WHITSTABLE

TWINNING

ASSOCIATION

Newsletter Issue 84 ~ JUNE 2013

Partnership Towns:ALBERTSLUND (Denmark), BORKEN (Germany), DAINVILLE (France), GRABOW(Germany), MÖLNDAL (Sweden), ŘÍČANY (Czech Rep)

Link Towns: Sisimiut (Greenland),Bolków (Poland), L’Viv (Ukraine) East Renfrewshire (Scotland)

Masthead photo: May Day celebrations at Whitstable Castle. Yes...its true we did have a wonderful sunny day!

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 19th MARCH Tough challenge for WTA ~ Roger Annable to step down

This year’s annual general meeting, held at the Parish Social Centre, brought an announcement that will have significant repercussions for the association. Roger Annable, Chairman since WTA was formed in 1983, will step down after next year’s agm. Under his guidance WTA has become one of the most successful partnership towns in the United Kingdom and certainly the strongest twinning link with Germany. Roger explained: “After thirty years as Chairman I feel that’s enough. It’s time for somebody new to take over and for me to step down”. Although he said he would be happy to share his experience with whoever took over, everyone at the agm knew that finding a suitable successor would probably be one of the toughest challenges ever faced by the association. There is ample time to look back over Roger’s remarkable guardianship of WTA and mark his retirement appropriately, but a year is not long to secure a successful handing over of so much that he and, perhaps, he alone knows about the inner workings and relationships of what has become a diverse organisation. It was poignant that Roger’s Chairman’s report for the year was dominated by the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations which had taken place between Whitstable and Borken, the German town that has been at the backbone of the organisation in all of the years that he has served the association. He said that many of the original WTA members, as well as Josef Ehling, long-serving former Burghermeister of Borken, and Siegbert Hohaus, who had organised a host of events over the years, had been able to at-tend the various celebrations in Germany and Whitstable. Siegbert, along with Rolf Luhrmann and Markus Lask, had masterminded the main event in Germany which was attended by over one hundred people from Whitstable, including Phoenix Performing Arts and the Scouts band. WTA made presenta-tions to seven Borkeners who played a significant part in the early years of the link, not least Rainer Beutel. Roger outlined the many other events held during the year, all of which have been reported in the Newsletters. He was particularly pleased that the link with Říčany, in the Czech Republic, had taken a “major step forward” when Mayor Vladimir Kořen had brought a small group to Whitstable. A link with Říčany’s rugby club had also been established. Grabow had sent a group to Whitstable and witnessed the Olympic flame passing through Canterbury as well as parading in traditional dress in the Oyster festival. The Dainville section continued to pay visits to France, notably for the Cenotaph Continued on page 3

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Contacts Chairman: Roger Annable. E-mail: rlm@annable.vianw.co.uk Secretary: Gillian Michael JOGI102@aol.com (T: 01227 793212) Treasurer: Carol Tadman caroltadman@hotmail.com (T:01227 791912) Membership secretary: Judy Sutton tandjsutton@sky.com (T. 01227 276659) Social & Fund Raising Secretary: Dave Parris dave.sylv@tesco.net (T: 01227 261928) PARTNERSHIP TOWNS CO-ORDINATORS Albertslund David Carter davidcarter401@hotmail.com (T: 01227 272903 or 771022) Borken and Grabow: Sylvia Carter Contact: as David Carter Borken Membership Secretary: John Horstkamp, jolabodo@t-online.de Dainville: Ann Moulton admoulton8@googlemail.com (T: 01227 773182) Mölndal: Gill and Norman Fox Co-ordinators (as below) Říčany Gillian Michael (as above) COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Co-ordinator Graham Nicholson granich@globalnet.co.uk (T: 01795 420809) NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Norman Fox nafox@tinyworld.co.uk (T:01227 265301) 16 Marine Parade PRODUCTION : Gill Fox, (as above) WTA WEBSITE: www.whitstabletwinningassociation.eu INTERNATIONAL TWINNING PARTNERSHIP NETWORK: www.vuxenutbildning.molndal.se/twinning/

