September

HOUSE OF ENGLAND
www.houseofengland.org
House of Pacific Relations
2191 W Pan American Rd, San Diego, 92101
President
Fran Weekley
619-262-5512
Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
NEWSLETTER- September 2014
fweekle@cox.net
Vice-President
Rachel Adams
858-354-1871
Rachel@sandiegohoney.com
2nd Vice-President
Hosting coordinator
Eileen Ford
760-940-8835
refordcal@sbc.global.net
Secretary
Hilary Lafoe
858-703-4941
Hilary.rowe@taylorandfrancis.com
Treasurer
(Assistant Webmaster)
Melvin Weekley
619-262-5512
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday September 2, 2014. This will be held at the HOUSE OF HUNGARY,
by kind permission, as the Hall of Nations is being worked on by the City. Meeting will start
6:30pm with light refreshments, followed by the business meeting and then a Dahlia presentation
by David and Sharon Tooley.
LADIES’ AUXILIARY LUNCHEON: Wednesday September 10, 2014, noon, hosted by House of
Philippines- also being held at the House of Hungary. Men invited too. Cost is only $4 per
person. It is always a great meal and good fellowship.
NOTE: October luncheon will be hosted by the House of England. Selina will be catering for us.
Let’s all attend and enjoy a lovely English meal. We need five volunteers to help serve-see Fran.
MEMBER NEWS
Meeting minutes: The July minutes have been mailed or emailed with this newsletter to save
time. Please read so that they can be approved (with any corrections needed) at the September
meeting (There was no business at the August picnic-only fun!).
mlweekle@cox.net
Trustees
Steve Gonzales
619-260-8178
Arya Zeighamnia
619-584-7555
deraryalowe@gmail.com
Membership
Terry Carpenter
Britlady68@peoplepc.com
HPR Delegates
Fran Weekley
Mel Weekley
HPR Alt. delegates
Rachel Adams
Arya Zeighamnia
Linda Stolliker
Webmaster
Richard Steadham
Birthdays for September: Steve G., Betty, Bob, Roy, Richard, Kent.
Volunteer needed…..to host at the October meeting. We reimburse expense of food and offset
this with food donations at the meeting. Please let Fran know if you are able.
Fourth Tuesdays at the cottage: We open every month from noon to 3pm as part of the Free
Museums for locals program. Come host with Fran and chat with the visitors. Always good fun!
Next one is September 23rd. (Visit a museum for free in the morning while in the park!).
Sunday Hosting at cottage: We voted at the Feb 2014 meeting to award a free Christmas party
ticket to anyone doing 8 hostings a year. Check you status! Please volunteer so you will be
eligible.
Nominating committee needed: September is when we form the committee so that a slate can
be presented at the October meeting and voted on in November. Please let Fran know if you can
serve on the committee and/or you would like to run for office in 2015.
Website updated: Check it out! Thank you Mel for many hours spent working on it.
Accomodation needed: Terry Carpenter has an elderly Brit friend needing a 1 BR or Studio to
rent for Sept/ Oct. She has a lhasa apso dog. Call Terry at 619-697-5607 if you can help.
rstiddem@gmail.com
Assistant Webmaster
Jennifer Bridges
Jennifer_bridges@outlook.com
Newsletter Editors
Frances & Melvin Weekley
Annual Audit of the Treasurer’s books: DONE! Big thank you to Shirley, Maureen and
Meegan who completed the audit on August 22.
Articles for the newsletters: Please contact Fran if you would like to see a special subject
addressed or have an article/photo you would like to share.
HMS VICTORY: ….coming to the cottage. Fran will explain at the October meeting!
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HOSTING AND HOSTESSING AT THE COTTAGE
Thank you to our volunteers.
Call our hosting chairperson, Eileen Ford to volunteer for future dates. 760-940-8835
Commitment is from 12 noon to 4PM, providing light refreshments and milk (teabags and sugar are
provided) and chatting with the visitors. Donations are accepted for upkeep of the cottage.
(Cottage must have the doors open a minimum of 4 hours between 12:00 noon and 5:00pm)
Aug 3
Aug 10
Aug 17
Aug 24
Aug 31
Steve/ Sharon, Fran/Joanne
Fran/Charlotte, John/Emma
Fran, Gabby
Roy and Eileen
Dottie/Fran, Paul/Chris
Sept 7
Sept 14
Sept 21
Sept 28
Steve/Sharon, Fran
OPEN
Aileen/Meegan, Fran
OPEN
PLEASE VOLUNTEER-CALL EILEEN!
Fran will work with anyone hosting for the first time to show how we do it!
Reminders: It is acceptable to take $10 per host from the donations towards cost of milk and food- just let the Treasurer
know for accounting purposes.
Also, please let Fran know if you notice that any supplies need replenished.
