There is interest in Rinteln for playing bowls and darts, and it is hoped that groups will be coming to Kendal in the near future to take us on.

Philip Ball stood down as Chairman, and the position was filled by Diane Innes. Rachel Hogg was elected Vice Chair, with Stuart Bell, Frances Corrie, Pat Towers and Peter Corrie continuing as Treasurer, Publicity officer, Archive officer and Membership officer respectively.

Events for 2014 kicked off with a German Wine Tasting Evening at the Town Hall on February 27th. This was a tremendous success with all 90 tickets sold. The Wine Master for the evening was John Hodgson, who started the proceedings by getting everyone to taste the skin, and flesh of a grape, to provide an understanding of how wines get their differing tastes.

Five different wines were tasted during the evening, starting with a sparkling Sekt, followed by a Pinot Noir. An excellent cold platter of German foods, prepared by Jane Reekie, was served and accompanied by a Hock. The fourth wine was a Riesling and finally a desert wine accompanied by apple strudel.

We are grateful to John Hodgson for providing his expertise, as well as Jane for the food.

AGM 2013

The Annual General Meeting, held on 24th October, was attended by around 50 people. Presentations were given by WOSP, and the three Queen Katherine students who attended the Summer University. The Mayor, Sylvia Emmott, together with the Dixons, then spoke about the recent visit by themselves and members of South Lakeland District Council, during which they were shown a water purification plant, a biomass energy plant and other civic enterprises. It is hoped that this visit will provide inspiration for future beneficial projects in Kendal and South Lakeland.

Philip Ball was re-elected as Chair for the coming year, Dianne Innes as Vice-Chair, and Stuart Bell as Treasurer. The position of Secretary is vacant. Anyone who can help in this respect, please get in touch.

After last year’s big events, we are currently planning for the next two years. Ideas in the pipeline include a World War 1 History project by Queen Katherine school in conjunction with Rinteln Museum, a visit to Rinteln by a Kendal choir. There is also a strong possibility that there will be music related exchanges between the Ernestinum school in Rinteln and Queen Katherine School within the next couple of years.

Kendal College is linking up with similar colleges in Rinteln and Hamlin and there will be exchanges of students from early next year.

There is repeat invitation for three Kendal students to attend the Summer University week in Rinteln, whilst semi-official visits by the respective Mayors are expected to take place this year.

Meanwhile we are looking to the future, and particularly would like to increase exchanges between clubs, associations, sports clubs, etc with equivalent orginisations in Rinteln. If you are a member of such an organisation, and are interested in twinning links, please let us know and we will obtain the relevant contacts for you.

Annual General Meeting 2012 At the Annual General Meeting on 13th November, Philip Ball was elected as Chair for the next twelve months, following the retirement of Richard Pealing after three years in the post.

Richard spoke about the events of the past year, which was mostly about the 20th anniversary celebrations, and also reflected on the events that have taken place over those 20 years. He referred to the archive material which fills a number of files, which reminds us all of what has taken place, and shows how the twinning has developed and grown since 1992.

20th Anniversary Celebrations in Rinteln A weekend of celebrations took place in Rinteln over the weekend of 10-12 August to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the twinning between Rinteln and Kendal, and also between Riteln and Slawno.

The official opening was performed by Bürgermeister Karl-Heinz Buchholz, with speeches also given by Mayor of Kendal John Willshaw and Mayor of Slawno Krzysztof Frankenstein. Mayor Willshaw had been well coached and gave his speech in faultless German!

For more information and pictures on the weekend, see the   20th Anniversary Celebrations  page and the photographs on the  Facebook Album .