Independent and Self Funding Fostering International Friendship

HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY

Sidney Walker Sidney Walker, who was among the earliest members of WTA and has lived in the town for eighty-two years, recent-ly celebrated his 90th birthday. This photo is of him being presented with the “Oysterman of the Year” award in 2010. Although he only began painting when he approached retirement after thirty-three years as an advertising manager, Sidney has become an accomplished artist, producing many fine pictures of the town and, particularly, Thames barges. His birthday party, held at the Horsebridge, was attended by fifty family and friends. A surprise visitor recently was his Danish friend of many years Christina Reuss who by coincidence was visiting Whitstable. Sidney said that Christina was one of many good friends he and his late wife, Topsy, had made through being WTA members.

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ceremony, Braderie and Portefaix. Several hundred Primary school pupils from Whit-stable and Dainville schools made exchange visits. The Dainville connection had also brought about thriving sporting links. Tankerton Football Club continued to have successful exchange youth tournaments and Canterbury Harriers sent several runners to races in France, while French runners had competed in events organised by the club. Sadly, he reported the death of Ray Holmes, former Secretary and Newsletter Editor, and Jim Mason, former Travel Officer. He said that Cyril and Leslie Windsor, who had played leading roles in WTA, deserved every accolade received from friends in WTA ahead of their departure to Australia. Secretary Gillian Michael, the committee and the Co-ordinators were thanked for their work. Gillian Michael said in her report that it was “really encouraging” to see the commitment of Tankerton Football Club and the Canterbury Harriers in the development of their partnership with Dainville. “Also coming on board this year is Whitstable Rugby Club who will be making their first exchange in October with an under 18s team going to Říčany”. Phoenix Performing Arts were also now building on the suc-cess they had achieved in previous visits to partner towns by making a trip to Albertslund. It was hoped to have more attractions for members, including perhaps, a BBQ, seafood evening and Swedish style social.

Gillian added: “We still need to attract younger membership to the association. If you know someone who might be interested then tell then to get in touch. Over the next few years I am sure we shall start to see many changes and so if you would like to get involved and have a say on how you want to see the association progress, please come and talk to us.” Gill and Norman Fox received the George Sankey Award from Gillian Michael as International Partnership Personalities of the Year for “exceptional contribution and service to town twinning”.

In recognition of the work he had done to set up the link between Tankerton Football Club and Dainville, Tim Elgar (Vice Chairman of Tankerton FC) was presented with the Arthur Pearce Award. This photo was taken when the club took three teams to Dainville F C. for a tournament on 19th May. A report will be in the September Newsletter. Tim is in there standing a few in from the left!

Continued from page 1

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VISITORS FROM MÖLNDAL A small group of members of the Mölndal Twinning Association visited us during the weekend of 19th-21st April to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Link with Whitstable. We were delighted to receive the following two reports. Suzanne and Lars Samuelson write ~ We were met at the airport by Gill, Norman and Roger. They took us to a place we had never visited, Sir Winston Churchill's Chartwell. It was fantastic to feel the atmosphere; to see the chair Sir Winston sat in smoking his cigar and drinking his brandy, and walk around the beautiful garden where the magnoli-as were flowering. In the evening, we, together with our hosts, were invited to Linda and Roger’s home for a wonderful dinner with stories and lots of laughter. On Saturday we took a walk through Whitstable and Michael Klein and I just had to taste the most important thing in the town - the Oysters! They were marvellous. After a nice lunch with our hosts, some of us went to Canterbury and the Cathedral, where we listened to the choir. Very nice! In the evening we met many old friends at Gill and Norman's house. We had a lot of good desserts with different sorts of drinks. We specially thank Gill and Norman for a successful evening. On Sunday we visited the Spitfire museum at Manston. It was very interesting and Michael Klein and John Michael became teenagers again. In the afternoon John M kindly drove us to Stansted and at ten we were back at home after a wonderful weekend with hosts, friends and many new memories.

