MINUTES OF THE ZONE MEETING HELD AT
BRANCH 005 IN LOCHEM, THE
ON
In Attendance:
Zone Zone Commander Reg Bonnar
Branch 001 Past President Harry Irish
Branch 002 1st Vice President Bill Fairley
Branch 003 President Frank Mahr
Immediate Past President Valerie Laucke
Branch 004 Past President Lasca Monrose
Branch 005 President Ben Zonnnberg
1st Vice President Marge Timmerman
2nd Vice President Jan Van Loo
Treasurer Piet Polderdijk
Secretary Bob Venersta
Sgt-at-Arms Hendrik Kuiper
Observer Members in Attendance:
Branch 001 Member Irma Irish
Branch 002 Member Lucien Perraut
Branch 003 Member Liz Hine
Branch 005 Member Dan Murphy
Member Wayne Johnston
Member Hans Dob
Member Rene Rorije
Item Description
Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Zone Commander distributed to each Branch an information folder. The contents of the folder will be listed as Annex A.
1. The Zone Commander opened the meeting at 1400 hours by welcoming all in attendance. Continuing his opening remarks the Zone Commander gave a report on the condition of the two remaining War Veterans in the Lahr area:
George MacMullen; The Zone Commander visited George on Thursday which was his 85th birthday. George is having a problem with short term memory and as a result he didn’t know it was his birthday or how old he was but I took him a few goodies so he was happy. I am pleased with the care he is receiving at this clinic.
Thomas Andrews; Andy has just returned home from a hospital stay with urinary infection and water on the lungs. His condition at the present time is not good but hopefully he will make better progress in the near future.
2. The Zone Commander read the minutes of the last zone meeting held in Geilenkirchen on
Motion Carried
3. The financial statement was presented and there being no questions the financial statement was adopted as presented by Comrade Bill Fairley and seconded by Comrade Frank Mahr.
Motion Carried
Old Business
4. The Zone Commander who attended this ceremony reported that the ceremony was to honour the crew of a downed Wellington Bomber. Three of the crew members were Canadian, Flt Sgt (Air Obs) DAVID BAITTLE, Flt Sgt (Air Gnr) DONALD HILTZ, age 20 from Toronto and Flt Sgt (Air Gnr) ARCHIBALD McKAY age 31 from Springhill, Nova Scotia. The other two crew members were Flt Sgt (Pilot) THOMAS DAVIS age 20 and Flt Sgt (Pilot) HENRY VICKERS age 22 from the UK.
Ceremonial activities commenced at 0930 hours with a reception at the city hall. I would recommend the format when possible. As the mayor said often we attend ceremonies where no one knows each other so to make all acquainted he introduce everyone present that included dignitaries and Canadian family members (Mr. & Mrs. Fred Hiltz) in attendance. The actual parade commenced at 1100 hours with the unveiling of a memorial plaque and wreaths being laid. The ceremony ended with the Belgium Air Force doing a fly-past with missing aircraft formation.
09 & 10 Sep Liberation of Belgium ceremonies
5. The Zone Commander said the weekend in
At 1400 hours we visited a private cemetery in Oostkamp to lay a flower arrangement and pay tribute to Félix Hennico who was a Korean Veteran and a member of the N.S.B. flag party that we had known for many years. Félix passed away in his sleep on
At 1500 hours we paraded our Colours in a small ceremony at the Moerbrugge Memorial and laid a wreath on behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion. Following the ceremony a reception was held in a Café in the village.
On Sunday 10 September our Legion Colour Party and members were piped into the
New Business
08 October - The 55
6. The Zone Commander thanked Branch 005 for organizing this event and the information provided to us on the ceremonial format as things progressed and requested a final briefing from the President of Branch 005. The President of Branch 005 Ben Zonnnberg thanked his members for the support and assistance he received in organizing the ceremony. A special note of thanks was extended to Danny Murphy who is also the chairman of the Nijmegen/Arnhem Branch of the Royal British Legion for his expertise which was greatly appreciated.
In summary the ceremony will commence at
20 October IJzendijke Ceremony
7. The Zone Commander received an invitation to attend this ceremony which is to pay respect to the victims of an accidental explosion that caused the death of forty-one British and Canadian soldiers and caused injury to another fifty-one some of which would be fatal. The majority of the soldiers present on that fateful day were from 204 Armoured Assault Squadron, Royal Engineers and ten soldiers of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps of the 7th Infantry Brigade. As was previously discussed as a cost saving measure the Zone Commander will attend with the Flags and the
04-05 November Beaumont-Hamel & Vimy Ceremony
8. The Zone Commander confirmed the dates of these ceremonies and that the planning is in motion but he needs the names of members wishing to attend from the Branches as was requested at the end of the meeting today. The event is posted on the zone webpage and will be updated as information becomes available. The Beaumont-Hamel Ceremony will commence at 1100 hours on Saturday 4 November and Vimy on Sunday 5 November also at 1100 hours.
