Christmas Lunch QUARTERLY WINTER 2019
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QUARTERLY WINTER 2019 Christmas Lunch QUARTERLY WINTER 2019 P. 4 P. 7 COUNCIL EXECUTIVES Linda Ferguson Chair Usha Casewell Vice Chair Jenny Fearns Co Honorary Secretary Nicola Collins Co Honorary Secretary CONTENTS Patricia Hutton Honorary Treasurer Message from the Chair of Council 3 COMMITTEE CHAIRS Club Events 4-7, 10-11 The Activities Committee 8-9 Diane O’Hare Activities The Library Committee 11-12 Jennifer Lang Craft Group 12 Building Manisha Sharma Publicity & Promotion Committee 13 Community Outreach General Manager’s Desk 14 Julia Tsao Constitution and Byelaws The Community Outreach Committee 15 Usha Casewell The House & Garden Committee 16 Food & Beverage Linda Ferguson The Food & Beverage Committee 16 Fundraising & Events Advertising Rates 2020 18 Marilyn Chung House and Garden New Member List 18 Jenny Fearns Reciprocal Club List 19 Library Discount Benefits Scheme 2020 19 Ruth Kan Publicity & Promotion Club Information 20 Patricia Hutton Magazine Editor Mahjong Group – Drop in for members Monday 9:30 am – 3:30 pm MANAGEMENT Bridge Groups Betty Simpson Marge Lo Tuesday 9:30 am – 12:30 pm General Manager Donna Doran Tuesday 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm Phoebe Wong Book Group 1 Senior Manager – Accounts and Administration Gail Buttifant Last Tuesday of the Month 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Joanne Chan Book Group 2 Senior Manager – Membership and Marketing Melinda Sturges Last Friday of the Month 10:30 am – 12:00 pm Elaine Lo Craft Day Executive Assistant Patricia Hutton Every Thursday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Daniel Fung History Group Housekeeping Manager Patricia Hutton Every second Tuesday 2:15 pm – 4:15 pm Peter Lau Restaurant Manager from 11 Feb to 21 Apr Atta Tsang Assistant Banquet Manager If you would like to join any of these groups, please enquire at the Office. CHAIR OF COUNCIL t was an honour and privilege to be voted in as the Chair of Council for another year at our 97th AGM held on 12 November. It is surprising how Iquickly time flies. It is hard to believe that it was more than one year ago that I became your Chair of Council. We have truly accomplished a lot in the past year. The number of activities, events and social outings organised by our committees has been remarkable. Each committee is made up of members who volunteer their time to create these wonderful events. They all deserve a warm round of thanks. Without our volunteers, The Helena May would not be the sincere and welcoming place that we have all come to love. If you would like to become more involved in The Helena May committees, please let me know. In 2020 we are planning to increase the number of children’s activities held at the club. These include craft workshops, children’s games and storytelling. The children’s activities will be held on a Saturday morning approximately once a month. Please look for these and other activities in our Weekly E-news. Other upcoming activities include a tour of the Xiqu Chinese Opera Centre, visit to the Centre for Heritage Arts & Textiles and a visit to the Alexandra Grantham Film Archives to mention just a few. Our regular series of Classical Music performances, Classical Movie screenings, Wellness Talks, Author in the Library and the Dinner Talks series will continue into 2020. It promises to be a very exciting and interesting year. Please check the Weekly E-News for details. The Food & Beverage Committee is planning to roll out a new and improved menu this spring. The idea is to reorganise our offerings and highlight fresh seasonal ingredients. They are working with Heinz Egil, a Chef Consultant with over 40 years’ experience in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong. We are looking forward to seeing the results of their efforts. Starting in January we will be offering complimentary wine and other benefits for members hosting corporate functions and social gatherings at The Helena May. For your next special event, please consider holding it at The Helena May. I trust you and your family enjoyed the Christmas festivities wherever you were. I wish you all a happy and prosperous Year of the Rat in 2020! Linda Ferguson Chair of Council 3 CLUB EVENTS A Murderous Evening at The Helena May Friday night at The Helena May is usually a peaceful affair but on Friday 22 November the members were stunned to hear of three unexpected deaths! Well not exactly stunned, more accurately, enthusiastically Awelcomed! There was a wonderfully large turnout of members and guests for the latest Perilous Mouths production Murder on the Feast of St. Stephen. Lady Serena Southampton, appropriately dressed in black, but glittering with “diamonds” announced to all assembled that her husband had been shot in the library and we were off on a