Special thanks to our hosts: Gill and Norman, Gillian and John, Lizzie and Richard for taking care of us! We hope to meet again soon and until then, take care! With love and many thanks! Manston Spitfire Museum

Roger and Lars in the footsteps of Winston Churchill

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Ingemar Bengtsson adds ~ It was a pleasant, sunny walk that we had around the harbour area of Whitstable on the morning after we arrived. One could feel a smell of a real sea town. We found a nice out-door place, well protected from the wind, where we had tea/chocolate. Richard helped me to a shop and I bought some mugs of a special type, not available in Sweden. We said ‘hello’ to the shop owner, a friend of Richard. Such brief meetings with local people contribute a lot to a warm atmosphere. Richard and I pro-ceeded to Canterbury by

bus, where we later met up with the rest of the group at the Cathedral. We attended the Evensong, which was a great emotional experience. This was my first visit to this part of England and I got a very good impression from both Whitstable and Canterbury. One gets reminded of a thousand year history, at the same time modern life is present. The two towns are surrounded by the beautiful garden land-scape of Kent. The whole programme for this visit was very well organised. We had very interesting visits to Chartwell and to the Spitfire museum and learnt a lot about the wartime history. For us it was an exotic experience, hav-ing a picnic at this time of the year. This we had on the beau-tiful slopes of Chartwell. In particular I appreciated the social parts of the pro-gramme when we met in the homes of WTA members. It is of such great value to meet friends in the other countries. It is a way of increasing the community that one belongs to. Also, I have added a dozen new words to my English vocabulary. I like your South England accent, that´s how English should be spoken. I highly appreciate the gifts we received; the paintings by John W Jenkins. Mine pictured the hut skyline of the harbour; it be-comes a lovely memory from our nice walk. Thanks for all the effort that the WTA members made for this visit. Hope to see you soon in Sweden.

Susanne, Lars, Michael, Gillian, John, Norman and Richard at the harbour Photo by Ingemar

Picnic lunch in Chartwell parkland, with sunshine! Perfect.

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Grabowers can be proud Seventeen members of WTA went to Grabow on 23rd May for what proved to be a remarkable long weekend of almost embarrassingly generous and splendidly well planned hospitality. The WTA group arrived in Grabow by various means. Most flew to Hamburg, where they were met and safely delivered to their hosts. Roger and Linda Annable drove, while Richard and Lizzie Hubbard took the train. For Roger and Ruth Dengate this was an adventure into being hosted in one of the more remote partner towns. Roger’s report together with one by Sue Sayer (also on their first visit to Grabow) are on p7 and p8. In spite of the disappointing weather, the Grabow partnership association, together with Bürger-meister Stefan Sternberg provided us with a memorable programme of events. A visit to Schwerin castle was something special, as was the official dinner at which we were treated to fine food prepared by members of the association. We are especially grateful to Brigitte Dörfler for the huge amount of work she had done to make the visit such a success. During the dinner in the beautifully restored Reuterhaus, WTA’s Grabow co-ordinator Sylvia Carter was warmly applauded for her heartfelt speech that not only emphasised the ever deepening bonds of friendship between the people of Whitstable and Grabow but expressed appreciation for the work that had been done to make the visit so good. She said that since first visiting Grabow in 1990 she and David had seen the steady improvements in the infrastructure of the town. “You must be proud of all the hard work” which was continuing under the direction of the new young Bürgermeister, Stefan. She wished him success, stressing that the young held the key to the future. Sylvia said that some members of WTA were visiting Grabow for the first time and were very impressed. On behalf of WTA she thanked Brig-itte and the Grabow partnership committee for planning the whole programme which was informative and fun. She gave special thanks to the hosts for their generous hospi-tality and presented the partnership associa-tion with a picture of Whitstable harbour. WTA Chairman Roger Annable spoke of the increasingly strong relationship between Whitstable and Grabow and presented Stefan with a selection of Kent beers, after which Stefan pulled down a big screen for us to watch two German teams battle out the European Cup Final. N.F.

