hm lord-lieutenant opens garden of remembrance
TRANSCRIPT
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December 2015 BRANCH SECRETARIES - PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ITEMS IN THIS
NEWSLETTER SHOULD FORM PART OF YOUR REPORT
HM Lord-Lieutenant opens Garden of Remembrance
On Thursday, 5th November, HM Lord-Lieutenant Major General Martin White CB CBE JP opened the Field of Remembrance in Princess Beatrice’s Garden at Carisbrooke Castle. Following a short service conducted by Rev Marcus Bagg remembrance crosses were planted, with the first cross placed by HM Lord-Lieutenant. Dr. Cooney braved the elements on the castle’s
battlements where he played a lament whilst the crosses were laid. The Union Flag, carried by Alan Williams, was supported by standards from Royal Navy Association, Hampshire Old Comrades Association, RAF Association, MVS, ACF and Air Cadets. Branch Standards from Seaview & Nettlestone, Bembridge, Ventnor and Brighstone & District were also on parade. Mr. Reg Hunt was the parade marshal.
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Shanklin Festival of
Remembrance
Shanklin RBL Branch presented their annual Festival of
Remembrance at Shanklin Theatre on Friday evening, 6th
November.
The event was well supported and entertainment was provided
by Medina Marching Band, Company B, 1024 Sqdn ATC and 3
Troop Sandown Army Cadets
Poppy Collectors
Despite the very wet weather, our poppy collectors were out and about collecting for the Poppy Appeal
again this year. A very, very big “thank you” to everyone who helped. We really couldn’t do it without
you.
Pictured are just a few of our many poppy collectors in action.
Top Left to Right: Les Gladdis at Aldi, Cowes, Mrs. Phillips at Morrisons, Lake, Roger Spivey & Mrs. Walton at Co-op Freshwater.
Bottom Left to Right: L/Cpl White & Cadet MacMillan from 4 Troop C Cpy ACF, John Walton both at Freshwater, Eddie Gavan at
Newport with Linda Wyatt, Patsy Jarmin & Sally Larkin who were visiting from Salisbury.
OTHER ISLAND
NEWS AND
EVENTS
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Remembrance Sunday around the Island
VENTNOR
A very well attended remembrance service
and march took place in Ventnor on
Remembrance Sunday.
The service, in St Catherine's Church, was led
by Rev Hugh Wright and included hymns and
readings. The Kohima was spoken by Tony
Marvin.
A march then took place to the War Memorial
in Park Avenue led by the Wight Diamonds
band. Ventnor RBL Standard was carried by Ernie Willis and Colours from the Scouts, Cubs and
Beavers were also in attendance. Over one hundred people took part in the march ranging from
veterans, RBL members and town councillors
to large numbers of youth organisations and
the public.
At the War Memorial Danny McMeechan
recited the Exhortation and 25 wreaths were
laid on behalf of Ventnor RBL, Ex-Service
Associations, Town Council, Police, Fire
Service, Coastguards, Business Associations,
Youth organisations and family members.
The bugle calls were played by Will Nixon.
Once more Ventnor RBL has been very well
supported by Ventnorians, Town Council,
Emergency Services and Youth Organisations.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Danny McMeechan
Chairman, Ventnor RBL
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NEWPORT
Remembrance Day in Newport was observed with a parade of close to 300 people representing veterans
associations, the Army reservist unit, the emergency services, and voluntary groups, the army cadets, RAF
cadets and Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Beavers and Rainbows. The parade marched from Drill Hall Road
down the High Street and into St Thomas’s Square.
The parade was led by the Vectis Corps of Drums followed by the standard of the Newport & Carisbrooke
Branch carried by Mr Ernie Howard supported by the Ventnor Branch standard together with several ex-
services association standards, including the Royal Hampshire Old comrades, Royal Artillery, Royal
Engineers, to name but a few as well as standards from the emergency services, Maritime Volunteer
service, cadet services, and all the youth groups.
