Our October monthly meeting was held at the Grantham Lions Hall (our new monthly meeting venue) on October 12th, 2013.  As this was the day after Remembrance Day, the focus of this meeting was to reflect on and remember the sacrifices of Canadians in wars past and present.

Walter Asbil and Dennis Ray presented a short Remembrance Service. After an opening prayer, Dennis played The Last Post, followed by a minute of silence, and the playing of The Rouse. Walter then read the “Ode of Remembrance”.

Our featured speaker was Larry Cherns, a retired educator who spent 37 years teaching at the secondary level. A history teacher, his hobbies include collecting items such as the post cards presented today, as well as music (he plays and composes).
Larry presented a talk entitled “Mailed Correspondence Written in English on World War I Postcards” that provided a glimpse into the hearts and minds of soldiers overseas during that conflict. The cards, mostly from the years 1917 to 1919, showed the stark contrast between what we know to have been a very grim and miserable battlefield conflict, and the often mundane and trivial details that sol-diers were able to write about in notes sent home. Censorship was alive and well, with many of the cards bearing censor’s stamps indicating they had been vetted and found acceptable to be sent in open mail.

Our next monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 12th and it will help us get into the Christmas spirit. Bob Henderson will lead us in the Christmas carol sing-a-long accompanied by John Butler on the electronic keyboard. Art Currie has prepared a second version of his popular Christmas trivia quiz.