The members held their monthly meeting at Stourbridge Institute on October 17 which was chaired by President Eric Southall, who opened the meeting by welcoming both existing, new members, visitors, and introduced the speaker for the night, our chairman Adam Greathead. Eric said that in our annual show there were a number of categories for local schoolchildren, and he and our secretary Liz Hathway were pleased to visit St. James's School to present the prizes to the winning children.

Eric also had the pleasure of introducing John Newman representing MacMillan Nurses to whom he presented a cheque from The Guild for £552.18 which were the proceeds from the Presidents Plant Sale. Mr Newman gave a brief outline of the valuable work Macmillan Nurses carry out, and thanked the Guild on their behalf.

Our chairman Adam Greathead was the speaker for the evening, and presented a talk entitled "Fall into Winter" accompanied by a slide show of photographs taken at locations around the world and was an encyclopedia of plants flowering in the autumn into winter. He also recited some amusing poems, making this a most interesting talk .

Jim Baker thanked Adam for his most enjoyable and informative talk, and the members responded in the usual manner.

The first prize winners in the monthly show where as follows:

3 - Onions - J. Boswell

5 - Potatoes - D. Castle

5 - Dessert apples - M. Green

3 - Beetroot - D. Castle

1 -Vase of flowers - J. James

1 - Cacti - M. Grice

6 - Fruit scones - M. Southall

1 - Apple Pie - A. Robinson

Eric closed the meeting, wished everyone a safe journey home, and hoped everyone had enjoyed the evening.

The next meeting will be held on November 21 which will be a entitled " How to Love Lily Beetles and Admire Slugs" by Roger Umpelby.

We meet on the third Monday of each month at The Stourbridge Institute at 7 for 7.30pm, when all visitors are welcome. For further details phone 01384 828654