Graham's NARGS speaking tour April/May 2005

 

At the Breckenridge Conference in July 2003 I was invited to take part in the NARGS Speakers tour during 2005 and given the choice of Chapters to cover. I chose the western U.S.A. and expected the tour to last about 18 days and give 5-6 talks. As it turned out the tour stretched to 28 days and covered 10 talks. It was an exhausting but wonderful tour taking me from San Francisco up the west coast to Alaska, somewhere I had never been. I met wonderful people, received fantastic hospitality and saw beautiful plants. I have built up this web site to honour those who looked after me and to show what an experience it can be to take part in a NARGS speakers tour. I am sure that this is what the late Norman Singer and the NARGS board of the time meant when the Speakers Tour Project was instigated.

 

On 20th April, I flew off to San Francisco via Bristol, Amsterdam and Detroit. After being picked up from the airport by Sharon and Fred Peterson it was a drive of almost 2 1/2 hours to Rebecca and Steve's abode in Sonora, reaching there around half past midnight. This meant I had had no sleep for 27 hours but I certainly welcomed the glass of wine that Rebecca offered. Next morning I had time to look around Rebecca's lovely garden and her nursery before being taken on a hike along Tuolumne Westside Rail Trail, a disused railway track. The weather was beautiful and there were some lovely plants including Silene californica, Lupins, Dudleya and Mimulus. In the evening I spoke to the Sierra Chapter on 'The Cultivation of Western North American Alpines'. It was a lovely informal meeting with eats and drinks for the members.

 

Rebecca's rear garden. it was amazing how many cushion plants were growing quite happily there.

 

 

Rebecca's front garden, a vast array of colourful plants.

 

 

 

 

 

Rebecca, Steve and Malika.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dudleya and lupins along the rail track

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silene californica

 

 

 

 

 

The following day, Friday 22nd April transport duly arrived for the long journey to Etna. I said goodbye to Rebecca and Steve with the sun on my back and a gift of a bottle of red. At the half way stage after lunch I was transferred to another vehicle driven by the infamous Bev Shafer for the rest of the trip. I enquired where Campanula shetleri could be found and despite my protests Bev insisted on driving under the shadow of Mt. Shasta and up towards Castle Lake. Eventually a snowdrift barred the way but in the distance the site of Campanula shetleri could be seen, a long hike away and a need for snow shoes.

A cold seat awaits those who want relief however as although the restrooms were available they were partially under snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mt. Shasta in all its glory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My stay in Etna was excellent with a superb host in Barbara and some great Chapter members such as John who took me on a grand tour seeing waterfalls, plants such as Fritillaria recurva, erythronium, dodecatheon, calypso and a white delphinium. Bev also duly obliged with Viola beckwithii and a visit to Phlox Hill just outside Yreka to see Phlox hirsuta. In spite of the horizontal wind and rain a photograph of the phlox was somehow engineered. The day ended with a magnificent Mexican meal and a VERY large glass of beer. One sight I will never forget during my Etna stay is the thousands of Lewisia cotyledon hanging from a cliff face along the Salmon River. Unfortunately the 'Nicholls Curse' struck several times from a meeting with Jehovah Witnesses to Bev being caught napping on the Salmon River Road. However a walk around the quaint town of Etna taking in the city bank, the city hall abd the library, three of the old but well kept buildings, soon calmed things down.

 

 

Rainbow on Phlox Hill in the pouring rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Salmon River

 

 

 

 

 

Etna City Hall

 

 

Etna City bank

 

 

 

 

 

Fritillaria recurva

 

 

This beautiful house is a private residence but houses the owners art collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phlox hirsuta on the right

 

 

Viola beckwithii on the left

 

 

 

 

A parting gift from the Shasta Chapter was a couple of bags of my favourite trail mix and from Bev and Mike, a bottle of 1970 Cote de Rhone made my day.

 

After the talk in the Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, Barbara drove me to Medford where Meridel and Dan Hedges provided the hospitality.

A lovely surprise was the pot luck barbecue held at their house one evening. So many Chapter members brought along contributions but the highlight of the evening must be the wonderful homemade apple and huckleberry pies made by Jane O’Connor. Dan cooked those ribs a treat as well. Meridel made the salsa just mild enough and also designed a very professional menu. I mustn't forget Dan's very good wine selection either.

The effervescent Phyllis Gustafson arranged several very good field trips. Lower Table Rock, so called because it is down river (the Rogue River) from Upper Table Rock, proved a tough uphill battle but the others were more gentle. These covered the serpentine area of Josephine CO. First was the Rough and Ready Creek Forest State Wayside which is a protected area because there are more of the serpentine endemics here than any other place. People are encouraged to visit, take pictures and learn the plants but not to dig or remove anything. We then went on to Lone Mountain road to see Darlingtonia bogs and many more flowers.