On arrival at the square it was heart-warming to see approximately 1000 plus people gathered in the
square to take part in the service.
Once in position around the war memorial, the Mace bearer of the County Council led out the Civic party
which included, the High Sheriff; Cllr Peacey-Wilcox, Vice Chair of the IW Council; Mr Andrew Turner MP;
Cllr Jones-Evans, Chairman of Newport Parish Council; representatives of the political parties and the Town
Constable, Superintendent Sarah Jackson. The Lord-Lieutenant Major General Martin White was then
escorted out to the war memorial by Mr Bert Draper, President of the Newport & Carisbrooke branch, the
parade was called to attention by the Parade Marshall Mr Terry Clarkson and the band played a General
salute.
The clergy then joined the assembly led by Rev Kevin Arkell, vicar of Newport Minster who led the
assembly in prayers which was followed by the Exhortation given by Mr Draper and the last post played by
a bugler from the band at 11:00am. After the silence the Reveille was played followed by the Kohima
epitaph recited by Mr Draper.
The Lord Lieutenant then laid his wreath escorted by his cadet followed by the other dignitaries and the
officers of the Newport Branch RBL, the RBL Riders section and the Army Reservists, and ex services
associations, after which came the emergency services, the voluntary services and the various youth
groups.
After all the wreaths and tributes had been laid, the Parade marshal marched the standard bearers to the
West Door of the Minster where they formed a guard of honour. The Lord Lieutenant then led the
assembly into the Minster for the service of Remembrance.
Following the service the parade reformed in Pyle Street and St Thomas’s Square before marching, via St
James Square, to the High Street where the Lord Lieutenant took the salute.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the members of the Maritime Volunteer Service who did a
terrific job acting as ushers when prompting people to go forward to lay their wreaths as well as ensuring
that the younger and smaller members of the youth groups were in positions where they could see what
was happening, and also the members of the RBL Riders section who also assisted as stewards to ensure as
many of the public as possible could take part in the service at the war memorial.
Terry Clarkson
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WEST WIGHT
The West Wight Remembrance Sunday Parade this year was held in Yarmouth
Square, where about 250 people gathered to take part in the ceremony. After
the Last Post, played by Bertie Whistance, and the two minutes silence, the
Words of Remembrance were spoken by Commander Tony Walton, the Parade
Commander, and 35 wreaths were laid. This is eight more than were laid when
the parade was last in Yarmouth in 2012, reflecting the increasing interest in
Remembrance events by local organisations.
Following the parade, a service was held in St James church where the
standards of local youth organisations were received by the Rector, the
Reverend Mark Whatson. A lesson was read by Captain André Usborne RN,
who had organised the parade.
The Poppy Appeal in the West Wight is expected to
raise over £9500 this year, once the residual pledges
are received, which is well up on last year. Street and
Static collections were £6757 this year with the
increase of over £2000 from last year largely the result
of a week-long manned static collection at the new Co-
op in Freshwater. There was also a well
supported 'Poppy Concert' held at Christ Church
Totland on Armistice Day, where £270 was raised.
(photographs kindly supplied by Cmdr. Walton)
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RYDE Following a service at All Saints Church, conducted by Branch Chaplain Canon Graham Morris, the White
Diamonds Marching Band led the parade to the Shrine where wreaths were laid. The first wreath was laid
by Cllr Charles Chapman, IW Council Chairman. More than 30 wreaths were laid at the Shrine this year.
BEMBRIDGE
The Service at Holy Trinity Church, Bembridge was attended by
more than 450 people. An ensemble from the Bembridge Village
Band and the choir from Holy Trinity Church led the hymns. The
service was taken by Rev Linda Bushell, associate Priest at Holy
Trinity, assisted by Cmdr. Stuart Aitken, RN. The RBL Standards
from Bembridge Branch, carried by Mr Jim Howkins, and
Bembridge Women’s Section were on parade. Mervyn Pritchard
laid a wreath on behalf of the RBL Branch.
