St. James AGM

Despite a small group, the St. James AGM was very productive, though there was so much food on the tables that we were tempted to set up an ad-hoc restaurant outside the church! Lots of business was discussed and most importantly, elections were held. The officers elected for the year 2009/2010 are as follows:

Tower Captain: Mary Platt
Ringing Master: Kathryn Tucker
Secretary: Alice Heilker
Treasurer: Chris Brown

Thank you to the past officers, Derek Wilsden and Diana Witt (Ringing Master and Secretary, respectively) who stepped down after much hard work. And thank you to Chris Brown who, despite his protestations that he'd be ever so willing for someone ELSE to be treasurer, just keeps getting elected year after year!

We very much missed the presence of Derek Wilsden, Jan Wilsden and Alice Heilker. Alice continues to recover from lung surgery, and Jan Wilsden was taken ill on the day of the AGM and was in the hospital with her husband at the time of the meeting. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Heilker and Wilsden families. We treasure them dearly.

Surprise Major Weekend Workshop

St. James and St. Luke's jointly hosted a Surprise Major workshop over the weekend of Feb. 27 to March 1. Out-of-town folks gathered at St. James on Friday for an open practice with locals; many went to the Marietta Diner afterwards for a bite to eat - as always, those who have never been there before were astonished by the size of the menu and the size of the cakes!
Early on Saturday morning the attendees gathered at St. James for the serious work of learning Surprise Major methods; one group focused on Lincolnshire, Cambridge and Yorkshire, the other on Bristol and London. Paul Graupner (he of the 'bunny ears' in the photo above) led the first group and Alan Regin (the tall man in the back right of the picture) led the second group. Much ringing was done, though a mid-afternoon funeral necessitated a break in the course. A very nice quarter peal of Cambridge Major was scored after the 5:30 service and a Chinese dinner was enjoyed by all at the end of the day.
On Sunday, a surprise snowstorm hit Atlanta, and the ringing at St. Luke's, as well as a peal attempt at St. James, were canceled. Both groups stayed at St. James, though three helpers hightailed it early out of town by car - many flights were canceled that stormy day!
We may try again next year, and will endeavor to make the weather behave - naughty, naughty weather!