The Medford crowd on Lower Table Rock and

below are three of the plants found during the hike.

 

 

 

 

Collinsia grandiflora

 

An interesting piece of lichen on a tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calochortus tolmiei

 

 

 

Delphinium menziesii

 

 

 

The trip to Rough and Ready threw up some interesting plants including Fritillaria glauca

 

and a small item of fauna

 

 

 

 

And then onto Lone Mountain Road for Erythronium oregana and a photogenic tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, after looking around Phyllis's garden, came the time to leave these lovely people. So on Friday 29th April Don and Meridel drove me to Eugene. After a fish and chip lunch when 'prime Alaskan halibut' became three small battered offcuts we drove to the O'Byrnes where I changed chauffeurs.

 

 

Some views of Phyllis's garden

 

 

 

 

Loren Russell then took over and off we went to his house in picturesque Corvallis.

It was a surprise to learn that since I last stayed at the Russell household Flo, Loren's wife, had taken up cycling. Not your average cycling to work and back but serious road racing stuff and every spare moment she had was spent racing or training. Loren has also taken it up but not, I think, as serious as Flo.

Loren has a nice garden and is extending the planted up area at the front of his house using a number of beds with different soil/compost mixes. At the rear he has many troughs, a pool and waterfall and a rock garden. Loren and Flo also have wireless broadband so I was able to e-mail my daughter Jane and check the UK news whenever I liked using his laptop.

 

On Saturday, I went on a hike on Horse Rock Ridge with some members of the Emerald Chapter. It was led by Tanya Harvey, a comparitively young but enthusiastic and very knowledgable Chapter member. As she is also a photographer we got on very well with no one racing madly ahead forgetting there were photos to be taken. There were some steep climbs at times but also lovely plants and dramatic scenery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hikers take a lunch break whilst Tanya sizes up a large flower form of Erigeron compositus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But look at the wonderful view behind Tanya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up, up and away over the ridge to find

 

 

An expanse of erythroniums and dodecatheons on the top of Horse Rock Ridge and Balsamorhiza deltoidea on the steep slopes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During my stay with Loren he took me to several nurseries. One of them, Dancing Oaks Nursery, is miles from anywhere but is fabulous, no wonder people came from miles around to buy plants. Despite the many customers we were taken on a tour of the wonderful gardens by Fred Weisensee, one of the owners. They have so many unusual plants there that I could have spent a whole weekend wandering around. Suffice to say I took a photo of someone who couldn't stay away. A Pale Swallowtail butterfly feeding on a phlox.

 

 

 

Lewisia cotyledon grew in abundance there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also took time out to pay a visit to Corvallis and walked around photographing the historic buildings like the old school which is now an art gallery,

 

 

and the City Hall.

 

One thing that entrigued me in the park was this statue.

 

Seemed normal from the back but look at the front. Very weird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 3rd May soon arrived and after meeting a few old friends like Ali and his wife and Louise in a brewery/restaurant for a meal it was finally time for my talk to the Emerald Chapter and before I forget, I must thank Ernie O'Byrne for the generous gift of hepatica seed. The following day Loren and I journeyed north to Portland where I met up once again with David and Donna Hale who were to be my hosts for a couple of days. I previously stayed with them some six years ago. David and Donna visit South America and the Himalayas each year and David has an excellent list of seed collections he makes during their visits. He also has a very good rock garden recently improved by making several areas into crevice gardens. Here are some photos of his garden when he showed Loren around just before we had dinner.

 

 

Loren and David in comptemplative mood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a light lunch with Mark Akimoff and his wife who laid on a lovely spread it was back to David and Donna's to sort out my slides for the evening talk. This talk 'Gold Medals, Superb Plants and Running an Alpine Nursery' was a change to all the others given previously on the tour and being a light hearted look at my nursery was also more relaxing. Dinner held a surprise for me as it was at a Japanese restaurant. Now I am not a sushi eater, more of a steak man but I did venture slightly from the norm by agreeing to taste flying fish eggs. All I can say is that they were crunchy, fishy and salty! I played safe and had the salmon with teriyaki sauce. Aah beautiful.....

 

Next day, Thursday 5th May I called in to see Tom Fischer, Executive Editor of Timber Press to discuss my dwarf Campanula book but as that didn't take very long I was soon picked up by David and Donna again for a quick tour of Portland, lunch at a wonderful fish restaurant and visits to the Leach Botanic Garden and Portland Rhododendron test garden.

The stature on the left is "Portlandia" and a quote from the Portland city web site describes it as- "Dressed in classical clothes and based on the woman in Portland's city seal". Portlandia was sculpted by Raymond Kaskey, an abstract artist and sculptor. Another quote says "Portlandia's Neptune-like trident complements her stunning off-the-shoulder gown beautifully" It is the second largest hammered copper sculpture in the world after the Statue of Liberty.