(photograph kindly supplied by J Howkins)
SEAVIEW & NETTLESTONE
Branch Chaplain, David Marrow, officiated at the Remembrance Service in St Peter’s Church, Seaview on
Sunday 8th November.
Names of the fallen were read by Janet Foreman, Branch Chairman, with the Exhortation and Kohima
spoken by Branch President, Slim Whiteland. The Standard was dipped for the two minute silence and the
Reveille and Last Post were played by Bugler Tim Parkin.
Wreaths were laid by Reg Barry (I W Council), John Turner (Nettlestone and Seaview Parish Council) and
Jeff Ball on behalf of our Branch. Carol Ball and Sylvia Beardsmore were the readers with Sue Whitewick
leading prayers. The Seaview Guides and Brownies paraded the Union and Brownie flags, Keith Bradford
paraded the Standard. John Chandler and Mike Hardy took the collection.
Keith Bradford
(Photographs
kindly supplied
by Claire Kay)
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EAST COWES At St. James Church, East Cowes following the laying of the wreaths
at the war memorial, a service of remembrance was conducted by
Rev Mike Exell. Cllr Louisa Hilliard on behalf of the IW Council, led
the wreath laying, with wreaths also being laid by the Mayor of East
Cowes, President of East Cowes RBL and representatives from the
Churches and organisations in the town. Last Post and Reveille were
sounded by Karen Walker with the Exhortation and Kohima spoken
by Mrs. Jacqui Berridge, President of East Cowes RBL Branch.
Brownies and Guides from the East Cowes unit sang during the
service.
(photograph kindly supplied by Wayne Flowers)
BRIGHSTONE Medina Marching Band led the parade along Main
Road to the village war memorial at St. Mary’s
Church where Rev. Helen O’Sullivan, Branch
Chaplain, led the service. The Exhortation was spoken
by Branch President, Mr. Peter Hopkins and the Role
of Honour was read by Mr. Paul Bradley. Cllr Robert
Seeley, IW Council Member and Cllr John Cirrone,
Chairman of the Parish Council, led the wreath laying.
The Last Post and Reveille were played by Connor
Gregory and Sophie Rusling, members of Medina
Marching Band.
(Photographs kindly supplied by Ray Wooldridge)
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LAKE Rev Canon Albert Waterman led a short but well attended service at Lake War Memorial. Army cadets from 3 Troop Sandown and the 1st Lake Guides and Brownies were also in attendance. Last Post and Reveille were sounded by Alex James, Shanklin Town Brass Band.
(photographs kindly supplied by J Howkins)
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Armistice Day Wednesday 11th November 2015
East Cowes
Members of East Cowes Branch together with civic dignitaries and local
residents observed two minutes silence at 11am at the local war
memorial at St. James Church. A short service was led by Rev Allie
Kerr, Branch Chaplain with the Exhortation and Kohima spoken by Mr
Peter Hopkins, Branch Vice-Chairman. Last Post and Reveille were
sounded by Mrs. Karen Walker.
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Seaview & Nettlestone
Members of the Branch were invited to attend. Sea View Yacht Club to commemorate Armistice Day.
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month there was a Two Minute Silence with the
Club’s Ensign being lowered and the Legion Standard carried by Keith Bradford, was dipped. John Chandler,
spoke the Exhortation and closed with the Kohima Epitaph.
In Bembridge, a large number attended the War Memorial where Standard Bearer Jim Howkins, supported
by Mervyn Prichard were in attendance
Keith Bradford
RYDE
On Wednesday 11th November Armistice Day was commemorated at Ryde with a short service and two
minutes silence at the Shrine in Lind Street.
The service was led by the Reverends Jane & David Isaacs and was attended by approximately 70 members
of the public and veterans, led by Cllr Charles Chapman, Chairman of IW Council and Cllr Roi Milburn, the
Mayor of Ryde, with several of the Town Councillors also present.
