September Hospitality - Lady Mayoress Claire Anstee

Lady Mayoress Claire Anstee gave her 801st speech (she said she gives 800 speeches a year as the wife of the Lord Mayor!) to the CWC at the Welcome Back hospitality morning. She was elegant, entertaining and enthralling speaking about a year in the life of the Lord Mayor and Mayoress and Mansion House. She talked about her daily schedules that at times involved 5 changes of clothes and meeting a very great many people. But you could sense the pride and joy of her past year in this role. She gave the impression that although her life was not her own this past year she would not have missed it for the world. And on top of it all we found out that she was born in Montreal, Canada! The CWC members are even more excited to visit Mansion House this December after such a wonderful description by Lady Mayoress Anstee.

Our past office manager Phyllis Nickerson sent a very generous gift donation to the Maple Leaf Trust. Funds were raised at her Almost the Queens Garden Party in her new home in Ottawa, Canada. The Maple Leaf Trust thanks Phyllis and her ever supporting husband Lee for donating the funds to our fund.

Submitted by Patty Bell

Tour of the National Gallery

We were a privileged group to have a private tour of the National Gallery on Friday Nov.12. We were all a bit surprised at how busy and lively the gallery was that evening with live music and several other tours. But we were so engrossed by our terrific tour guide Margi Davis that we hardly noticed anything else but the paintings. She made us look carefully at each painting pointing out details in them that one normally (well at least I) would miss. We learned who was who in the painting , why the artist chose to include certain items and also how much artisitc freedom the artist had when he painted for his patron. It was indeed a truly enjoyable way to start the weekend in this city blessed with so many wonderful galleries and museums. A special thank you to Margi Davis who donated both her time and expertise to make this another great CWC event.

Submitted by Patty Bell

November Hospitality

We were led on a fascinating archaeological dig at the November 9th Hospitality. Our guest speaker, Lady Alexandra Richardson, talked at length about the art and perseverance of being a biographer, unearthing files in attics in Ireland, Texas, Italy and England to name a few locations. She even sourced information from sales staff and cleaners in Singapore Airport to glean information about the subject of her book Passionate Patron: The Life of Alexander Hardcastle and the Greek Temples of Agrigento.

He was an englishman with a passion for Greek Archaeology who lived in Agrigento, Sicily in the 1920's supervising a dig there and in mainland Italy as well. We were given a glimpse into his past before he moved to Agrigento and with how he lived out his later years. I am sure many of the ladies who attended that day will read what should be a very interesting book. Get her book here!

Vi Knight of the Veteran's Affairs Committee led a Remembrance Day moment reading a moving poem written by a 12year old boy form Calgary about Why We Wear A Poppy.

Submitted by Patty Bell

Family Carol Service

Please invite your friends and family to join us for our annual Family Carol Service!

Friday, December 3rd
6:30 pm at the
Crown Court Church of Scotland
Russell Street, Covent Garden
London WC2B 5EZ

Children are welcome! Refreshments will be served following the service of Lessons & Carols, so please RSVP to info@canadianwomenlondon.org, letting us know how many people will be attending. There is no cost for this event, and you don't even need to be a member of the CWC, but monies raised from the offertory will be shared between the Church and the Maple Leaf Trust.

For a larger version of the invitation, click on the image below.