May Competition 2022:

Competition title for May was ‘Art Nouveau ‘.

Barbara Caldecot May 2022:

We welcomed Barbara Caldecot to our May meeting. Her title for the demonstration was Calender Moments.

Flower Arranging Day 6th May 2022:

Arrangements made for Flower Arranging Day, 6th May 2022. These were placed at various locations in the area.

April Competition 2022:

April’s competition title was ‘Over the Rainbow ‘

April 2022:

An enjoyable evening with the multi talented Graham King whose demonstration was entitled ‘What Dreams are Made of ‘.

March 2022:

What a fantastic start to our back to normal meetings for 2022. We had a full hall with returning members, new members and visitors.  Our demonstrator Michelle King, with her Tour de France demonstration title, gave us an interesting and fun evening. Entertaining us with stories which explained the thoughts behind each of her designs as she travelled around France.
The competition table had many entries depicting the title ‘Pedal Power’

February AGM 2022:

40 members attended our first meeting of 2022 which was our AGM. After the business part
members finished off answering the quiz questions whilst they enjoyed a delicious supper provided
by the committee. We then all enjoyed a game of Pictionary, which caused much merriment due to
the lack of drawing skills by some of us. Everyone went home looking forward to a full programme
for our 55th year.

December Demonstration & Competition 2021:

Competition exhibits for December meeting with the title  ‘Noel’s Napkin Rings’

Members were welcomed with mulled wine and mince pies at our last meeting for 2021.  Christina Payne’s demonstration was entitled ‘Christmas Pleasures’.
Our next meeting is 2nd February 2022 which will be our AGM.
Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year

November Demonstration & Competition 2021:

November’s demonstration was presented by Susan Tausig, who used wonderful coloured flowers and interesting containers to provide an entertaining evening of ‘Scrumptiously Seasonal’ offerings.  Competition title was ‘Wild and Woven’.

October Demonstration 2021 – Stephen McDonnell:

We welcomed Stephen McDonnell, a gold medal winner at RHS Chelsea Flower Show who is well known to us. Stephen took us on a quick dash through the Orient and eastern regions of the world. A light hearted evening filled with laughter due to his witty rapport with the audience.

October Meeting 2021:

October competition ‘Oriental Experiences’

September 2021 Demonstration by Nina Tucknott:

We gave a warm welcome to Nina Tucknott who was our demonstrator for the evening and very pleased to be back after all the cancellations due to COVID. Her theme was ‘When Art Met Flowers’. Here is a snapshot of some of her flowers.

September 2021 Meeting: – Competition ‘Framed’

July 2021 Meeting: – Competition ‘A Musical’

It was a pleasure to meet up with friends again on such a lovely evening. June our chairman welcomed a limited number of
members back to a socially distanced club night, our first face to face meeting of 2021 and our first since March 2020.
Congratulations went to Val Adams, Sheila Cheal and Sue Seath for attaining 40 years with the club this year. June presented
them with badges and gifts, and sincerely thanked them for their dedication not only as club members, but also for their many
years of service as valued committee members whose hard work and input has made the club what it is today
Our demonstrator, Gill Smaggersgale, then entertained us with her superb demonstration, ‘Showtime’ sharing songs through the
media of flowers.
Gill used some outstanding flowers to complete six diverse arrangements and created a wonderful evening for all making it a joy
to be out again.

April Zoom Meeting:

For our April Zoom meeting we welcomed Graham King. He demonstrated four beautiful arrangements with the title ‘A Magical Spring’.  It was good to see 37 of our members, including three visitors from Lancing Flower Club, enjoying an afternoon of flower arranging.

April 2021 Update:

Competition “Surprise Us”

March 2021 Update:

In February we held our AGM via Zoom where we were joined by many of our members with the
committee being re-elected. We have a planned programme which is subject to change at short
notice. Our March meeting was held via zoom with a demonstration by Alison Gillott. Some of our
members had taken to zoom for the first time and all enjoyed being able to see each other and to
watch a demonstration, albeit it is not quite the same as physically meeting. We anticipate the next
few months to be zoom meetings.
Members have been incredibly supportive throughout last year and produced many arrangements
for the monthly ‘competition’ We are pleased to see this has continued with the title for March
being ‘When Flowers are Few’.

December 2020:

December’s arrangements for ‘Candles at Christmas’

We wish everyone a Happy Christmas

November 2020:

The title for the November arrangement was ‘Mosaic Cushion’.  The colourful ‘cushions’ would brighten up any room.

