A very warm welcome to the OE Club web site

I am both extremely flattered and honoured to be asked to become the first ever female President of the Old Ellesmerian Club and look forward to continuing the sterling work that Richard Morris has done over the past 12 months, albeit in high heels with a big lipsticked smile! Having recently relocated from London back up to the rural idyll of North Wales where life is somewhat less frantic, it is great to be able to spend quality time with both friends and family, but also to be able to spend more time at Ellesmere experiencing the changes that have taken place over the years – this does not, however, stop a barrage of fond memories coming through!

Last year was a tremendous year for the club, with the Sports Festival attracting over 800 attendees, and thanks to a lot of hard work that had gone into planning the day, it was a resounding success with great feedback from all those who attended. One of the fabulous things about the day was that there were all generations of OEs visiting the school, with many of them bringing family along to visit. It was a great nostalgic day for many of us, and although my first day at Ellesmere back in September 1986 seemed like a lifetime ago, when I met with a number of old friends, it was just like it was yesterday. A huge ‘thank you’ to all those who were involved and attended the day.

On the sporting front, we will be holding a similar, but smaller event at the school again this year on September 8th, with the emphasis being purely on the sporting side of things, more details of which can be found here. I look forward to seeing a number of you again at Ellesmere for this in September.

Richard spent considerable time and effort in organising a number of social functions during his time as president and it was great to attend a number of the regional dinners with him and his wife, Pam, where I met so many fabulous OEs, and it has to be said that my parents also seem to have put a number of dates in their diary, so it wasn’t just me that had enjoyed the evenings. Details of all regional dinners can be found on the website throughout the year, so it’s worth putting a note in your diaries to visit the site every once in a while to see what’s coming up. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible during the year’s functions.

As I’m sure you are aware, the club and numerous events, do not run themselves, so there is a huge thank you to be said to all those who give considerable time and effort into making the OE Club what it is today – thank you to you all; you know who you are.

A special thank you must be said, however, to Mr David Leftwich, who has handed over the Chairmanship of the club to Richard Morris after 8 years at the helm. He has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the club and thank him dearly for all his support to both myself and the committee over the years – we have a lot to thank him for, but he now deserves a well earned rest from OE duties, though I doubt this is the last we’ll see of him.

Finally, I look forward to the year ahead of us and all that it brings – as always, we are keen to listen to the views of all OEs and welcome any suggestions you may have for the Club, be it social, sporting or formal events, so please do not hesitate to get in touch with myself or one of the members of the committee.

Good health and happiness to you all in 2007/2008.

Annie Granger (St Oswald’s 86-88)
Old Ellesmerian Club President