A wreath was laid on behalf of Ryde Branch by Mr Brian Harris the Branch President. The Exhortation and
Kohima given to mark the start and end of the two minutes silence were said by Mr Stan Hider a Branch
committee member and the Branch standard was carried by Mr Terry Clarkson the Branch secretary.
Thanks should be given to Island Roads who for the first time closed Lind Street to traffic which allowed
those attending the service to stand directly in front of the shrine without traffic passing close behind
them.
Terry Clarkson
Meeting of Branch Chairmen
& Vice-Chairman
The next meeting for Branch
Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen will be
on Friday, 4th November, 2015
commencing at 6.30pm at The
Conservative Club, Pyle Street,
Newport.
We will remember them ……
Mr. F. Brown – Newport & Carisbrooke
Lt. Col. S. King – Seaview & Nettlestone
Mr. R. Douglas - Ryde
Our sincere condolences to their family
and friends.
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Festival of Remembrance Royal Albert Hall
I had the honour of carrying the Brighstone &
District Branch Standard at this year’s Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall and what
an experience.
The proceedings all started on the Friday when I
arrived at the Union Jack Club and I met the RAFA
National Standard Bearer who sort of took me
under his wing a bit. I arrived at the Albert Hall a
bit earlier than I needed to but it meant that I
could watch some others practising their bits. The first of these was the Ghurkha band which was
incredible to watch.
All of the ‘performers’ were using the gallery right at the top of the hall as a
muster and changing area so I made my way up there and was immediately
welcomed as if it were a family reunion. Everybody was really supportive of
us newbies who hadn’t done the Festival of Remembrance before.
The Saturday started really early, we had to be ready for a practice at 8am
before a full run through at 9am. The afternoon show started at 2pm and
the feeling of marching down the stairs into the arena was incredible with
over 5,000 people watching and applauding, although this was not as nerve
racking compared to the evening performance in front of HM The Queen,
nervous? Not much! But once we got the order to quick march all of the
training I have done over the last 2 ½ years just kicked in and we were away,
so a big thank you to Reg Hunt, Terry Clarkson, Karen Gibson and the other
standard bearers for all of your help. Oh and thank you to Stan Baker for
getting me involved in all of this in the first place.
I’d also like to thank my daughter Charlotte and her partner Dave Greenwood for bringing Joe Bear,
the Joe Ellis Trust mascot, up to the Festival as well, it added the icing to the cake.
All in all a most memorable day that was both physically and emotionally
very demanding. If you had asked me on the Sunday morning whilst sat in
the Wightlink car ferry ticket office waiting for the 3am ferry (thanks
Network Rail for cancelling the 22:00 train) if I would do it again I would
have given you a possibly less than polite reply but when I got home and
found the 114 emails congratulating me on what I’d done all of the negative
thoughts just disappeared. Oh by the way, would I do it again? Too right I
would!
Peter Atkinson, Standard Bearer, Brighstone & District Branch.
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RYDE IN BLOOM 2015
On Thursday 12th November the annual Ryde ‘in Bloom’
awards took place at the Pavilion Bar, Ryde Supabowl on
the Esplanade.
The awards, hosted by the Mayor of Ryde, Cllr Roi
Milburn, are to celebrate the efforts local people have
made with floral displays around the town and district in
various categories.
One of the categories was for the local Primary
schools; as this is the year that commemorated the
70th anniversaries of VE & VJ days Ryde Town Council
set the theme as ‘Dig for Victory’ and the children had
to design and make a garden to capture that wartime
spirit. This could be a vegetable plot or a flower bed
with red, white and blue flowers or a combination.
The judging day was in July and two members of Ryde
RBL were invited to assist with the judging. Mr John
Buttons, RBL Club chairman and Mr Eric Chestnutt, a
Branch member, joined forces with two local
councillors to judge the schools entries.
The winning school was Greenmount Primary school
with a special award for a young lady from Haylands
Primary school whose enthusiasm for the schools
entry really impressed the judges. Although all the
judges admitted reaching a final decision had been
hard work.
