Paulette's address at the Christmas Lunch

Good afternoon ladies,

How nice to be back again in this charming restaurant with so many walking friends. I’m glad we all could reach the Auberge today in spite of the weather conditions. This will be our first white Christmas lunch of the last 4 years.

Here are a few numbers for you to digest. They are quite impressive:

So far this year we’ve had 92 walks.

Some walks are more popular than others but Tervueren and Jesus Eik are the two places we go to most often.

This year we said bye bye to 2 stalwarts of our group, Sandy and Jennifer. We certainly miss them. But it was so nice to see some of our former walkers coming back to visit us: Marilyn, Christa W., Marie-Jo, Alison, Sarah, Sybil…

This year we had the celebration of Sandy’s departure at my home, the visit to the Zwin, thank you Veronique, the picnic and the couple’s walk in the Fagnes, thank you Sheila and Keith. I was going through the photographs of this year and noticed there were very nice shots of the bluebell walk, the azaleas walk in the chateau de la Hulpe, the strawberry walk, the pink cherry trees in Neerijse plus nice photos of our group standing or walking but also lovely shots of horses and foals in Alsemberg, sheep with 4 horns in Overijse and a squirrel in Zoetewater but the most unusual photograph was certainly Margaret’s photograph of a terrifying black devil’s coach-horse beetle which was acting like a scorpion in the Chateau de la Hulpe! Thanks to all the photographers.

There are a lot of ladies who deserve thanks today. First of all Anne B, who maintains the master list of the walking group and takes care of the blog when I’m not available. Joan, and Anne, have stepped up several times this year, for example, to lead additional walks during the summer and throughout the whole year during periods of illness. Thanks also to those who volunteered to lead walks: Bonnie, Charlotte, Deborah, Dolphine, Ghislaine, Gisela, Ingeborg and Sherry, Isobel, Jane Gill, Janet, Janette, Joyce and Pernette, Lydia and Lori, Margaret, Margosha, Martha, Sue Irving, Sue Roberts, Veronique and Yuko. I hope I didn’t forget anybody. It is so nice to see so many ladies playing an active part in the group.

Thanks also to those who opened their home and welcomed us graciously with coffee, tea and cakes this year. Having 20 pairs of muddy boots trampling through your living room is not everybody’s cup of tea…So I think it is worthwhile saluting the courage of Christa, Deborah, Ingeborg, Jane Gill, Penny, Veronique and Yuko.

Last but not least, a big thank you once again to Sheila for leading the easy walks all year long .

Thinking about Sandy …and Jennifer who are following our adventures on the blog and who we are in contact with from time to time, would you mind signing these cards for them?

Finally, there are still a few walks in December including a Christmas hat walk in town and a Christmas Pancake Lunch. So enjoy your walks for the rest of the year. Thank you all for supporting the Walking Group. Enjoy your meal and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year