UpARA - December 2022 Newsletter

Hello UpARA members,

Christmas Party December 16th

We have a few tickets available for our Christmas Party on the evening of the 16th of December. Open to non–members, why not bring a friend(s), doors open at 6:45pm, with a 3-course meal being served from 7:15pm, and entertainment from the very talented ‘Leyton’ to follow; it promises to be a great festive evening as in previous years. Please Email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com or Text: 07802 250773 for more information. 

Festive Mince Pies, Santa, and a Free Raffle!... As a warm-up to Christmas, (and a way to keep warm!), please join us for our Christmas Coffee Morning on December 6th. There will be a free raffle, a festive feel and who knows… Maybe a visit from Santa and his Elf…

The Thoughts of Chairman John

Hi everyone,

"I don't believe it" to quote a well-known saying, having what may have been the last Turkey and Tinsel in my lifetime! Allegedly, just because the "Woke Fraternity" decided it may offend the Vegans using the word Turkey. No problem, we are taking a "Holly and Mistletoe" holiday next year, so all will be happy! 

This year's Turkey and Tinsel was still exceptional. Debbie our Courier and Capt. Rob our Driver, managed to conjure up days of sunshine for our trips and were more than flexible with our destinations. Those of us who took the additional evening trip to the Babbacombe Theatre were given total entertainment from start to finish once again.

We still have our own Christmas entertainment to enjoy:- Tuesday 6th Dec, we have our special Coffee Morning including a free raffle (and Santa). The following Tuesday "A Salute to Christmas" at the Inn on The Lake is very well subscribed, and then we have our Christmas Party, many of our new members will be more than surprised with the quality of the meal and the entertainment! thanks to the "Social Degenerates" as usual headed by Chef John Tutt.

So much to look forward to in the next few weeks and next year.

Regards

John W

Let’s Face the Music

Royal Philharmonic at The Royal Albert Hall 

A reminder to those coming to The Royal Albert Hall with us on the 8th of March, that the balance is due on this by the end of December. Details will soon be sent to you, any queries, please contact us.

Bournemouth Trip

The Final balance for the Bournemouth trip is now due. There is still late availability for any couples or friends prepared to share, who would like to join us.

Please Note… Our activities in the New Year restart on Tuesday 3rd January with Coffee Morning, Art, and Table Tennis. Line Dancing will restart on Wednesday 11th, and our January Kurling session has been rearranged to the 9th of January.

The committee have... reluctantly decided that there will be a charge made to our Friday afternoon meetings as from our January meeting. We have had to look at our income/expenditure challenges going forward and hope everyone will understand. The charge will be £1 for members and £2 for non-members.

Thanks to those who attended and made our Quiz Evening such fun. Over £400 was made and this will now be added to our running total for the St Mary's Bell Tower Restoration Fund.  

2023 Speaker Listings 

Sandra and Linda have been busy finalising our list of speakers for 2023. The website and our notice board will be updated soon…

December Calendar

Friday, December 2nd at 10:00am - Village Walk

Mondays December 5th, 12th, 19th at 10:00am - Short Tennis

Monday, December 5th at 2:00pm - Kurling

Tuesday, December 6th at 9:30am - Xmas Coffee Morning and Art

Tuesday, December 6th at 2:00pm - Table Tennis

Wednesdays December 7th, 14th at 10:15am - Line Dancing

Friday, December 9th at 2:00pm - Monthly Meeting*

Tuesday, December 13th at 10:00pm - Ten Pin Bowling

Tuesday, December 13th - Salute to Christmas at the Inn on the Lake

Friday, December 16th at 7:00pm - Christmas Party

Friday, December 16th at 10:00am - Village Walk 

Tuesday, December 20th at 1:00pm - Petanque (note Winter start time)

*Please note: our previously advertised speaker for December Bob Harding Jones is unwell and one of our members, Elspeth Baeke has kindly agreed to step in. We wish Bob a speedy recovery.

Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.

Email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com

Website: www.upara.club

Urgent Road Closure - Yaugher Lane, Hartlip

It will be necessary to close Yaugher Lane, Hartlip from Wednesday 7th December 2022 for up to 1 day.

The road will be closed for the entire length of Yaugher Lane.

The alternative route is via Yaugher Lane, Warren Lane and Lower Hartlip Road.

This is to enable carriageway patching to be carried out by Kent County Council.

KCC 24hr Contact Centre: 03000 418181

For details of roadworks see: https://one.network

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste

Animals Let Out - Newington

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/228926/22

Between 00:01 on Friday the 25th of November and 10:00 on Sunday the 27th of November, somebody allowed animals to get out of their field in Iwade Road, Newington.