The awards for the winning school and the young
lady were presented by John and Eric on the
evening.
(Photographs kindly provided by Terry Clarkson)
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Funeral Service for the late Frederick ( Freddy) Brown
On Thursday 19th November a service of thanksgiving for the life of Frederick Henry John Brown was
held at 3:00pm at the Isle of Wight Crematorium.
Frederick, or ‘Freddy’ as he preferred to be called, was 98 years old; he had served in the Eighth Army
in WW2. He had also been a member of the Royal British Legion for over 50 years with half of that
service here on the island. Up until a few years ago he was a familiar sight at the time of the Poppy
Appeal manning a stall in Morrison’s Supermarket, Newport.
The service was conducted by Rev Dr Jim Izzard, National Padre, Royal Navy Patrol Service. The
cortege was preceded into the chapel by the Newport & Carisbrooke standard carried by Mr Ernie
Howard, who in turn was supported by standards from Brighstone & District, Bembridge, Seaview &
Nettlestone, Ryde, Shanklin, and Ventnor Branches under the guidance of the County Parade Marshal
Mr Terry Clarkson. The last post and reveille were played by Mr Daryl Pitcher from the Cowes RBL
band.
The standard bearers and bugler were thanked by the family for their presence at the service.
Terry Clarkson
NATIONAL AWARD COMPETITIONS 2015/2016 The purpose of the National Cups and Awards Competitions is to recognise and reward the achievements
of individual members, Branches, Clubs and Counties that have, through determination, hard work and
commitment, made significant contributions to all pillars of The Royal British Legion. For all Awards there
will be a winner and a runner up, who will receive their award or certificate of merit respectively at the
Awards Ceremony at Annual Conference 2016.
The National Awards Special Circular is enclosed with this newsletter. The circular gives details of all the
awards and the application process (where applicable) for each award . Please read the details carefully as
there have been a number of changes for the current year.
Application forms for those awards not based on statistics are available to download from the Annual
Conference 2016 area on the Annual Conference website:
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/members/annual-conference/
Completed application forms should be returned to the Annual Conference Administrator by NO LATER
THAN FRIDAY 29TH JANUARY 2016.
NATIONAL and
AREA NEWS AND
EVENTS
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IW County Standard Bearer Competition
Our annual County Standard Bearer Competition was held on Thursday, 26th November at the Church
Centre, Town Lane, Newport in front of a small, but appreciative, audience. Three Branch Standard
Bearers competed in the main competition with one deputy Standard Bearer entering the Deputies
competition. All four standard bearers performed well on the night and are to be congratulated on
both their turnout and drill. The competition was organized on behalf of the County by Mr. Terry
Clarkson, our County Parade Marshal. He was assisted on the night by Mr. Reg Hunt, Deputy County
Parade Marshal and Mr. Jim Howkins.
The competition results were:- COUNTY STANDARD BEARER COMPETITION
FIRST: Mr. Alan Williams East Cowes Branch SECOND: Mr. Peter Atkinson Brighstone & District Branch THIRD: Mr. Ernie Howard Newport & Carisbrooke Branch
DEPUTY STANDARD BEARER COMPETITION
FIRST: Miss Charlotte Atkinson Brighstone & District Branch
It was a shame that not more members came along on the night to give their support, you missed a
good evening. During the past year our Standard Bearers have been on parade at many events, they
are a very visible part of our organization and by turning out at parades help to keep the name of the
Royal British Legion firmly in the public arena. They deserve our thanks and support. It would be nice
to see more members come along next year. Details will be publicized in the newsletter nearer the
time.
Pictured after the competition L to R – Bernard Copelin (Judge), Jim Howkins, Peter Atkinson, Alan Williams, Charlotte Atkinson, Ernie Howard, Terry Clarkson and Reg Hunt.
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Club membership is open to all Legion members.
Please contact the club direct for more information.
DATES for your DIARY:-
4th December 2015 – Meeting of Branch Chairmen & Vice Chairmen 6.30pm Newport Conservative Club.
