It has been a couple of months since I last covered activates of the Lower Hutt Stroke Club. During that time we have been entertained by four completely different speakers. The first was a very entertaining talk by a lady who had not long returned from travelling in England and Wales. Many of our members, including my wife and me, had travelled throughout England and Wales and enjoyed the experience very much. Our speaker gave us a new perspective on the trip. She had been to many of the places where we had been and many places where we have not been. It was however a very interesting talk which was very well received.

In the next meeting we had a very interesting talk by the Sergeant in Arms at the New Zealand Parliament. The position in our Parliament is very important and he has very strong powers. He carries a Mace and walks in front of the Speaker of the House as she enters and leaves the debating chamber. If for example, the Speaker orders an unruly member from the debating chamber, the Sergeant in Arms takes him or her out.

Two tutors from the Wellington School of Medicine gave the next session on falls in the home. Many of our members, including myself, had fallen down in our homes. Once, a couple of months ago, I had fallen in the shower and was unable to get onto my feet. I had to wait in a lying position until Enid, my wife, returned from her morning walk before she could seek help from a neighbour. This neighbour had to get into the shower (the water had been turned off) and lift me to my feet. I have since had an aid put into the bath, which enables me to sit. It is suppressing how many of our members have had this problem and it was a very timely talk and demonstration.

Finally this month we had a very interesting talk by a lady who spoke about her interesting life of being a mother, a schoolteacher and just living in New Zealand. She was most entertaining and accompanied her talk with some of her own amusing poetry.

Earlier this month our club lost one of its tireless workers. Howard Adams had been on our committee ever since I had joined the club nearly 10 years ago. He and his wife, Betty, were always at the door to greet new and old members as they arrived. In later years Howard had a couple of strokes but these did not stop him from helping out at the club. His speech was very hard to understand in his last few months but this did not stop him from greeting members at the door for each meeting.

I suppose it came as no surprise to lean at his funeral that he also did volunteer work for other groups. The Lower Hutt Stroke Club has lost a friendly greeter and tireless worker and committee member but fortunately his wife Betty will still carry on his work. At his funeral many tributes were paid to Howard. He was a wonderful man who will be sorely missed not only by the Stroke Club but also by the other organisations for whom he did volunteer work. It was great however, to see his widow in attendance at our latest meeting of the Stroke Club.