November Workshop 2020:

Workshop – November 4th 2020

We just managed to beat a new lockdown with a day of 3 x 6 persons, COVID safe workshops.
Enjoyed by everyone who attended and all glad to be back and meeting up again.

October 2020:

Photos of October arrangements with the title ‘Go Green’

We are still keeping in touch with members through emails, letters and social media.

September 2020:

Photos of Septembers arrangements with the title ‘Space Oddity’

We are still keeping in touch with members through emails, letters and social media.

August 2020:

This months flower arrangement challenge title was ‘Garden Party’.

July 2020:

This months flower arrangement challenge title was ‘Caged In’. A rather apt title for the current times and our members produced a variety of designs.

June 2020:

This months title for members to send in photos of arrangements they have been doing at home was ‘Bend it/Shape it.
We are missing seeing everyone but are emailing, phoning and posting information to our members whilst we cannot meet.  The committee have held a meeting via zoom which proved a challenge for some but we all managed to get on line in the end. Thank goodness for technology in these strange times.

June 2020:

This months title for members to send in photos of arrangements they have been doing at home was ‘Bend it/Shape it.
We are missing seeing everyone but are emailing, phoning and posting information to our members whilst we cannot meet.  The committee have held a meeting via zoom which proved a challenge for some but we all managed to get on line in the end. Thank goodness for technology in these strange times.

May 2020:

Members have been busy whilst on lockdown creating arrangements under the theme ‘Seaside’.

April 2020:

We hope everyone is keeping well during this difficult time and hope that we will all be able to meet
up again soon.
Members have been sending in photos of arrangements which they have been doing at home whilst
on ‘Lockdown’ The title was ‘Oriental Experiences’ .

March Meeting:

June Savory, our New Chairman, welcomed members and many visitors to the meeting. After club announcements, which included details of our Open Meeting with Tracey Griffin ‘Not Your Usual Flower Fix’ on Saturday 2 nd May at the Windmill Theatre, Littlehampton June introduced our demonstrator Dee Watkins.
Under the title ‘Line and Design’ Dee produced assorted creations using a variety of foliage and flowers such as, tulips, roses, orchids and alstroemeria, jasmine foliage, contorted willow and dogwood. Her last arrangement was a modern parallel hand tied all white arrangement with roses, grasses and alstroemeria finished with a rope bow.
Our first competition table this year produced a variety of colourful entries on the topic of ‘Straight and Narrow’.
Novice – 1 st Iris Tipper, 2 nd Linda Lipscombe and 3 rd Martina Asmar
Intermediate – 1 st Delwyn Myers
Advanced – 1 st Ann Jarvis, 2 nd Chris Wright and 3 rd Margaret Moores

December Meeting:

Members were greeted by the committee wearing a variety of festive headgear and to get the evening off with Christmas cheer, mulled wine was served. Hot mince pies were served during the interval.
Lucinda Knapman was our demonstrator, always a club favourite and her demonstration entitled ‘Countdown to Christmas’ was enjoyed by all members and visitors.
The Competition ‘Christmas Carol’ results were:

Novice – 1st Delwyn Myers, 2nd Iris Tipper, joint 3rd Ann Mathias and Lind Lipscombe.

Advanced – 1st Tricia Bridgman, 2nd Chris Wright and 3rd Ann Jarvis.

November Meeting:

We welcomed Nina Tucknott as our demonstrator for the evening. Nina explained she was a
Swedish speaking Finn and a facts person. During her ‘Wood U Believe It ‘ demonstration she
delivered an interesting talk on wood and used some of its by-products as the foundation to her
arrangements. She created six beautiful and varied arrangements.
The competition this month was entitled ‘Whoosh’; Novice – 1 st Linda Lipscombe, 2 nd Ann Mathia and
3 rd Delwyn Myers, Advanced 1 st Ann Jarvis, 2 nd Janet Samwell and 3 rd June Savory.
The Delia Pilcher Award judged by the members was won by Ann Jarvis.

October Meeting:

Michelle King from Warnham Flower Club was our demonstrator for the evening. ‘Tutti Frutti’
meaning ‘all fruits’ was the title of her demonstration. She produced six arrangements using a
variety of fruits, foliage and flowers. Altogether a veritable fruit salad and giving us a superb
demonstration.
Members were inspired by the title of the competition title ‘Trick or Treat’ as there was a full and
wonderful selection of entries: Novice 1 st Ann Mathias, 2 nd Delwyn Myers, 3 rd Linda Lipscombe and
Advanced – 1 st Tricia Bridgman, 2 nd Ann Jarvis and 3 rd Chris Wright.

