The Secretary’s bit
“2012 will not, I think, be remembered as one of our best yearsâ€
Around May/June, my wife started feeling unwell and, to cut a long story short, had to have a major operation in October. All went well and she has almost completely recovered. As a result, our trip to the Floriade was first postponed and then cancelled, and we didn’t spend as much time at our caravan as we would have liked – but, never mind, we can make up for it in 2013.
This came on top of a nice New Year present from some unmentionable who thought it a jolly wheeze to slash three of the tyres on my car – I was not impressed!
The date of the reunion is Saturday 20th April when our President will be the Chairman of our committee, Peter Turrall MBE, and the speaker will be Mr Jonathan Douglas-Hughes OBE, DL, Senior Partner of Gepp and Sons, Solicitors, Chelmsford and Under Sheriff of the County of Essex. This will be the first reunion to be held at the new club and there will, inevitably, be some minor changes to the arrangements. The Committee will be visiting the club, shortly, and any changes will be notified to you with your ticket. Note that the cover price for the reunion will remain at £22, and the annual subscription will stay at £6 per annum.
Following a number of requests, I am experimenting with the production of a self-adhesive name tag for the reunion. When you order your ticket, please indicate, in the box provided, how you would like your tag to read. The default will be to print your name as it appears on the first line of your address label.
I am still getting the odd order for the Photo CD and will have a few for sale at the reunion. If we sell out, you can order one to be sent to you as soon as I have made it.
If you know of an ex Marconi employee who does not receive the newsletter please urge them to contact me as soon as possible. It may be that they have moved or not replied to a confirmation request of a few years ago. Or that they left with 21 to 24 years service and have now become Veterans by virtue of the recent reductions in service requirement.
The Friends of The Marconi Veterans’ Association has been set up to cater for anyone who does not qualify as a Veteran but wishes to be kept informed of things Marconi. Numbers are growing slowly with, currently, over 40 members and any more would be welcome. The three registers (the Main register, In Memoriam and Friends) are now published on the website so please have a look if you can and let me know of any errors.
Please note that I am now retired and can be contacted at the address below. Finally, I would like to wish you all a very prosperous 2013 and hope to see as many of you as possible either at the reunion or the next Open Day at Sandford Mill.
Barry Powell, Secretary, Marconi Veterans’ Association, 22 Juliers Close, Canvey Island, Essex, SS8 7EP
Phone: 01268 696342 (answerphone if we are out, please leave a message and I will ring you back)
Email: Secretary@marconi-veterans.org