HOUSE OF ENGLAND. Suzuki school of music concert: December 16 th - sponsored by House of England- on the lawn stage.

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1 President Fran Weekley Vice-President Rachel Adams nd Vice-President Jocelyn Manson Secretary Craig Tolson Treasurer Melvin Weekley cell Trustees Steve Gonzales Dave Tooley HPR Delegates Fran Weekley Mel Weekley HPR Alt. delegates Rachel Adams Alex Yeaman Sandra Yeaman Webmaster Melvin Weekley cell Newsletter Editors Frances Weekley Melvin Weekley HOUSE OF ENGLAND House of Pacific Relations- International Cottages 2294 Pan American Plaza, San Diego, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA NEWSLETTER- DECEMBER 2018 NEXT MEETING: Tuesday December 11, :00pm at the Hall of Nations. (because first Tuesday is too close to December nights madness!). See flyer on page 4. CHRISTMAS PARTY. Call Fran if you have not made your reservations yet- deadline is Dec 5 th. Bring a gift for the exchange game. Singalong will be led by Bob and Josie with words on the screen. There will be the swearing in of new officers and awards presentations. DON T MISS IT! Birthdays in December: Robert, Sonia, Stephen, Kayleigh, Linda R, Sheila, Elaine, Marian, and Hannu. Anniversaries for December: Mike and Roberta Member news: Rachel is back-meegan too- YEAH. Terry Garate was in hospital for a long time and now in rehab to aid recovery. Celebration of Life for Beryl will be on February 2 nd -evening- at the Hall of Nations. Jeff Watkins was honoured in England-see page 8. WELCOME to New members: Terry Carpenter (rejoined), Jeffrey Bellinger, and Rai Shahzaib. Membership renewal time: Please pay the annual renewal amount of $15 to Mel at the party or mail a check, made out to House of England, to him. (address on page 2). Hosting at the cottage: Please contact Fran if you can host any Saturday or Sunday. Hosts do 5 hours between 11 and 5 or can elect to do a 2 ½ hour shift. It is a lot of fun. Please sign up! Please see dates available on page 2. Board for 2019: Thank you to the members who will serve in see page 6 Poppies for Remembrance Day: We collected $55 for the Royal British Legion. Christmas on the Prado: Sat Dec 1 and Sun Dec 2- for children. Thank you to House of England cottage committee for decorating the cottage in time for this event. It looks great. See page 7. International Christmas Festival: Friday Dec 7 and Sat Dec 8. Please let Fran know if you can help in the cottage either day and if you can provide baked items. Lory and Neil are heading up the beer garden. No food booth this year. Suzuki school of music concert: December 16 th - sponsored by House of England- on the lawn stage. Flyer on page 3 January meeting: Second Tuesday-Jan 8 th. White Elephant auction led by auctioneer Selina-you will not want to miss this event! Wishing you all a very happy Christmas. [Type here] Page 1 of 10 [Type here]

2 HOSTING AND HOSTESSING AT THE COTTAGE Thank you to our volunteers. Call Fran to volunteer for future dates Commitment is for 5 hours between 11am and 5pm, providing light refreshments (teabags, milk, sugar and paper products are provided) and chatting with the visitors. Donations are accepted for upkeep of the cottage. Nov 3 Nov 4 Nov 10 Nov 11 Nov 17 Nov 18 Nov 24 Nov 25 Nov 27 Lory, Elaine and Claire Robert and Fran Emma and Rachel Mayflower group and Fran Chris and Paul Marissa, Alex and Sandra Rachel and Fran Terry C Charlotte, Chris and Dennis Dec 1 Linda T, Fran and Kory Dec 2 open. (Fran 2:30 to 4) Dec 7+8 INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL Dec 9 Fran and. Dec 15 Chris and Paul Dec 16 Fran and. Dec 22 Rachel and Dec 23 open Dec 29 open Dec 30 open Dennis is our cottage GREETER and a great addition every hosting day. 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. 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 ( or get one at the cottage on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and mail, with check for $15 made out to the House of England, to: House of England, c/o Mel Weekley, th St #61, San Diego, CA HPR Queens coronation and dinner dance. Our House of England Queen Gabby was escorted by her younger sister Jaki and her friends. Official photos not out yet- will share next month. Page 2 of 10

3 HOUSE OF PACIFIC RELATIONS PAGE: NEXT HPR MEETING: Sunday December 2, 2018, noon, at Hall of Nations. House of England members are automatically members of HPR - come and observe how HPR is run by the delegates! NEXT LADIES AUXILIARY LUNCHEON: Wednesday December 12, 2018, noon, at a restaurant. For details, please call Brigitte at or Alicia at HPR QUEENS UPDATE: The Coronation Dinner/dance was held in November. The new officers were installed and our House of England queen, Gabby, was presented. They will be making packets for the homeless at the December meeting. HPR NEWS: (From November meeting.) Ground breaking for new cottages has been delayed-the City has issued a permit extension ICF is on- House of England will be doing the beer garden and baked goods in the cottage only. Hall rent increased from $30 to $36, starting Nov 1. HPR President for 2019 is Gary Jones (House of Ireland). Mel declined to run for Hall of nations chair for 2019 so Fran will not be Hall scheduler- yeah! All areas of the park are experiencing increased incidents of vandalism and homeless occupation. Boomer is back (the man who threw the brick through our cottage glass door last January). Hosting Hours: Cottages have to be open Saturdays and Sundays for 5 hours between 11am and 5pm. Hall of Nations hosting for December: 1=Peru, 15=India,16=Chamorros, 22= Colombia,23=Palestine, 29 and 30=Peru. 4 th Tuesday is Dec 25 th, so cottages will be closed. Lawn Programs for December: Friday/Sat 7 th /8 th _ December nights- HPR s International Christmas Festival Sunday December 16: House of England sponsoring Suzuki group concert of Holiday music. Page 3 of 10