House of England Lapel Pins: These are on display at the cottage. If a visitor donates to obtain one, please let Mel
know when turning in the donations money. (Pins are $4 each).
Interested in joining House of England?
Print a membership application from the website (www.houseofengland.org/member) or get one at the cottage
on a Sunday afternoon and mail with check for $12 made out to the House of England to membership
chairperson, Terry Carpenter, 3955 Violet Street, La Mesa, Ca 91941.
THE SMALL village on
Anglesey in North Wales
with the longest place
name in Britain is famous.
Yet few people know how it
came by its tailor-made
name of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch! At the beginning of the last century it
was called simply Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, meaning “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel.” Then a
local tailor, well-known for his pranks, suggested lengthening it in order to attract tourists. The name of the
tailor whose inspiration put the village on the map has been forgotten; but his skill in threading together words
lives on in “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel, near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St.
Tysilio, near a red cave.”
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HOE SUMMER PICNIC 2014
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THAT PIANO IN THE COTTAGE: In 2012, we talked about getting rid of the piano in the
cottage but, thanks to a passionate appeal by Shirley, the piano was kept and moved into the main
room of the cottage. Thank goodness!
Here are some of the many visitors that come by and play the piano. They always get applause and appreciation.
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Shakespeare's Corner Shoppe & Afternoon Tea:
(Tea Room, British Restaurant, Specialty grocery store)
3719 India Street, San Diego, CA 92103
Open 10am to 8pm 619-683-2748
Room
Room
British
·a
·
Restaurant · Specialty Grocery Store
Everything you love from Britain without the weather.!
British and Irish imports shoppe stocking all your favourites from across the pond.
Also serving a daily Afternoon Tea or Cream tea on their delightful patio. (On site is their English
bakery where they cook up old favourites like sausage rolls, Scotch eggs, pasties of numerous names,
pies, scones and cakes)
Afternoon Tea served seven days a week. We always start at noon but last sitting times vary please
call 619 683 2748 to make a reservation.
British owned and ran specialty shop helping ex pats feel less home sick and everyone else the chance
to try and continue to indulge in our great foods. We love when you stop by for a chat.
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Proud to have Selina, owner, as a member of House of England and the catering person for our
events.
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Meegan
went to
visit
BUM
again-in
Scotland!
Pat and Meegan were in Edinburgh in 2008 for the unveiling of BUM and visited BOBBY as well. (
Lovely to ‘see’ Pat again here).
EDINBURGH’S GREYFRIARS BOBBY & SAN DIEGO’S BUM in Edinburgh
BUM and BOBBY -life-sized bronze statues are in the
garden of the William Heath Davis House Park at San
Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
Greyfriars Bobby was honoured in 1873 by the
erection of a statue adjacent to Greyfriars Kirkyard
where for 14 years he lay close to his master’s grave.
This inspired the legend that lives today in films and
books. In 1998 funds were collected to create an exact
copy of the original Bobby statue which was presented
as a gift to San Diego. The San Diego/Edinburgh
Sister City Society then determined to return the
favour by creating two statues of their beloved dog
Bum so that these important historic symbols could be together in both San Diego and Edinburgh as
a testament to the friendship between the two cities.
‘Bum’ A St Bernard/Spaniel mixed breed puppy, arrived as a stowaway aboard the steamship ‘Santa
Rosa’ in 1886 and was soon adopted by the town of San Diego. Though cared for off and on by a
Chinese businessman, Bum preferred a free and independent life. Because he belonged to no one,
he became everybody’s dog. Bum enjoyed many adventures during his life, including racing
alongside the horses pulling the fire engines on the way to a fire. Acting as an observer at parades,
greeting visiting dignitaries, including President Benjamin Harrison, and overcoming a bout of
alcoholism (yes Bum did enjoy his tipple). Bum was so respected that he would have an afternoon
nap in the middle of the street and wagons would drive carefully round him. Restaurants would attest
to the quality of their food by placing signs in the window announcing that ‘Bum Eats Here.’
Bum was a survivor, he was struck by a train in 1887 on the Santa Fe Railway when he was severely
injured and lost his forepaw and part of his tail. He also survived a broken leg after being kicked by a
horse. He was so loved by the citizens that the City Fathers bestowed upon Bum a special order, a
‘Life-time Dog Tag’ exempting him from requiring a dog license. He was also declared ‘San Diego’s
Town Dog’ and his likeness was put on Dog Tax receipts of 1891. When Bum died aged 12 years on
November 10th 1898, the children collected pennies for a proper funeral.
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Del Mar resident
Zandra Rhodes named a ‘Dame of the British Empire’:
(Born Chatham, Kent on Sept 19, 1940)
Damehood — the female equivalent of knighthood — has been awarded to fashion and textile
designer Zandra Rhodes, a resident of Del Mar and London. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth bestowed the
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) status upon Rhodes as part of her annual
Birthday Honors list.