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Roger Dengate came back home as a qualified cake-ma ker! Ruth and I picked up Tom and Judy at what we thought was a nice and early 9am on the Thursday but due to a traffic accident on the M2 we didn’t even get as far as Sittingbourne until 10.30! So it was a very slow start but from then on it got better and we arrived at Luton in time for our flight. At Hamburg airport we were met by two mini-buses. We spent that evening with our hosts, Angelika and Gerold Alwardt, who were hosting for the first time. We then met up with Tom and Judy Sutton at Stefan and Carina’s house. Stefan is the Mayor of Grabow and, at thirty-one, the youngest in the area. The next day, after an official welcome, we visited the museum and then went ‘cake making’. Ruth and I even managed to get certificates for making Küsschen, a chocolate covered marshmallow with a wafer base. On the Saturday we all met up at the area capital, Schwerin, for a guided tour of the council chambers in the castle. You had to show a passport; security was very high, as were the steps to the top. There was a boat trip to follow, and so, a leisurely afternoon. In the evening at the Reuterhaus we had a dinner with all of the hosts and were treated to a puppet show and performance by the local line dancers. It was great to meet such likeable people. Grabow was in East Germany prior to the wall coming down in 1989 and since then the population of the town has diminished because so many young people have moved from the area. I’m certainly looking forward to going back and seeing everyone again. “Prost”.

The white socks sang Carmen - a joy to behold.

On the roof of Schwerin Castle.

Friends old and new enjoying being together

at the evening at Reuterhaus.

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Lapsed members overwhelmed by warmth and friendship ~ Sue Sayer writes: As lapsed founder members of twinning, it was with a certain amount of trepidation that we began our journey to Grabow. Our apprehension was compounded after only fifteen minutes when we found ourselves at a standstill in a traffic jam on the Thanet Way. Unlike me, who can`t find my way out of a paper bag, Joe is used to such situations and we even-tually continued our journey taking the scenic route, along with hundreds of like-minded people! At one point I wondered whether we were actually going to catch our flight. But we successfully made it to the airport with time to spare. I am not known for travelling light but rose to the challenge admirably! We enjoyed a pleasant flight and began to relax a little. All was well on arrival until we found our-selves in Terminal 1 with no-one to meet us. In true British form we maintained a stiff upper lip until our hosts, who were expecting us to arrive at Terminal 2 came to find us. It was at this point that we began to wonder just what we had let ourselves in for! After introductions we followed the seasoned travellers to waiting minibuses for the last lap of the journey. We were given a quick tour of Hamburg before being driven to our hosts. To say we were giv-en a warm welcome would be an understatement. I was introduced to Christel and immediately found myself in a bear hug and charmingly addressed as `Sewer`! I have a smattering of rusty A level Ger-

man from more years ago than I care to remember and Joe has none. With my pidgin German and Wolfgang`s pidgin English we managed to communicate very well. Joe and Christel got on like a house on fire using their own methods of communication very successfully! All of the people we met were extremely friendly and generous and made our visit very enjoyable. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the weather. However, we intrepid travellers refused to be deterred by the relentless rain and cold. We enjoyed a river trip, peering at the sights through steamed up windows and a trip around Hamburg in an open top bus with the top on! We were given food and drink in abundance, entertained admi-rably and treated to a thoroughly good time. I was impressed by the genuine feeling of warmth and friendship between everyone. We Brits are notoriously lazy when it comes to speaking foreign languages and I was very proud to hear several of our number speaking German so fluently. I will make every effort to improve my conversational German Joe and I had no idea what to expect when we began our

journey but we returned home having made new friends of both nationalities.

A final word from one who has taken over twenty years to be convinced to re-join twinning, Joe, when asked ` Would you go again?` was heard to reply `YES DEFINITELY`.

As you can see it didn’t rain all the time. Enjoying the

sunshine outside the museum are (from right) Norman and

Ulrich, Sue and Christel, and Claire

and Ann.

Cakes galore.

Sue got a certificate for her Grabower Küsschen too!

