A cheque for £300 was presented by the 2017 chairman of Frome Ladies Club, Rona Wilkin, to Tim, a representative of Frome YMCA, at the club’s April meeting.
Chairman, Christine Cornaby, then introduced Peter Chaplin who is an ex-police dog handler, who was with Avon and Somerset Dog Section for nearly 20 years. Peter entertained the members with many hilarious stories which were, in his words, nearly true.
During his service he had formed an incredible bond with a wonderful dog called Major, but the tale was tinged with sadness as his faithful friend was eventually put down. Peter wrote a book titled ‘A Job with a Bite’ which covers much of his career from the age of just 17 to 45 when he had to retire after being injured on duty. A vote of thanks was given by Shirley Smith.
Tea and coffee was then served by hostesses Brenda Palmer, Sue Evans, Monica Price and Val Gale.
Christine Cornaby presided over the following meeting detailing the various trips and events planned for 2018/2019. Christine said a recent skittles evening held at the Chester Club had been a huge success and the winners were Abbie Haines and Geoff Nuth, with Christine herself picking up the wooden spoon along with John Hayton.
Winners of the first charity raffle were J. Lye, S. Evans, C. Fairhurst, B.Palmer, J. Charlesworth, J. Langman, B. Burridge, A. Kirkpatrick, J.Foxwell, S.Smith, R. Joyce, D.Neale and L. Hill.
The next meeting will be on 30th May when the speaker will be Angela Grust who will talk about the Mercy Ships.