HOUSE OF ENGLAND. House of Pacific Relations- Intl Cottages 2191 W Pan American Rd, San Diego, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

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1 President Fran Weekley Vice-President Rachel Adams nd Vice-President Hosting coordinator Meegan Gosseline Secretary Rich Braun Treasurer Melvin Weekley cell Trustee Steve Gonzales Membership Terry Carpenter HPR Delegates Fran Weekley Mel Weekley HPR Alt. delegates Rachel Adams Sandra Yeaman Alex Yeaman Paul Molina Chris Tuttle Webmaster Melvin Weekley cell Newsletter Editors Frances Weekley Melvin Weekley HOUSE OF ENGLAND House of Pacific Relations- Intl Cottages 2191 W Pan American Rd, San Diego, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA NEWSLETTER- January 2015 NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, January 6, 2015 at 6:30pm in House of Hungary. Light refreshments before the meeting and then our ANNUAL WHITE ELEPHANT AUCTION- Bring your new or like-new items to be put up for auction- auctioneer Steve W. requests that you label with a starting price. There will be bargains! Selina is donating door prizes to celebrate the opening of her new shop- you know they will be delicious! LADIES AUXILIARY LUNCHEON: Wednesday January 14, 2015 at noon, at the Recital Hall, next door to the Balboa Park Club. House of Panama will host it. Men are invited also. It is only $4 per meal with good food and good fellowship. MEMBER NEWS Membership renewal time: Please bring your check made out to House of England for $10 renewal ($12 to join) to the January meeting. Terry C. has agreed to be membership chair again for Dues need to be paid by the end of January to continue receiving the newsletter. Meeting minutes: The November minutes were mailed or ed with the December newsletter to save time. Please read so that they can be approved (with any corrections needed) at the January meeting. (There was no business meeting in December) Birthdays for January: Hilda, Jing, Kathleen W, Mike H, Mike S. Anniversaries for January: Will/Hillary Lafoe. John/Emma Hoskins. Christmas Party in December: 51 attended. Big thanks to Dave and Sharon Tooley for getting us use of the floral society room. Selina s meal was EXCELLENT, Carlos and Terry entertained and the gift game was a lot of fun. International Christmas Festival: (HPR area of December nights). GREAT SUCCESS! HUGE thanks to the 16 people who donated baked goods, the 27 volunteers who made it happen and Selina for great food. Lory was excellent heading up the beer garden, Dottie heading up the food booth and Fran/ Beryl heading up the cottage sales. Net profit will be announced when all the bills are in from HPR but it will be over $3,000.00!!!! YEAH! British Village Shoppe: (formerly All things Bright and British) in La Mesa was opened in December by our own Selina. Stock up on great BRIT foods and things at two locations now. Displays at the cottage: Check out the new display by Dennis called History of Computing has its Roots in England. December 31: Organ Pavilion kickoff the 2015 Balboa Park Centennial celebrations: We will be marching in the flag parade and program on New Year s eve- come and join in! Downton Abbey: Season 5 starts Sunday January 4 th on KPBS a MUST to watch!!! WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR Page 1 of 12

2 HOSTING AND HOSTESSING AT THE COTTAGE Thank you to our volunteers. Call our hosting chairperson, Meegan Gosseline to volunteer for future dates Commitment is from 12 noon to 4PM, providing light refreshments and milk (teabags, sugar and paper products 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) Dec 7 Dec 14 Dec 21 Dec 28 Jan 4 Jan 11 Jan 18 Jan 25 closed (Dec nights cleanup) Mike H and Fran Dottie and Fran Shirley and Maureen Steve/ Terry C/ Fran Wendy/ Miranda/ Fran Ariele/ Fran Lory/ Beryl 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 ( 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 Membership renewals: Please mail your check for $10 made out to House of England to membership chairperson, Terry Carpenter, 3955 Violet Street, La Mesa, Ca And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: "Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!" And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way." So, I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night And He led me toward the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East. So, heart, be still! What need our little life, Our human life, to know, if God hath comprehension? In all the dizzy strife Of things both high and low God hideth His intention. The Desert by Minnie Louise Haskins This poem was quoted by King George 6 th, Christmas 1939 Page 2 of 12

