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PCC. Tuesday ,Tuesday 26th. November 2013
Minutes of the meeting of the Parochial Church Council of
St Nicholas' Church, Shepperton
held in the Parish Centre at 8.15pm on Tuesday 26th November 2013
Those present: Neal Adolphus, Nicky Addy, the Rev Pamela Barrie, Mike Betchley, Guy Blythman, Margaret Bennet, Caroline Button, Sylvia Carter, Jane Davies, Kathy Hodge, Howard Watson, Janice Wetherell, Geoffrey Jones and the Rector in the Chair.
1) Apologies for absence were received from Johnny Kilhams, Angela Enock-Shore and the Rev Harold Nicholson.
Prior to the meeting starting, the PCC Secretary read out a very warm email from Jenny Adolphus, thanking the PCC for their generous support of the hamper raffle at the Winter Fair. The PCC wished to note officially their enormous thanks to Jenny and her team for the huge effort involved in creating a record-breaking event this year.
2) The Minutes of the meeting of 24th September were approved and signed.
3) Matters arising
Creating a Church Handbook and Calendar- Sylvia reported that following a couple of meetings, the Working Group now had an early version of the calendar and are hoping to have details for December up on the website soon. The rest of the year was making very good progress with new dates able to be added on a rolling basis. In due course the task would be handed over to the Church Administrator.
Creating a Fabric Committee – the Rector was pleased to report that Mike Betchley is willing to chair such a committee and that Jimmy Harrow, Julia Jelley, and Eric Pizzey had also agreed to be involved. Additionally Howard will approach Colin Barnard and the Rector and Mike will discuss further the finer remit of the committee.
4) Financial Report – including the setting of local fees for 204
Prior to the meeting, Geoffrey had circulated papers detailing the Forecast for 2013 and the Budget for 2014. In essence, 2013 should balance or very nearly so. However, 2014 is currently looking at a probable shortfall of £7000. This figure needs to come from stewardship and donations and could be achieved by an average additional gift of £2.88 per month from all households on the Electoral Roll and from those households who give regularly but who are not on the Roll. John Child has agreed to convene a group to present a fresh approach to regular giving in the parish during February and early March 2014. Donations will not be covered in this presentation and needs to have a separate strategy and approach. The PCC noted it's thanks to Geoffrey for the clear financial information provided.
Local fees for 2014 – the PCC agreed to increasing the Church maintenance element of a basic wedding package from £70 to £98 – making £600 in total for the basic wedding fee.
Currently St Nicholas pays c£1600 per year for flowers and Mike queried whether, due to cost constraints, we were in danger of getting rid of the flowers. He felt strongly that this would not be a wise cost saving as having fresh flowers always brightens the church. Caroline suggested giving a donation towards flowers in remembrance of someone and it was agreed this could prove successful and that the administrator might help with overseeing this task.
As part of the continuing discussion on financial matters, the Rector noted that we really do need to think of resourcing St Nicholas in different ways and consider how we use the resources we have more creatively. We are not going to receive any outside help with this – it is an issue for us to solve ourselves. We most definitely need quite a considerable increase in revenue if we are to maintain creative administration, and develop our mission – especially among young families.
Howard reported that the Parish Centre is running at a possible deficit of £2500. Mike said that almost all of this is from the loss of the regular Friday booking, Ideally the Centre should be for the use of the Church, but should we now look at marketing the Centre to a much wider audience? Might it be possible to hire out the rooms during the day to external groups? Although the Parish Centre is run as a separate entity to the Church, the PCC were reminded that we are responsible for both. If we are to broaden out our ministry we will need to increase our income considerably.
The Rector requested that the lapsed subscription to the Council for Christians and Jews be re-activated and this was agreed by the PCC.
5) Legacies
Prior to the meeting, Geoffrey had circulated information on legacies and a suggested letter to send out to the congregation on this topic. The PCC agreed to the letter coming from the Church Wardens but that we should wait until Easter for it to be sent. The common perception is that the Church is wealthy, but it isn't! Such legacy information could also be put into the Shepperton News.
6) Report from the Deanery Synod – the 2020 Vision for the Diocese continues to take shape – with confidence, compassion and creativity being the key components.
7) Church Administrator – Howard was very happy to report that Linda Lane had been appointed and is starting on Monday 2nd December. Linda should do DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) and Caroline will look into this clearance.
8) Developments at the 11.15 All Age Worship Service – Pamela reported that they are putting together a music group to support the service – initially to play once a month. The third Sunday will now include the Eucharist but will be laid out much less formally than at the 9.30 service. It is hoped to include as many 'voices' as possible with children encouraged to take part.
9) Church Restoration Project Update – Howard was delighted to report that the form will be submitted to Heritage Lottery Fund this week and that we are bidding for £80,000 (phase one, structural.) Hopefully we will hear back favourably by March and then able to start on the South Transept work in March 2015. The money currently in the fund will go towards the second phase.
10) Works to the Cemetery and the Churchyard – currently in progress with the Friends of St Nicholas guaranteeing £1000 towards improvements.
11) Safeguarding – Caroline circulated the Safeguarding Policy Statement which needs to be signed and displayed in the church – agreed by the PCC. Pamela queried whether the PCC had seen the latest Safeguarding Policy and Caroline said she will circulate this/website link .
12) Correspondence – St John Fisher had written to ask whether we wished to sponsor a golf hole in aid of the Philippines disaster. The PCC decided to ask St John Fisher if we could put together a team ourselves to enter the golf challenge and support the cause in that way. The Rector agreed to explore further.
13) Church Wardens Notices – none
14) AOB – Olwen Tarbox's funeral will take place on Tuesday 10th December at 1200
There being no other business, the meeting closed with The Grace at 10.05pm.
Next meeting scheduled for Wednesday 22nd January 2014


