This appears to be the edition for mishaps with disks and printouts. I have received disks with the wrong files; disks with no files; disks with files in incompatible formats and printouts with no disks. REMEMBER – if you have a computer please send you copy on disk as well as a printout. I can convert most DOS based WP formats to what I need. This means I can devote more time to actually editing and laying out the Newsletter rather than copy typing.

 

STOP PRESS – we have a nomination for President. Please read Janet Dowling’s contribution in this Newsletter. Copies of this will be available at the AGM. Remember you can stand for this or any other post until just before the AGM starts, you just need to be nominated and seconded. An election for any of the posts would be fun – we can use the highly democratic but mind-blowing electoral system we have adopted.

 

No one has taken any notice of my comments about the quality of music for morris and how it affects the quality of the dance. So, is there anyone out there reading this? What do you think? Does boring, dull, timid music make dull dancing – write to me with views, comments etc.

 

As usual Sidmouth was fun; and the new venues for the Marquees was a great improvement on last year. As usual many morris sides in evidence. There appears to be a growing trend for sides to dance once or twice during the week, for example at the Market Square and then enjoy the rest of the festival as a ‘punter’. This means that if you are there for the week you can see a wide range of styles and standards as well as meeting old friends and making new ones. The dance competition was disappointing with only five sides entering and none of them were outstanding. Were you there? Do you feel your side could do as well or better? If you do why not consider entering next year and making this a real showcase, and remember this is a ten minute performance, not a ten minute pub spot.

 

Enclosed with this Newsletter is a copy of a questionnaire for the second Morris Injuries survey. Please complete this, whether you have had injuries or not. It is important that we know how and why you are being injured and the type of treatment you are receiving.

 

Also enclosed are the Briefing notes from the Home Office about street collections. There was a report in the Publicity section last quarter about the meeting the three morris organisations had with the Home Office. The basic message is: if you are not collecting for charity you do not need a licence, if you are collecting for a charity – whether that cause is a registered charity or not, you do need a licence.

 

The new edition of the main section of the MF manual is enclosed with this Newsletter. Please throw away all your existing white pages and insert these instead. DO NOT throw away any of the appendices (these are up-to-date).

 

Copy date for the Winter Newsletter is 1st November. I am on holiday until the 5th of that month. Therefore I will accept copy received up to 6th November. Any copy received after that date (or unusable eg. no file on disk etc.) will not be