3 Thank you to everyone for making 2014 a very good year. Sadly, we lost three wonderful members in Harry Hipwell, Tony Hayward and Doug Branch. We gained some new members, which is always good news. We are SO pleased to have Selina as a member and partnering with us for catering. Thanks to her, the food at our Lawn Program, EFF, HOE Picnic, HOE Ladies Auxiliary luncheon, and ICF was excellent. IN ADDITION, she steered us wisely into purchasing a bigger refrigerator and our own oven for our fund raising events. We have partnered with the Jane Austen group and gained some lovely members through that association. We have built up a reputation in the park for our warm, friendly greetings when hosting and our impromptu cottage concerts are great fun. We had several school groups come to the cottage and I did displays at several schools through the year. My goals at the beginning of the 2014 were: 1. Get the website up to par and up to date. Thanks to Mel= done. 2. Update the Information book for hosts - this will have the answers to the most often asked questions about exhibits, royalty, places in England etc. Done! (And Ernie added a great booklet for hosts to use). 3. COMMITTEE for Lawn Program WEEK- formed this committee in JANUARY..and it was a GREAT success with the Chivalry Group and many exhibits at the Saturday Village Fete and Sunday costumes parade, Shakespeare play and BEATLES TRIBUTE BAND- Baja Bugs! 4. Paint the cottage inside- and get some needed repairs. Done- Thanks to Mel, painting of main room has been done. 5. Continue the exhibit rotation and introduce new ones. Done! I added Downton Abbey and By George- what a heritage, Cockney slang and Pearly Kings, British Invasion quiz. Doctor Who TARDIS and Dalek linger every week! Many thanks to members that have helped- Dottie with Hadrian s wall and Sherlock, Meegan with Beatrix Potter, British Trains by Lory, and a brand new one by Dennis= History of computing has its roots in England. 6. Introduce more members to hosting- it is FUN!!- done! Lory s lemon cake is outstanding, everything Dottie bakes is excellent, Charlotte s specialty is scones, Emma makes lovely jam tarts, Alex and Sandra do great sandwiches, Mike does great sandwiches.and our faithful established members bring great goodies too when they host. MY goals for 2015 are: a. Repeat the great success of 2014 village fete and lawn program I will be asking for committee help in January! b. Finish the cottage painting- well, Mel will do that one for us! c. Continue the cottage exhibit rotations and encourage members to share their favourite English subject with a display. d. Keep up the hosting rotations and enthusiasm. e. Get the HOE history booklet completed. f. Continue to expand the schools connections with field trips to the cottage and displays at schools. Great days ahead for House of England! Sincerely, Fran Weekley Page 3 of 12