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WTA Visitors to Dainville discover Louvre in Nord-Pas de Calais Lens has never been a tourist hotspot. One of many pit-based towns on a 200 kilometre long coal seam running across northern France, its red brick terraced houses, schools and shops were all provided by the pit owners. When Lens won the competition to be the next base for the Louvre Museum expansion plans and the doors opened in December 2012 everyone realised what a change it could make to the town. The new buildings, very modern in design, are sited on pit-head Number 9. It is enormous in all senses, covering a huge tract of land with burgeoning gardens all around. The high, airy rooms inside offer a whole new slant on how museums can display their treasures. I am not a keen museum visitor but the two hours we spent with our enthusiastic guide, in just one of the rooms, was fascinating and the time flew by. Most of us will be back for more, especially as twenty per cent of all exhibits are changed every year. All of this is not to detract from the rest of the warm and friendly May weekend we spent in Dainville. We are always offered both regular and new activities. Whatever else we do, the Sunday lunch at Ferme St. Jean has quickly become another highlight of the visit. Like all the best Sunday lunches, it begins with a welcoming glass or two. This gives us time to check on the progress of the hops, bees and animals. By half past five we were scrambling to finish the last courses to get back to Calais in time for our booked departure. Our special thanks must go to Virginie, who with a full-time job and young family, still put in a great deal of work behind the scenes to make the weekend so enjoyable again. Ann Moulton

Coffee morning helps funds WTA held a successful coffee morning and sale at St. Alphege Church at the end of April when just over £220 was raised. This included a

generous donation from one of our own members. We would both like to thank all those who helped on the day and those

who kindly provided cakes, books and bric-a-brac for the sale.

Dave Parris and Sylvia Carter

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Josie Massie has again kindly invited WTA members

to

Lunch on a Summer Day in her a�racve garden

at

6 Spire Avenue

on

Saturday July 6 (12.30 for 1pm). Tickets cost £12. Water and glasses provided.

Please bring your own drink.

You can reserve your place by telephoning 01227 773182

or by email to - admoulton8@googlemail.com

This is a popular event and seats are limited, so don’t delay.

TWIN & LINKED TOWNS’ BULLETIN BOARD

Albertslund WTA has learned, with regret, that Hannah Nielsen, wife of Kai Nielsen, died recently. Kai was very instrumental in promoting the twinning partner-ship between Albertslund and Grabow over 40 years ago.

Mölndal

Some of us in WTA still have our “PelleKan” umbrellas, pre-sented on one of our visits. PelleKan is the symbol of the campaign to keep Mölndal and surrounding area tidy. In June the City Hall Park was full when “Pellekan” came to town. Several thousand people enjoyed a concert (no umbrellas needed). Pellekan had visited schools, teaching children about recycling and the im-portance of not throwing away

li�er in the wrong places.

East Renfrewshire On the subject of keeping our twin and link towns tidy, East Renfrewshire Council's cleans-ing team has been taking the initiative and, like Mölndal, is enlisting the help of pupils from local nursery, primary and secondary schools to keep the streets and grass areas clean. This summer five schools have carried out external litter picks within the community and have been given litter awareness talks by cleansing staff. Environment convener Coun-cillor Vincent Waters saw pupils of Woodfarm school in action as they hit the streets and park areas with their litter pickers and black bags to pick up discarded juice bottles, crisp

packets and pot noodle containers. He said: "The timing for this initiative could not be more crucial as East Renfrewshire Council has signed up to a recently launched Scotland-wide litter campaign”. The youngsters were dressed in bright yellow tops with the slogan 'Keep Scotland Tidy'.