The award recognizes Rhodes’ contributions to the fashion industry and specifically for founding
Britain’s Fashion and Textile Museum in London in 2003; for her charitable work as breast cancer
ambassador for London’s Mayor Boris Johnson; and for her role as Chancellor of the University for
the Creative Arts, which has campuses in Kent and Surrey, England.
The official title will be given to Rhodes, with the DBE medal, at a formal luncheon at Buckingham
Palace with a choice of three dates later this summer. “I do hope it will be the Queen giving the
honors,” said Rhodes, “but it might be Prince Charles.”
Rhodes has designed for the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and continues to dress celebrities,
including Kylie Minogue, Sarah Jessica Parker and Paris Hilton. She is renowned in California for her
dramatic opera set and costume designs, and is now on the board of the San Diego Opera.
She has helped raise $40 million for the Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center in La Jolla, including donating
artwork for the past 18 years of fundraisers. She has also done numerous charity fashion shows,
such as “Go Red For Women,” which raises awareness to help prevent heart disease in women, and
more.
Some of Rhodes’ closest American friends feted her at a luncheon at La Jolla’s Herringbone
Restaurant when the Dameship was made public. Organized by Dixie Unruh and Rachel York, the
group of women — Iris Strauss, Erika Torri, Joyce Butler, Sally Stiegler, Marion Ross, Fiona Tudor,
Chetna Bhatt and Valerie Cooper — sported pink wigs in homage to Rhodes’ signature cotton candycolored bob
.
“I got there a little early and the waitress complimented me on my hair,” said Unruh, “I explained that
it wasn’t my own hair, but a wig. Then Zandra arrived and the same waitress complimented her on
her wig, and she said, ‘It’s not a wig, it’s my own hair.’ So we all laughed about that.”
Article suggested by Maureen Flores
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Tower of London bleeds red to commemorate war dead:
In 2014 the Tower of London is commemorating the centenary anniversary of the outbreak of the First
World War through a major art installation, in collaboration with ceramic artist Paul Cummins with
stage setting by Tom Piper.
The Tower's dry moat is being filled with 888,246 ceramic poppies -- one for each British fatality
during the war. Volunteers are installing from now until Armistice Day on 11 November, to complete
the project.
Each of the poppies in the Tower of London moat took three days to make. They will later be sold for
25 pounds ($42) each, and sent to the buyers after Armistice ceremonies in November.
The money will go to British charities such as the Royal Legion and Help for Heroes, which serve
British veterans.
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British Coins Arranged into ‘Royal Coat of Arms’
by British Designer Matthew Dent
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Ever wondered about a plaque under a tree on the lawn of the
International cottage dedicated to Arthur E Vest?
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Wednesday,
May 12, 1943, Paper: San Diego
Union
Birth: Nov. 25, 1845
Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio,
USA
Death: May 10, 1943
San Diego, San Diego County,
California, USA
FALL PROVED FATAL TO A.E. VEST, 97, G.A.R. POST COMMANDER
Veteran Fought In 18 Battles; Wounded Twice
Veteran of 18 battles of the Civil War, Arthur E. Vest, 97, commander of Datus E. Coon post,
G.A.R., died yesterday at the naval hospital as the result of a fall on Good Friday at his home, 4076
Ohio St. San Diego, CA. A native of Cincinnati, Mr. Vest was a sergeant in the 57th Indiana
Volunteers and was wounded twice. He had resided in San Diego 36 years.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Anna E. Vest, a daughter, Mrs. Leora Case, of San Diego; two sons,
Joseph LeRoy Vest, of Van Nuys and Ralph Levi Vest, of Pasadena; a granddaughter, Mrs. (Dr.)
Frazer MacPherson, a great granddaughter Mrs. Hie Thompson, and a great great grandson, Tarry
Thompson, all of San Diego; and two grandsons, J.A. Case of Corcoran, Calif, and Edward Case.
Another Civil War veteran, James Dickson, 95, suffered an injury from a fall on the same day Mr.
Vest fell and was taken to the naval hospital at the same time.
The only other San Diego Civil War veteran older than Mr. Vest is Thomas C. Shelly, of 4136 FiftyFourth St., San Diego who will be 100 next December 27.
(Burial was at Cypress View Mausoleum and crematory, San Diego).
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the
Union Army, US Navy, Marines and Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War.
Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died. Linking men
through their experience of the war, the GAR became among the first organized advocacy groups in
American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, lobbying the US Congress to establish
veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at more
than 490,000, was in 1890, a high point of Civil War commemorative ceremonies. It was succeeded
by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), composed of male descendants of Union
veterans.
The National Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, Inc., is a patriotic
organization whose express purpose is to perpetuate the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic,
as we are their auxiliary organized at their request on July 25 and 26, 1883 in Denver, Colorado, and
incorporated by Public Act of the 87th Congress on September 7, 1962.
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