1st it is our Pot Luck Supper and in September Mr Graham Laurie MVO, will be talking about The History of the Royal Flight.