Legion Colour Party Drill
9. The Zone Commander reminded the Branch Presidents to ensure that the Branch Sgt-at-Arms are aware of the order of precedence of the flags on parade. The order of precedence is from left to right when viewed facing the flags from the front [1. the Canadian Flag (the National Flag of Canada); 2. the Canadian Red Ensign; 3. the Royal Union Jack (Union Jack); 4. the National Flag of the host Nation (if carried); 5. the United Nations Flag; and 6. the Legion Banner].
Also the drill movements; in particularly “the dipping of the colours” and “the raising of the Colour to the carry”; the flags are lowered and raised slowly together with timing taken from the Canadian Fag.
Legion Dress
The Zone Commander said that the dress regulations for Legion Members are explicit and spelled out in the Ritual & Insignia Manual. The distinctive dress that we wear projects a positive image that demonstrates pride in our country, our organization and ourselves. In order to ensure this image is reinforced it is of the utmost importance that we wear our distinctive dress in the appropriate manner. At every Legion Convention head dress is trashed to death with military or former military members wanting to wear wedgies, green berets, blue berets, maroon berets etc. Others want to wear their former military unit hat badges either in place of or beside the Legion Badge. To this point in time these motions have been defeated or in other words this is not allowed.
Keep in mind that we as the leaders of the Royal Canadian Legion have an obligation to dress properly ourselves and demand it of our members.
Correspondence
10. The Zone Commander reviewed letters and invitations received by Zone that may be of interest to the Branches and attached them to the information folder.
Report by Branches
11. Branch 001; The Past President Harry Irish reported that the branch is having problems coordinating events due to lack of support from the bar staff which has elevated to the point were members are no longer coming to the Legion. It is hoped that a meeting planned for the near future will eliminate this apparent non support to the members. The Remembrance Day Service and activities will be held on 11 November. A special turkey bingo and kids Christmas Party is in the planning.
12. Branch 002; The 1st Vice President Bill Fairley reported that the Branch President Alfons Deguire regrets he was unable to attend the meeting today but is in Canada to attend the funeral of his sister. The Branch is doing quite well; we have acquired four new members and are finally out of debt. The Branch had a successful BBQ in July with good attendance. In the planning is the Remembrance Day Service that will be conducted in the Canadian Section of the
13. Branch 03; The President Frank Mahr reported the Branch is doing very well! The Mixed Dart League started in September and meets every Wednesday evening. The Branch will conduct a Poppy Campaign and have received permission to put Manned Poppy Trays at NATEX and other locations on the Base. The Branch Sgt-at-Arms will also send Poppy Trays to other sub-units in
14. Branch 004; The Past President Lasca Monrose said the Branch President Geatan Bienvenue was unable to attend today since he is in Canada to be with his daughter who is very ill but has overcome her present crisis and Geatain is expected to return later this week. The Branch had a successful horseshoe tournament and BBQ in September and thanked the other Branches for their support. A special note of thanks was extended to Harry Irish who was the chief cook for the day. The Branch will hold their Remembrance Day Service on 12 November at the Canadian Memorial in the cemetery in Kippenheim followed by a levy at the Gasthaus Zum Selzen in Kippenheim. All Legion members in the area are invited to attend. There will be a turkey bingo on 13 December and a Branch Christmas Party on 16 December.
15. Branch 005; The President Ben Zonnenberg reported that the Branch is concerned with membership and has requested that the present Branch members should do their best to recruit new dedicated members. Ben also thanked his treasurer who does wonderful work in keeping the Branch financially healthy and the small group of dedicated members that contribute greatly to the success of the Branch even though much of the work has to be done in their spare time. It is gratifying to know when help is needed it is there as you will witness tomorrow at the ceremony honouring the crew members of the Royal Air Force that didn’t make it home Brits, Canadians and other commonwealth countries. The challenge of the Poppy Campaign will be undertaken again this year which is made easier thanks to a few dedicated members who are educating the population to the meaning of the Poppy. The provinces of Zandvoort and
Open Discussion
16. The Zone Commander opened this discussion referring to ceremonial trips indicating he sends messages to Branch Presidents begging for a list of members wishing to attend, it is also posted on the zone webpage at www.rcl-europe.org but never get any response. You can’t imagine how frustrating it is trying to organize accommodations and travel when you have no idea who will attend from the branches.
The procedure should be quite straight forward since you know basically the members of the Branch that attend ceremonies, get them to make a commitment, they either say yes or no then send me the list. In the future I will include a deadline for submissions and if I don’t hear from the Branches I will assume no one wants to attend and plan the trip accordingly. If after that deadline members decide they want to attend a particular ceremony they will do it on there own including accommodation arrangements and at your own expenses.
Meeting Adjournment
17. There being no further business to discuss a motion was made by Comrade Valerie Laucke and seconded by Comrade Lasca Monrose that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was adjourned at 1700 hours.
Note: The next Zone Meeting will be hosted by Branch 004 in Kippeheim on
|
|
||||
Annex A
Folder Contents: