| Friends
of the Chalet School is a large, international group of
people who enjoy the books of Elinor Brent-Dyer; in
particular the Chalet School titles, but also her others
as well. (She wrote around 100 books, of which nearly 40
are non-Chalet, and of these, the La Rochelle series is
most closely linked to the Chalet School.) We have over 800 members ranging in age from 8 to over 80. There are male as well as female members and we come from all sorts of backgrounds. There is a section especially for younger members by popular request. We have a few pages in the newsletter for those aged under 13 - with articles written by younger members, and articles written for them. As well, there is a quiz / puzzle especially for members of this age group. Each newsletter has a couple of pages of sales and wants in which members advertise (for free) those elusive hardbacks, and also paperbacks, which they have for sale (and request those they want!). FOCS also sometimes buys books which we then sell to members. We also provide a list of second-hand dealers (free to members on receipt of a stamped addressed envelope, plus a couple of extra stamps). We run a lending library for those living in the UK. There is also a lending library for all Chalet fans in Australia. We produce four newsletters a year: in May, August, November and February. These are A5-sized magazines of around 56 pages in length. In addition, when you join you will be sent a new member's information booklet giving you more details about the club, a brief history of Elinor Brent-Dyer, a list of the Chalet Books in hardback and in paperback, a list of EBD's other books and our constitution. From time to time we also produce merchandise such as greetings cards featuring some of the original dustwrapper illustrations, T-shirts, tea towels etc., sold to members at favourable prices. |
|
We accept contributions sent
in by members (unless they duplicate previously published
information from earlier newsletters, are derogatory to
EBD or in bad taste!), no matter how short. Our most
popular section is 'A Chalet Confab' which runs to around
15-20 pages. This is made up of short comments by members
on subjects running from the length of Miss Annersley's
hair, through whether Vic Coles was a boy or girl, to who
is or isn't who in the von Eschenau family. Some members
write for every newsletter, some occasionally and a lot
never! It's up to you, and you will be just as welcome a
member however frequently or infrequently you write. The subscription rates are currently:
Subscriptions are due following the February
newsletter for everyone so, depending on the month in
which you join, you will receive up to four newsletters
to start with. If two or more Chalet fans live at the
same address then they may become joint members - only
one newsletter will be sent (and because of the way in
which the computer works only one name will appear on the
envelope) but otherwise they will be treated as
individual members. |