September Meeting:

Chairman Margaret Moores welcomed everyone back after the summer break. Congratulations
were given to all the Sussex Area contestants who entered the NAFAS Floral Art and Design Show in
Islington which was to celebrate 60 years of the association. Special mention was given to our own
Linda Porrett who gained a 1 st in ‘Suspense’ and to Gaenor Circus, our demonstrator for tonight, with
a commended for ‘Shaped by Nature’.
Gaenor then provided us with a superb evening with her demonstration entitled ‘Through the Ages’.
Covering the periods of Japanese, Roman, Art Deco, 1960’s and the Edwardian era.

Competition Results
Novice – 1 st Delwyn Myers, 2 nd Linda Lipscombe, joint 3 rd Ann Mathias and Ann Saunders.
Advanced – 1 st Chris Wright, 2 nd Margaret Moores. 3 rd June Savory.

July Workshop:

It was a hive of activity in the hall for our July workshop when 20 members learnt how to do a pedestal. Barbara Garnell took the class and all the participants enjoyed a fun relaxed evening producing some very good pedestals.
Ann Ayre demonstrated how just using foliage can also make an attractive and low-cost
arrangement.

July Meeting: 

With less than 48 hours’ notice we unfortunately found ourselves without a demonstrator for the evening. Our talented committee pulled it out of the bag, once again. To get the evening going a glass of wine was served as members arrived and the show went on. Sue Seath, Val Adams, Sheila Cheal and Barbara Garnell provided great entertainment, producing beautiful arrangements whilst they regaled amusing tales and anecdotes of the life of a flower arranger. Sue kept the audience engaged with her witty chatty personality and in fits of laughter. The long applause at the close of the evening indicated what a success it had been.

Results for the competition entitled Fan-Tastic were:

Novice:1st Delwyn Myers, 2nd Iris Topper,

Advanced: 1st Ann Jarvis, 2nd Chris Wright, 3rd June Savory

The Betty Marwood Memorial trophy was won by Ann Jarvis

Boxgrove Priory: 

June had been a busy month for the club and had ended with some members stepping in at the last minute to participate in Boxgrove Priory’s Flower Festival with our interpretation of Zadok the Priest.

Flowers For A Lifetime Exhibition June 2019: 

All the planning over the last few months eventually came to fruition at the weekend. Members came up trumps with their exhibits and did the club proud. Visitors were very complimentary about the whole show and hopefully we have encouraged some of them to join our club. We will be giving a donation from the proceeds to The Sussex Kidney Trust. A very worthwhile charity supported by The Sussex Area NAFAS. See Below for all Exhibits.

June Meeting 2019: 

We welcomed Maggie Hayes as our demonstrator. Her title was ‘Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere’.  Her designs were representative of her visit to Africa. Photos of some of her exhibits are with her permission.

The competition for June was ‘Double Delight’ and was well supported, well done to all who entered.

Novice – 1st Elaine Soo, 2nd Martina Asmaar and 3rd Iris Tipper.

Advanced – Chris Wright, 2nd Janet Samwell and 3rd June Savory

East Preston Festival Week:

 

East Preston Floral Club will be staging an exhibition entitled, ‘Flowers for a Lifetime ’during the East Preston Festival on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th June 10am – 5pm.  At the Conservative Hall, Sea Road, East Preston, BN16 1JN.   A donation will be made to The Sussex Kidney Trust.

We will be using flowers to depict the various events that can happen during a human life. There will be a raffle and tombola plus coffee/tea and biscuits.

We will also be staging mini demonstrations and giving visitors a chance to ‘have a go’ during the weekend.

We look forward to meeting old and new visitors over the weekend.

May Meeting 2019: 

A warm welcome was extended to our demonstrator, Angie Hyde, Sussex Area NAFAS Chairman.
Angie produced some wonderful arrangements on the them ‘Out of My Shed’ and what a very
enjoyable and fun evening it was with lots of laughter and flowers.
Photos displayed are with her permission.
The competition table ‘Boot Fair Bonanza’ produced the following results:
Novice – 1 st Martina Asmaar. Advanced 1 st – Chris Wright, 2 nd Ann Jarvis and 3 rd June Savory.

April 2019 – Demonstration by Lynn Carter:

The Club welcomed Lynn Carter as our demonstrator for the evening. Lynn comes from Hastings and has her own Florist Shop. Lynn created a selection of arrangements using a variety of unusual bases, such as a milk churn, a miniature piano and an upside down vase, for her demonstration entitled @Inside Out and Upside Down’ Lynn provided a running commentary from tales as a florist and owning her own shop.  Lynn Carter kindly allowed us to show pictures of her arrangements in this news letter, which we are most grateful for. Thank you Lynn.

