Shrewsbury, 7th September 2012.
Dear friends of the Shrewsbury Wine Circle,
My name is Rudi Werner.
On behalf of the Committee and members of the Zutphen Amateur Wijnmakersgilde Arnolt van Gelre, we congratulate Shrewsbury Wine Circle with its 40th anniversary.My wife Audrey and I, members of the Zutphen Amateur Wijnmakers Gilde Arnolt van Gelre, thank you for the invitation to celebrate with you this happy event.
Contacts between the Shrewsbury Wine Circle and Zutphen’s “Arnolt van Gelre” go back a long time.
A little bit of history:
In 1995 50 members of the Shrewsbury Wine Circle came to meet us in Zutphen. The ones who were on that party remember surely our beautiful medieval cellar. We enjoyed your company and were invited for a return visit to Shrewsbury.
In 1996 our chairman Nel de Zwart and husband Herman decided to visit SWC privately. They were very surprised to see Audrey, myself and our daughter Brenda waiting for them in front of the Castlefields Communty Centre, where you had your monthly meeting.
In 2000 you were our guests again in Zutphen. You might remember that we presented you with a traditional Sinterklaas celebration. Sang Sinterklaas songs together in English and Dutch. Nel de Zwart even appeared dressed up as Sinterklaas and Auk was dressed up as Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) his servant.
In 2002 14 members of AvG got the opportunity to visit Shrewsbury as there were some spare seats in the coaches with Zutphen stage groups. We appreciated the effort you put in to make it an unforgettable stay for all of us. We were looked after very well end enjoyed great hospitality at your homes. We were really spoiled.
In 2003 11 members of your Wine Circle made use of spare seats when the Shrewsbury stage groups visited Zutphen. We took you to the open air museum “Erve Kots” where we had real Dutch pancakes for lunch. Next day we visited a working Dutch windmill and in the afternoon visited the Mustard Factory in Doesburg and had brown bean soup in our cellar as an evening meal..
In 2005, the SWC paid AvG a visit again. You will probably remember the nice party on the farm of Denise and Paul. And I am sure you will remember that the coach you travelled on had flat tires and you all had to change to another coach to get safely back to Zutphen! We all very much enjoyed the dinner that you invited us to in the hotel you stayed in.
It is nice to be here and present a little gift on behalf of our committee and ourselves of some Dutch products. Nel and Herman asked us to hand over this box of excellent wines. Zutphen wishes you good health and happiness.
