Newsletter
Market Stall Fund Raising
On Thursday 29th September we held a fund raising cake stall, tombola and raffle at the Oundle Market. We are pleased to report that £200 was raised. Many thanks to all who contributed cakes and prizes and to those who gave up their morning to run the stall. Andrésy Visit Report
Over the weekend of 14th, 15th and 16th of October 11 people from ODTA and 21 from Oundle BridgeClub (on an annual exchange visit) travelled to Andrésy for the 10th Anniversary Twinning Festival. The twinning party included the Mayor of Oundle Councillor June Round and her husband John. Also present were representatives from Andrésy’s other twin towns; Haren in Germany, Vlagtvedde in Holland, Korgom in Niger and Miedzyrzecz in Poland. The programme included a Mayor’s reception on Friday evening followed by a superb jazz/swing band concert in the Julien Green Centre. On Saturday morning a 90 minute official ceremony with about 150 people present took place to commemorate the Twinning successes between all the towns and in particular the 10th anniversaries of twinning with Oundle and Korgom. Mayor June Round thanked the Andrésy mayor for his kind hospitality and gave him a special present from Oundle, a limited framed copy of a painting of Oundle by local artist Gillian Dolby. An entertaining open air cocktail party in ideal weather was held by the quayside in the middle of the Saturday market, where further contacts were made with a local rowing representative and the cycling chairman, as well as an interview with June Round by a local newspaper editor. A convivial lunch was provided by Andrésy Twinning Association nearby for all the twinning delegations, where new contacts were made with Deputy head of Andrésy St Exupéry School, Marie- Chantal Vie. We hope this will lead to some further school exchanges. Meanwhile Murielle Marty of Andrésy Primary Schools gave us an update on the active exchange with Oundle & Warmington Primary Schools, liaising with Oundle-based Nathalie Kernick who had sent over an album made by our pupils for their young French friends. Saturday activities for twin-town youngsters included badminton matches for the 2 PWS Oundle pupils with their Andrésy friends from last year’s visit to Oundle.
On Sunday morning a friendly sumptuous Brunch was held before all the Twinning delegations said goodbye, with the Germans and Dutch getting on their coach for the 700km trip (the towns are 25 km from each other either side of the Dutch-German border), whilst the Oundle twinners returned by car or Eurostar, or even continued elsewhere in France on holiday.
A full report is available on the ODTA web site.
Future Dates for Your Diary
Andrésy Road Run
On Sunday 28th November the annual Andrésy “20 Bornes” road run of 2.5km to 20km takes place. This event is open to all ages and Oundle participants are welcome to join in.
Andrésy Christmas Market Visit – 2nd to 5th Dec
Paul and Jean will be returning to Andrésy for the Christmas market in December. This, for those who have not participated before, is an indoor event in the Julien Green Hall situated in Andrésy alongside the River Seine. You too could spend the weekend being hosted by our friends in Andrésy, enjoying a mixture of the Christmas market and experiencing the joys of Paris at Christmas including the wonderful illuminations at the Galeries Lafayette or the lights along the Champs Elysées.
Cycling Event
Andrésy and Haren cyclists are organising a 700 km social ride from Haren in Germany to Poland during May and invite Oundle cyclists to join them.
Nauort Visit to Oundle May 2012
After a very enjoyable visit to Nauort in May of this year, our friends from Nauort will be visiting us between Thursday May 17th and Sunday May 20th 2012. Anyone who has been involved with these visits in the past will verify they are great fun and a very good way to build friendships and experience different cultures. Normally, a good number of visitors come from Nauort so we are always looking for new host families. If anyone would be interested in hosting, please contact Keith Pike on 01832-280041.
Please e-mail Natalie at secretary@odta.org.uk or leave a message on 01832 275567 to confirm if you wish to participate in any of these forthcoming events.
David Moore, Natalie Moore, Paul Weetman, Chris Elliot, Keith Pike, Jean Jackson, Stephen Dalzell.