If you have any information that could help investigators, please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant crime number above.

For more information on crime prevention visit: www.kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

The Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal

Be a star and donate a toy to our appeal

St Mary's Church and Uplift are supporting The Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal again this year.

We will be collecting toys at our Advent Services on Sunday the 4th of December, at St Mary's Church at 10:00am and at Uplift at 4:00pm in the village hall. You are, of course, really welcome at both of these services.

I will also be collecting toys the following day in the layby opposite the church from 9:30am until 10:15am on Monday the 5th. Jackie, from Lower Halstow, will be collecting the toys to take them to the Sittingbourne Salvation Army.

The appeal asks for new, unwrapped toys and gifts for babies, children and young people aged 0-17 who might not otherwise receive a Christmas present. The gifts will then be wrapped and distributed to those in need.

I know I am asking you for so much recently, but I also wanted to give you this opportunity to again show how big hearted you are.

You can help The Salvation Army spread the joy of Christmas to families whose children would otherwise not receive a gift. This year, they are expecting the number of families requesting help to rise as a result of the cost of living crisis.

Over the years, millions of children and young people have benefited from gifts donated to The Salvation Army.

A suggested gift list can be found at: www.salvationarmy.org.uk/christmas-present-appeal

Bless you ❤️

Gill Gay

FREE Christmas Parking Dates in Medway Council Run Public Car Parks

🅿️ Medway Council has announced FREE Christmas parking dates in Medway Council run public car parks from Thursday 15th December 2022 to Sunday 18th December 2022 inclusive.

🚙🚙🚗🚗🚙🚙🚗🚗🚙🚙🚗🚗

More info at: www.medway.gov.uk/parking

Upchurch Matters

From the Potting Shed - December 2022

Upchurch Horticultural Society

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

Autumn has finally started to get a hold and temperatures are dropping after a mild start to November, leaves are falling, and the rain is coming down. The only thing that appears to be going up is prices! East Anglia is a very arable farming area with lots of local produce being retailed by independent traders. So a weekly shopping trip to the market town of Beccles is proving to be an interesting experience. This town has two independent greengrocers and a weekly market stall offering excellent fruit and vegetables at highly reasonable prices. I was delighted to find a large torpedo shaped Marrow for £1.50, which allowed me to engage in my passion for stuffed Marrow. The shop owner was quite surprised that anyone could get so excited about a lowly vegetable. I really cannot wait to get another vegetable patch up and running, but we are yet to complete on the cottage and still living in temporary accommodation out on the marshes. We do like it here. It reminds me of how Kent used to be 50 years ago with wide open countryside and lots of peace and quiet.

After tidying up the landscaped area around the lodge, the management of the park have appointed a firm of landscape contractors to tidy up the rest of it. I appear to have become the gardening consultant, which makes me feel uncomfortable as the position is unpaid and leaves me susceptible to picking up the blame. They are doing a good job, but I wince watching a young lad prune the shrubs with a hedge trimmer.

A lot tidier, but the shrubs have been massacred.

Hopefully, all the tidying up in the garden is completed by now, and you can enjoy the quieter Winter months, possibly in front of a wood burner, which is a good thing to have these days. Now is a good time to order seeds for next year and a number of catalogues should already have been delivered through your door. I actually bought my seeds through Amazon and was amazed that I could buy them more cheaply than directly from the seed merchant. The plan is to take up part of the lawn to create the new vegetable patch, but just do half this year and then double the size next year up to 800 sq ft (approx 3 poles). That should be sufficient to feed the two of us. I have selected 16 varieties of vegetables for starters and will increase to 32 the following year. These are tried and trusted old favourites but will concentrate more on Winter varieties in the second year. This will then hopefully provide a number of crops to choose from each month of the year.

Other than looking after Winter vegetables and containers and raking up leaves, it is a quiet time of the year. Leek and Onion seeds can be started in December if you are keen as the large varieties need plenty of time to fully mature. That brings us to the end of the year and time to think about the year ahead… if you want to that is. I keep on extolling the virtues of a kitchen garden and try to encourage people to “grow your own”. It has been a long time since money has been this tight, and the professional advice is that it will get worse before it gets better. Now is an ideal time to create some space and start digging. If you need advice, contact the Upchurch Horticultural Society, who will be happy to help.

It has been a cold, wet day today, so I am going to knock up a Beef Pie with mash from Picasso Potatoes (the world’s greatest mash), Hispi Cabbage, Carrots and Leek in beef gravy… and a cook’s glass. That way, I can fill up on both vegetables and beer!

Happy Christmas, and I hope to be writing to you next year from Suffolk.

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com

Sean Barry