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VIEWPOINT Whither The Association ~ Norman Fox , Newsletter Editor In a previous Viewpoint I ventured to suggest that because age was making it ever more difficult for members to be actively involved in visits to our partner towns, the future of WTA was uncertain. After all, the exchange visits, which over time have vitalised so many cross-border friendships, form the core and purpose of the organisation. With the announcement that next year Roger Annable will be standing down from his Chairman-ship, the organisation faces another big challenge. Roger’s ‘retirement’ will mean that WTA can no longer rely on its single most influential sustaining force. To say that WTA is bigger than one individual is all very well, but what the organisation now has to do is prove it. Impressively, over one hundred people from Whitstable went to Borken last year to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the link, but we should not be misled into believing this great success reflected the good health of WTA as such. The number of members travelling to Germany amounted to only a small minority of the whole group. Phoenix Performing Arts, the Scouts Band and a large number of others made up the bulk. But it’s important to acknowledge that WTA was acting as a conduit for these groups and associations, just as it continues to encourage Tankerton Football Club, Canterbury Harriers and Whitstable Rugby Club to strengthen their links with Dainville and Ricany. Twinning was something that in its early days was an important means of reconciling old enemies. Today’s generation has no recollection of that time. For them a twinning association is probably akin to the ‘Over Sixties’ or bowls clubs. Speak to any member of equivalent associations and you will hear the same story: declining membership and reliance on a small number of volunteers (always the same peo-ple). At the AGM Secretary Gillian Michael asked for ideas about the future of the association. It was a question that had been asked many times before, but with little response. A couple of years ago there was a suggestion that the name of the association should be changed, perhaps to emphasise ‘partnership’ and do away with the word ‘twinning’. This is being raised again but it seems to me to be a desperate measure that would not overcome fundamental problems. Indeed, it could be counter-productive and cause confusion. There is a serious possibility that within a few years WTA as an organisation will simply fade away, leaving only some lasting friendships and happy memories. Can this be avoided? Can anything be done to increase membership, particularly amongst the younger generation, and what can we offer newcomers? Can the association find new ways to fund visits from partner towns? For the sake of debate, here are a few suggestions:- 1. Do nothing and let WTA fade away. 2. Strengthen WTA and emphasise its independence by obtaining Charitable status. 3. Seek funding for all official visits to Whitstable through the EEC. WTA is well qualified under the EECs Europe for Citizens programme. Our partner towns do this while we struggle to raise funds. 4. Suggest to Canterbury and Herne Bay that they join with us to form a single but stronger Partnership association. 5. Explore the possibility of a closer link with the Whitstable/Herne Bay Lions. 6. Draw attention to WTA by organising occasional forums (“Under the Auspices of WTA”) to which councillors, our MP and local personalities are invited to answer questions about local and national issues on the lines of Question Time. 8. Mastermind an annual Associations’ Day on the lines of those held in some of our partner towns (plans are already afoot). 9. Put more emphasis on the slogan “People in Partnership” or similar one. Members: If you really care about the future of WTA let me know what you think about these suggestions and add some of your own. My email address and ‘phone number are on page 2. I am sure your ideas will be raised in committee and given serious consideration.

The opinions in Viewpoint are entirely my own.

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Whitstable Twinning Association, EVENTS June 8-9 Dainville Football Club to Tankerton Youth F.C. 15 Jazz Social, Whitstable, cancelled 23 Car parking,Whitstable Junior School July 6 Dainville summer lunch 21 Car parking, Whitstable Junior School August 1 Car parking “ “ 2 Car parking “ “ 3 Harbour Day—see below 11 Car parking “ “ 19 Car parking “ “ 20 Car parking “ “ 23-27 Whitstable visit to Říčany September 15 Car parking,Whitstable Junior School 21 BBQ - To be confirmed 28 Cake Stall at Dainville ‘Braderie’ October 3-6 Borken firefighters to Whitstable 13 Car parking, Whitstable Junior School 18 Dainville Autumn Social (Whitstable) 18-21 Whitstable Rugby Club to Říčany November 2 Car parking, Whitstable Junior School 11 Armistice Day Dainville 16 Seafood Supper, Parish Social Centre, Castle Road - NEW EVENT December 8 Tankerton Christmas Market, Whitstable Castle 15 St Lucia or other Swedish style event 21 Car parking, Whitstable Junior School Other dates for your diary: Oyster Festival - 27 July-Aug 2; Carnival-August 3; Regatta - August 10-11;

BOOK STALL ON HARBOUR DAY SATURDAY AUGUST 3rd

WTA will again be selling books on the quay near the fish market on Harbour Day.

As well as an important fund-raising event this is also an opportunity to tell people about our association.

Any member willing to help for an hour or two would be most welcome .

Please contact Norman Fox, Tel: 265301 or email nafox@tinyworld.co.uk

NB. a) We have plenty of books at the moment so do not need any more.

b) We have some great books of all sorts at good prices, so don’t forget to come along and browse through them.