4 House of England Christmas Dinner Party Tuesday, December 11, :00 pm Eat at 6:30 pm Hall of Nations Balboa Park Catered by Shakespeare s Corner Shoppe $20 per person Menu English Christmas Dinner with dessert A Christmas Cracker for everyone Gift Game Bring a wrapped gift valued at $10 to $15 -- fun, gag, British, unusual, anything! How game is played Everyone draws a number. #1 chooses a gift and opens it. #2 chooses a gift OR steals #1 s gift. And so on! A gift can only be stolen 3 times and then it is Safe. Slide show; Sing-a-Long Entertainment; Installation of Officers Call Fran if you would like to share a song, story, joke (keep it clean, please!) during the evening Call Fran at to get your tickets (or get them at the November meeting!) Deadline to purchase tickets is December 5, 2018 Page 4 of 10

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6 House of England Officers for 2019: President: Jocelyn Manson 1 st Vice President: Rachel Adams 2 nd Vice President: Sommer Saunders Secretary: Craig Tolson Treasurer: Sandra Yeaman Elected HPR Delegate: Alex Yeaman Trustees: Steve Gonzales Dave Tooley Robert Saunders Positions to be filled: Cottage Captain Membership maintainer Special events committee Meetings manager Door prizes person Appointed HPR delegate Please let Jocelyn know if you would like to be appointed to any of these jobs. Page 6 of 10

7 Cottage decorated for Christmas by Emma, Rachel and Dennis. Looking very festive for the season. Page 7 of 10

8 He is now enjoying retirement in San Diego with his lovely wife Becky. Page 8 of 10 House of England life member Jeff Watkins: Jeff was in London in November, as he is every year, to march with the parade to the Cenotaph on November 11 th to honour all who have died in wars over the years. This year was even more special as he was interviewed by Dan Snow of the BBC. Gladys Owen s cousin Natalie, messaged her to ask if she knew the 97-year-old who travels from San Diego every year to be at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. He joined the RAF at 16 as a boy apprentice. Jeff Watkins! He was interviewed on British TV and she saw it. Such a small world. Jeff was a British bomber pilot who joined the RAF in He saw action in Africa and Europe, eventually flying Lancaster and Halifax four engined bombers. He was part of the mission that sank the German battleship Tirpitz. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross- presented to him by King George VI. Jeff left the RAF as a Flight lieutenant and went on to make a fine career in aviation engineering. He emigrated to Canada in 1953 and then to Philadelphia in 1954 and to San Diego in 1955 to work for Solar Aircraft (now Turbines) When he moved to San Diego his family became very active with the House of England. He and his first wife, Aline, put together many wonderful lawn programs for 20 years. Jeff has a wonderful singing voice and has been in many choirs over the years. He has also been very active with the Shakespeare Society and the Robert Burns groups. Jeff and Becky used to host at the cottage every year.

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10 Happy 71 st anniversary to an amazing couple. Then-Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip wave from a balcony at Buckingham Palace, shortly after their elaborate wedding on 20 November 1947 The Queen is now 92 years old, and Prince Philip is 97 years old. The latter already retired from attending public engagements as a royal last year. The royal couple who have been married more than twice as long as Prince Harry has been alive tied the knot on Thursday 20 November 1947 when the Queen was just 21 and the Duke was 26. Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey, following their engagement on Thursday 10 July that year. Her dress was designed by court designer Norman Hartnell, who was famous for his embroidery. He took his inspiration from flowers, such as jasmine, for the pattern on her dress. It was made of soft Damascus Prokar. It featured a high neckline, tailored bodice and, at 13 feet long, a short trail. Much speculation surrounded her dress at the time and it s understood she was worried that if the details leaked, fashion houses would copy it and she would therefore find it difficult to make last-minute alterations. Although she was the heir apparent at the time, she still had to buy her wedding dress with ration coupons. In fact, hundreds of members of the public sent Elizabeth their coupons to help her buy the gown, however it was not legal for her to use them, so they were sent back. The government donated 200 coupons to help her. Queen Elizabeth s tiara famously snapped on the morning of her wedding as she got ready at Buckingham Palace. However, the court jeweler was on standby in case of an emergency, so he was rushed to his work room by police escort and it was fixed in time for the ceremony. Every wedding has a drama somewhere! Page 10 of 10