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By: Vicky Choy on Dec 15, 2014 in Autos, Our Experts
Talk about love and dedication. The year was 1968 when in Orange, CA, college professors and car enthusiasts Fred Peters and Charles Betz bought a wrecked 1954 Ferrari 375MM Spider convertible for $1,100 from another car collector. The Ferrari was a mess; the body had been destroyed, the chassis shortened and chopped. There was no engine.
But, Betz had seen the car at its best when it raced in the 1958 Times Mirror Grand Prix in Riverside and he knew what it could be.
The men had a vision of restoring the '54 Spider to perfection and thus embarked on a 40-year journey to find the missing pieces. Along the way, the guys kept their day jobs while indulging in their car restoration business. "It was just a hobby that got out of hand," Peters explained. He worked as a psychology professor at Fullerton College and specialized in restoring German cars while Betz taught economics at Cerritos and worked on English and Italian sports cars.
The duo eventually started specializing in Ferraris in the '60s and '70s, they were cheap since very few knew people knew how to work on them and there were no Ferrari service manuals. In 1968, the men even opened a used Ferrari dealership but it only lasted 2 years. Betz explained, "Everyone wanted a new Ferrari, not a used one. Nobody likes you if you're in the used Ferrari business." They kept restoring cars and sometimes, they actually made a profit. In 1970, they acquired a Ferrari 250 Lusso that needed a new engine for $4,000. They sold the Lusso for $12,000 in 1976. (In 1986, the same car sold for $80,000 and sold again a few years later for $580,000).
Meanwhile, Betz and Peters' families grew and wives came and went as they patiently searched for 375MM parts, which was no easy task. Only fourteen 375MM Spiders were made and two had already been destroyed. They found pieces here and there but what they really needed was in the possession of another collector who had many key parts they needed. But he refused to sell, so Betz and Peters waited. Finally, the collector sold the car to English Ferrari restorer David Cottingham who was friends with the men. Cottingham sold them the pieces they needed: the car's original gas tank, shift knob, hood and passenger seat.
The final phase of the decades long 375MM restoration could now begin. The frame was rebuilt and the body repaired and painted with reproduced paint. The engine was finally reassembled. Even the wood steering wheel, the leather seats and details like the hood latches' leather straps were restored flawlessly. Betz's son, Brooke joined the restoration team. He estimates his dad and Peters spent at least $1 million in parts with $400,000 going just into the engine. After 46 years, the Ferrari was finally perfect.
In 2014, the men decided to liquidate their car collection since Betz was now 75 years old and Peters was 83. In August, the 375MM went on the auction block in Monterey, CA. During the auction, the men were hopeful since a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO had already sold for $38 million, the highest price ever paid for a car at an auction. The top bid for the 375MM came in a little under $5.8 million.
However, it wasn't enough and the guys passed. Betz said, "In terms of what we've spent, we would have been way ahead. But we've owned it for 46 years and $5.8 million just won't do it."
The partners now store the 375MM with six other classic cars they keep in their collection. Inquiries about the Ferrari still come in from time to time but for one financial reason or another, a deal has never been finalized. The men don't seem to mind. They admit they like seeing the restored 375MM sitting in the garage. And they are in no rush to sell since any time they did sell one of their restored cars, they always felt "a little twinge." As Peters explains it "You put your heart into these cars. You remember what they were."
Read more about today's new car models that's sure to turn into tomorrow's classic cars on Motor Trend Garage's blog.

subset: commoncrawl


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Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich: An Indiana Tradition
I have been to Indianapolis twice, each time for just a brief stay: once to celebrate Christmas and the other to attend a wedding. So I haven't had much time to explore the local cuisine. It was, however, a delight to actually see a White Castle restaurant in Indianapolis, something I have only heard of and seen in one of the Harold & Kumar movies.
I wanted to include in my blog a recipe that was representative of Indiana. I was told that the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich is definitely an Indiana tradition, although folks outside of the state would probably not know what you're talking about when you mention this sandwich. The most interesting bit of information I got was that it ain't an Indiana breaded pork tenderloin sandwich unless the pork is larger in size than the sandwich bun. This reminded me of a hot dog sandwich I had at a Christmas market in Dresden, Germany where the hot dogs were sticking out like a sore thumb, except in a good, delicious way (see photo).
4 pork loin cutlets
4 whole wheat buns (or any kind of bun)
3 eggs
6 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp freshly-ground pepper
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Using a rolling pin, flatten the pork cutlets until thin. Don't worry if your cutlets will be larger than the buns. That's how it should be!
In a shallow bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper
Dip cutlets in the egg mixture, then into a plate with the bread crumbs
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high
Add the breaded cutlets into the skillet and fry both sides until they are golden brown
Place cooked cutlets on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil
Place buns in a toaster until slightly crisp before putting a breaded cutlet in each bun
Add your choice of sandwich dressing: lettuce, tomato, onion, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and pickle.
Enjoy and share!
(Makes 4 sandwiches)


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