4 Awards presented at the Christmas party to our second miler members in 2014: (alphabetically) LORY BOX- Mr. Brave Box! Hosting at the cottage with his wonderful lemon cake/ borrowed canopies for us to use at Village Fete and lawn program/ helped serve and set up at the EFF food booth, train display at the Village fete and Lawn program and now the train exhibit in the cottage. Excellent behind the HOE bar in the December Nights beer garden! RICH BRAUN- stepping in as secretary while Hilary was traveling and taking it on for Heading up the costume guild parade at the lawn program, assisting Steve at hosting and with his Stonehenge display. BOB DEMERS- our BINGO man! Helped set up the brass rubbings display for our village fete/ helped coordinate the band entertainment for the HOE picnic/ donated propane tanks for the oven/ worked with Josie recruiting new members! (Actually former members returning to the fold! - Anne, Sue) EILEEN FORD- Pancakes for Strove Tuesday meeting! EFF hosting and cottage hosting. Heading up the hosting roster. Going a lovely job on the garden in front of the cottage (despite city workers not watering like they should) Knitting tea cosies for sale in the cottage, getting the lovely bargain poinsettias for tonight and to be used also at ICF. ROY FORD- cheery smile! Help with garden, hosting, and setting up at meetings. MIKE HAYDEN- to the rescue with the facades! Steered us the right way with the oven/ great help setting up for events. Has a very good camera and takes great pictures for us, pursuing promotional materials for display in the cottage. Hosted with cross buns at Easter and great sandwiches during the year. DOTTIE MARRON- came to us through Jane Austen group- loves to bake and host and does both very well! Made the Hadrian s Wall and Sherlock displays/ even donated prizes for children who solve the Sherlock Holmes code puzzle in the cottage/ headed up the food booth for ICF. STEVE WALLER- our White Elephant auctioneer! Stonehenge display at Village Fete and Lawn program. Supplies wine for events! MEL WEEKLEY- taken too much for granted by me! He fixed the website and keeps it updated. He does repairs at the cottage and has done the painting there. I could not do the newsletter without himhe makes it look right! He helps with setting up for events, helps with HOE paperwork. submits the HOE sales tax forms and does the IRS filings/ lets me bounce ideas around and has helpful suggestions/ does the treasurer job. Thank you also to the 2014 HOE Board for all your support and help in making the year a success I need to also mention a few of our other members too who have been outstanding this past year. Rachel Adams: So supportive, great Emcee at Lawn program, great pancake maker at Shrove Tuesday meeting! Beryl Clarke- what a trooper! Came both days of ICF with her famous potato chip cookies, sold huge amounts of baked goods at the cottage table ($ the first day was gathered in her apron pocket!). Always willing to host. She is amazing! Terry Garate: The years have not taken away her wonderful three-octave range singing voice and she sings in the cottage most Sundays. She sang at our Village Fete and Lawn Program and in HOE sponsored stage program in December. Meegan Gosseline: Always so willing to help with that encouraging smile and good humour. Shirley and Maureen Jobb: So supportive and still up for hosting at the cottage. Two very precious ladies. Josie Demers and Anne Vaughan: Two very special ladies not afraid to share the sensitive details of their evacuee years and very supportive at the meetings. Page 4 of 12

5 Christmas Party Pictures December 1, 2014 Page 5 of 12

6 Christmas Party (continued) Page 6 of 12

7 ENTERTAINMENT OFFICER INSTALLATION AWARDS PRESENTED Page 7 of 12

8 INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL COTTAGE - FRIDAY FOOD TENT - Friday SPIRITS GARDEN - Friday Page 8 of 12

9 INTERNATIONAL CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL (CONTINUED) COTTAGE - SATURDAY FOOD TENT - SATURDAY SPIRITS GARDEN SATURDAY SOUVENIR! Page 9 of 12

10 DECEMBER HAPPENINGS Carlos and Friends Carlos, Terry and Friends Tree Up! New Exhibit by Dennis Concert Carlos and Terry School Group Visit Accordion Concert Robert Page 10 of 12

11 Plough Monday is the traditional start of the English agricultural year. While local practices may vary, Plough Monday is generally the first Monday after Twelfth Day (Epiphany), 6 th of January. References to Plough Monday date back to the late 15th century. The day before Plough Monday is sometimes referred to as Plough Sunday. The day traditionally saw the resumption of work after the Christmas period. In some areas, particularly in northern England and East England, a plough was hauled from house to house in a procession, collecting money. They were often accompanied by musicians, an old woman or a boy dressed as an old woman, called the "Bessy", and a man in the role of the "fool". 'Plough Pudding' is a boiled suet pudding, containing meat and onions. It is from Norfolk and is eaten on Plough Monday. Plough Monday, from George Walker's The Costumes of Yorkshire, Plough Monday in 1930s The dancers and players at the Plough Monday celebrations outside St Mary s Church, Eaton Socon in January 2012 Norfolk Pudding Page 11 of 12

12 While we in California watch the Rose Parade in Pasadena, there is another very special parade going on in London!.the 29 th Annual New Year's Day Parade in London, featuring more than 10,000 performers representing the London boroughs and countries from across the globe. Dancers, acrobats, cheerleaders, musicians and performers assemble in the heart of the city for a colourful celebration that combines exuberant contemporary performance with pomp and ceremony. Several bands from USA join in! They look VERY COLD! Page 12 of 12