This months competition ‘Outside The Box’ brought in fewer results than usual, but still of a high standard. Novice – 1st Delwyn Myers, Advanced – 1st Ann Jarvis & 2nd June Savory.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 1st May and our demonstrator will be Angie Hyde. Visitors are always welcome.

March Workshop 2019:

20 members enjoyed the first workshop of the year, each doing two arrangements from articles in The Flower Arranger Magazine. The evening was enjoyed by all who attended, our thanks go to Val and Sue for organising the evening.

Our next workshop will be in July.

March Meeting: Wednesday 6th March 2019:

Chairman Margaret Moores welcomed a packed hall to the first meeting of the year. She announced
we will be taking part in the East Preston Festival Week this year with an Exhibition entitled
‘Flowers for a Lifetime’ on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th June.

Margaret then welcomed Gill Homer whose demonstration ‘Curious Containers’ gave us a variety of
arrangements using flowers such as pink Miss Piggy roses, Orange ‘Captain Odeon cala lilies, tiny
white delicate Alliums, tulips, genista and Iris. Plus, red and green foliage, Pussy Willow and
Magnolia branches. Gill also kept everyone entertained with her chatting and reciting anecdotes
from her flower arranging escapades.

The monthly competition ‘Victoriana’ (a petite) was well supported with some delightful exhibits.
Novice 1st Martina Asmar, 2nd Delwyn Myers, 3rd Janet Sutton. Advanced 1st June Savory, 2nd Tricia
Bridgman, 3 rd Chris Wright
Next meeting is 3 rd April. Our demonstrator is Lynne Carter with ‘Inside Out and Upside Down’ and
the competition is ‘Outside the Box’.
Visitors are always very welcome.

AGM Friday 6th February 2019:

At our AGM Chairman Margaret Moores welcomed everyone back after the Christmas and New Year break. She reported on the past year’s activities, which included workshops, coach trips to Pashley Manor and Wisley, participating in the Chichester Cathedral Flower Festival, East Preston Festival market day, Sussex Area Razzle Dazzle show and our annual lunch at the Vardar.

June Dwelly stepped down from the committee, although she will still be greeting everyone when they come in, she was presented with a bouquet of flowers and her 25 years badge.  Vicky Tuck was proposed and nominated to join the committee, the rest of the committee agreed to continue, and all were elected en-bloc.

Delwyn Myers, Ann Jarvis and Christine Wright were all awarded prizes for gaining enough points in the monthly competitions.

After the business side of the meeting members enjoyed a glass of wine plus cheese and biscuits organised by the committee. They then participated in a quiz which was organised by Barbara Garnell. The meeting concluded with a free raffle for the table flowers.

Our next meeting is on March 6th when the demonstrator will be Gillian Homer with ‘Curious Containers’ and the competition title ‘Victoriana’ A Petite max 25cm in all directions.

Visitors welcome.

December 2018 Meeting:

The Christmas themed extravaganza for the December club night got off to a glowing start with a glass of mulled wine on arrival.  And what a fabulous night it was, with our talented Committee providing the entertainment by demonstrating Christmas songs through flowers.  They began by spelling out Christmas in large individually decorated letters as the ‘Christmas Alphabet’ song was played, encouraging the audience to sing along.

As they performed Christmas songs were played, working in pairs and wearing festive hats, they showed off their flower arranging skills and presented six amazingly diverse displays.  They chatted to the audience and also outlined what their individual roles on the Committee entailed, from event organising, booking demonstrators, to attending Area meetings, giving an insight into just how much work goes into the running of the club.

The superb arrangements of wonderful fresh flowers were interspersed with baubles, glitter and sparkling fairy lights symbolising ‘Angels’, ‘Drummer Boy’, ‘White Christmas’, ‘Blue Christmas’, ‘Little Donkey’ with ‘Winter Wonderland’ providing a fairy tale finale.  At the end of the evening the stage was a fantastic display of colour.

With tea, coffee and warm mince pies served at half time and the amazing arrangements raffled off at the close of the meeting, an outstanding evening was enjoyed by all.

Competition results ‘Winter’s Tale’: Novice – 1st Elaine Soo, Tied 2nd Iris Tipper and Ann Saunders, Tied 3rd Martina Asmar and Delwyn Myers, Advanced – 1st Ann Jarvis, 2nd Chris Wright, Tied 3rd Janet Samwell and June Savory.