The first meeting after the summer recess was held on September 1 at the Heywood Mount Hotel.

After a welcome back to the members, president Jenny introduced Mrs. Pat Price, a trustee of the Tenby Arts Festival.

A previous visitor to the club, she was delighted to tell members about the programme for 2009.

This year, there had been no arts grant, so although it had entailed a great deal more work, the result had made it worthwhile.

After Pat had gone through the programme, everyone agreed that it sounded excellent and expressed the hope that the festival would be once again, a great success.

Reviewing the summer break, president Jenny reported that it had been quite a busy one. The club had held a garden party in aid of Paul Sartori and she had been delighted to later present them with a cheque for £750. Both events had taken place at Fairfield, Tenby, the home of founder club member Margaret Hughes and Graham Hughes.

The annual outing had been to the Botanic Gardens, where the day had coincided with a wonderful exhibit of paper dresses, and an excellent evening meal had completed the day. Sincere thanks were expressed to social secretary Eiona for organising the day.

Finally, a visit from Veronique Bequet, president of the Tenby link club of Charleroi, Belgium, and her husband, had brought August to a close. The visitors had been staying with club member Marjorie Piper, who brought to the meeting a purse/shopping bag that the Belgium Soroptimists were selling in aid of their project on the issue of FGM. Tenby had been delighted earlier this year to discover that it was a project that they themselves were working on. It strengthened the link between the clubs.

Programme action officer Ann Kelly reported on the Slavery schools competition, which had been a resounding success. The exhibition of the children's work mounted at the Tenby Museum had been superb thanks to Mark Lewis, and the judging had now been done. Letters were now to be written for the winning pupils and schools, prizes to be organised, and the presentation of the latter would be on September 30. Ann was congratulated for all the hard work and the success of the project.

The club would also like to thank the project's main sponsor Chevron together with other sponsors for their support.

Link club co-ordinator Margaret James told members that the Charleroi club had given a donation of £50 towards the seat to be placed on Saundersfoot Harbour in memory of Dr. Olga Ryland. A letter of thanks had been sent.

Names were then taken for members going to the regional meeting and the final item discussed was the forthcoming fashion show at Heywood Mount Hotel on October 4. The hotel was being more than helpful with the arrangements for the event, taking a weight off the club's shoulders. A list of models was finalised and a venue for a practice evening was to be arranged. Dates were given for the models wearing outfits from T. P. Hughes to visit the store for fitting; those modelling for Paul Sartori have also been notified. Tickets for the event are available from club members and the Tenby Observer office.

Closing the meeting, president Jenny thanked everyone for their patience during a marathon session, and said she looked forward to seeing everyone at the presentation evening.