31st December – Deadline for Branch MS1 forms to be submitted to MSO
6th February 2016 – IW County Conference, Wilberforce Hall, Brighstone 2pm
RBL CLUB
CORNER
Legion Clubs on the Isle of Wight:-
RYDE 1 St. James Street, Ryde, IW. PO33 2NF Telephone: 01983 613302
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ryderbl.co.uk
SHANKLIN 2 Collingwood Road, Shanklin, IW, PO37 7LN Telephone: 01983 862234
E-mail:
Website:
VENTNOR 35 High Street, Ventnor, IW, PO38 1LZ Telephone: 01983 853905
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.rblsc-ventnor.co.uk
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The following information has been circulated by the Association of Retired Police Officers – I have included it in our newsletter as I feel this is important information that we all need to be aware of.
Hijacking - Beware
Important message from Crime Stoppers.
While driving on a rural end of the roadway on Thursday morning, I saw an infant car seat on the
side of the road with a blanket draped over it. For whatever reason, I did not stop, even though I
had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. But when I got to my destination, I called the
Police and they were going to check it out. But, this is what the Police advised even before they
went out there to check….
"There are several things to be aware of ... Gangs and thieves mostly from Eastern Europe are
now plotting different ways to get a person (mostly women) to stop their vehicle and get out of the
car. "There is a gang initiation reported by the local Police where gangs are placing a car seat by
the road...with a fake baby in it...waiting for a woman, of course, to stop and check on the
abandoned baby. "Note that the location of this car seat is usually beside a wooded or grassy
(field) area and the person -- woman -- will be dragged into the woods, beaten and raped, and
usually left for dead. If it's a man, they're usually beaten and robbed and maybe left for dead, too.
DO NOT STOP FOR ANY REASON!!! DIAL 9-9-9 AND REPORT WHAT YOU SAW, BUT
DON'T EVEN SLOW DOWN.
IF YOU ARE DRIVING AT NIGHT AND EGGS ARE THROWN AT YOUR WINDSCREEN, DO
NOT STOP TO CHECK THE CAR, DO NOT OPERATE THE WIPER AND DO NOT SPRAY ANY
WATER BECAUSE EGGS MIXED WITH WATER BECOME MILKY AND BLOCK YOUR VISION
UP TO 92.5%, AND YOU ARE THEN FORCED TO STOP BESIDE THE ROAD AND BECOME A
VICTIM OF THESE CRIMINALS.
THIS IS A NEW TECHNIQUE USED BY GANGS, SO PLEASE INFORM YOUR FRIENDS AND
RELATIVES. THESE ARE DESPERATE TIMES AND THESE ARE UNSAVOURY INDIVIDUALS
WHO WILL TAKE DESPERATE MEASURES TO GET WHAT THEY WANT.”
Please talk to your loved ones about this. This is a new tactic used. Please be safe.
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Happy Christmas
As this is our last newsletter before
Chrismas, the County Officers and
Committee would like to take this
opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy
Christmas and a Healthy New Year.
IT’S YOUR
NEWSLETTER !!!
If anyone has any articles they would like
to submit for publication in the monthly
newsletter please e -mail the newsletter
editor at
Or send to: 2 Hope Mead,
Langbridge, Newchurch,
IW, PO36 0NP
by the 20th of each month. Anything from jokes and poems, or hints
and tips to remarkable personal
achievements and Branch events.
Or even adverts!
Everything will be considered.
ALL LEGION ENQUIRIES
(including Welfare Requests)
SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE CONTACT CENTRE
ON
0808 8028080
________________________
Membership Support Officer –
Mrs Stephanie Harris
104 Above Bar Street, Southampton,
Hampshire, SO14 7DT
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.britishlegion.org.uk
Registered Charity number 219279
Newsletter Enclosures:-
National Awards Special Circular
A huge “thank you” to
everyone who has
contributed articles
and/or photographs to
this month’s
newsletter.