tangled tale sprinkled with clues to find out whodunnit! There was a fake Rembrandt, a secret love affair, a red envelope with a blueprint inside, a clandestine government agent and a police Inspector with a dubious Scottish accent. In between clues there was much eating and drinking, and it was all great fun. Helena May member Judith Waldron was the lucky one who guessed whodunnit and received a bottle of Champagne. There was also a Silent Auction that raised $12,000 for The Helena May Charity of the Year. Credit must go to the staff who did their usual excellent job in looking after us all throughout the evening. Janice Booth Member 4 CLUB EVENTS Children’s Christmas Party pon arrival at The Helena May’s Children’s Christmas Party on 4 December, our excited young guests enjoyed some games and UChristmas stories, though one or two of our tiniest revellers were more interested in the baubles on our beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Our wonderful staff provided a tasty and attractively presented tea for the children, whilst parents, grandparents and other friends had a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. Or two!! After tea, the excitement mounted as the jingling of bells could be heard and everyone began to call for Santa, who soon arrived accompanied by one of his loyal elves. Once seated in his special chair Santa led the singing of Christmas carols. Then it was time for him to delve into his sack and present every child with a gift. All too soon it was time for Santa to return to the North Pole and everybody said goodbye for another year. Nicola Collins Member of Library Committee 5 CLUB EVENTS Christmas Lunch here was a distinctive buzz in the dining room as members and guests gathered for the annual Christmas Lunch on 9 December. This event which Twas fully booked is a much anticipated treat. We came dressed in our bright Christmas colours reflecting the general excitement and chatter. It certainly was a lively, busy and glorious celebration. We were treated to a capella singing from a group of girls from the Sacred Heart Canossian College – a very talented choir. They were spectacularly good and cheerful. They came along with some of the Sisters from the School who too were bright and cheery. Of course our sous Chef and kitchen staff did the Club proud with the delicious food beautifully presented. The accompanying sale of goods produced by the Craft Group and the upcycling team was a further treat and many were able to purchase last minute Christmas presents. The event was held to raise funds for our charity of the year the Home Care for Girls. The proceeds from the lunch and the sale of the crafts raise HK$ 21,920, which is very encouraging. Thank you to all who organised the lunch and all who came. Usha Casewell Vice Chair of the Council 6 CLUB EVENTS 7 THE ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE Evening Talk Series: The Portuguese Community ur speaker and long-time member of Hong Kong’s Portuguese community, Mr Franciso A ODa Roza, can trace his family’s roots in Asia back to the early 1700s. For the audience that filled the Blue Room, he traced the roots of the Portuguese community moving from Europe to Asia and from Macau to Hong Kong, and talked about the development of their local cultures and traditions here. It was a fascinating ride through history brought Besides an enlightening talk, alive with Mr da Roza’s discussions on the classic East there was, of course, fabulous meets West traditions of ethnic cuisines and the Portuguese food – Caldo creole dialect (Patua) of Macau, as well as the Verde and the famous Bolos influence of the Catholic Church. He enthusiastically de Bacalhou (salt cod) – to explained how the bilingual and bicultural devour before we left quite Portuguese became entrenched in certain industries, satisfied. such as printing and banking, and filled civil service middle level positions with ease, and also how and Patricia Hutton why the community has dwindled in recent years. Council Member This is the fourth of our ongoing series of evening dinner talks that celebrate the multi-cultural diversity of Hong Kong’s inhabitants. Previously we learned about the Jewish Community, Parsi Community and Disappearing Hong Kong Trades. Please join us for future talks coming soon. The Helena May Bridge Team vs Shek O Country Club n the morning of 12 November, The Helena May bridge team played a match at The Helena May against a powerful team representing Shek O. The Helena May team, smarting from their 2018 defeat in this Oannual match, were determined to get revenge. The atmosphere was electric as the 20 board match, contested by 5 pairs on either side, was played to its conclusion. A key moment was when Stephanie and Janice, The Helena May’s top pair on the day, brought home a tricky six clubs contract that was not reached at the other tables.