 

Donna and David pose by their favourite rhododendron 'Cynthia'. Hope you will always remember the name now David. Wildlife was prevelant throughout the gardens with geese, ducks and other small birds making the most of the conditions.

The gardens were very picturesque with many rhododendrons and water features. Like many botanical gardens nowadays they survive because of the large number of volunteers that freely give their time in order to keep the gardens looking their best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red winged blackbird.

Time to leave David and Donna and fly south to San Francisco where I was met by Janet, another friend who I hadn't seen for six years. She has a family now with husband Dave

and two daughters Lottie and Hannah. Once in the car Janet said "Hear you have never been on a wine tour, that right?" "Yes" I replied. "How did you know that?" Of course Janet could have said "I heard it on the grapevine" but that would have been too corny wouldn't it? Instead she just laughed and said "I've heard about it and we're going now" and off we went for a Mexican meal and a bit of wine tasting. Thank you Janet for an interesting and hilarious afternoon, much appreciated half way through a long tour.

Janet is the hard working Chair of the Western Chapter and deserves a lot of support when the Chapter hosts the Winter Study weekend in 2007.

The following day, Saturday 7th May we had some time before my talk, due in the evening so Janet and I renewed our aquaintance with Mt. Diablo Fire trail, on out last visit we were taken around by that fountain of knowledge Wayne Roderick. This time we were on our own.

However the clumps of Lewisia rediviva var. minor were still there as was the odd plant of Calochortus amabilis

 

Later that day I gave my talk to the Western Chapter at Regional Park Botanic Garden, Berkeley where this plant (is it an Agave) towered above everything.

 

After the talk Janet handed me over to Jack Muzatko who lives the other side of the mountain. Jack is a retired research chemist who not only has a delightful small rock garden but puts his chemistry experience to work by studying two of his favourite alpines, Lewisia disepala and Lewisia kellogii. Very rare in cultivation and extremely dificult to grow, Jack has designed and built a special box in which both these plants and other rareties can be observed whilst growing in specially formulated composts and controlled cooling at the roots. Whilst I was there he showed me his successes compared to plants in the wild. I feel that this form of study and controlled experiment should be written up in the NARGS bulletin.

 

Jack with his special box

 

On the left is Lewisia disepala in Jack's special box and on the right is a photo of Lewisia disepala in the wild taken by Jack on one of his trips to study this species. On the left below is Lewisia kelloggii also captured by Jack and his camera.

 

 

 

It was hoped to go on a field trip on Sunday but unfortunately the forecast was heavy rain in the area of the hike so plans were changed and Jack took me on a trip to San Francisco to do the tourist thing. We travelled by the Bay Area Rapid Transit commonly known as BART, a fast underground railway similar to London. We spent the day walking the waterfront, checking out Fisherman's Wharf which appears to be a very tacky tourist trap, taking a ferry trip across the bay and finishing with dinner at a restaurant in Jack London Square. Being Mother's Day it was slightly difficult eating out but we managed it.

 

Seals taking a rest in the harbour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the left I do the tourist thing and pose with Alcatraz over my shoulder. Below is a closer look at that famous place. When we arrived back at Jack's place we felt more tired than if we had gone on the hike.

 

 

 

Monday 9th May and things are quickening up now with four talks in the next six days. I travelled by BART again, an ideal way to travel as it takes you right into SF airport. Took the 11am flight to Vancouver B.C. arriving at around 1.15 pm but getting into Canada was harder than you think. After 45 minutes of standing in line, and that included Canadian nationals, I happened to meet up with two stony faced, got out of the wrong side of the bed, type of immigration officials. Not only that but my lame answers to "Where are you staying?" "Who are you staying with?" "How long have you known these people?" and "Where did you meet them?" didn't please them one bit. "Not sure where I am staying but I have the address here somewhere." " Not sure of the name of the person but I have it here somewhere." " Only known them a couple of weeks. Met them on the internet." were my answers. No wonder they thought I was suspicious. When I answered $500 to the question "How much money have you got" I forgot it was US dollars I had. Didn't have one Canadian dollar with me but couldn't tell them that could I?

Ian and Phyllis Plenderleith collected me once I was allowed into the country and gave me lunch and a nice tour of Van Dusen Gardens. Later it was back to their place where I sampled Phyllis's excellent cooking especially the dessert. They are a lovely couple and looked after me extremely well after my harsh intoduction to Canadian imigration. After the meal it was off to a half way stage to transfer me to the couple who were to be my hosts for a few days, Margaret Charlton and Charlie Sale. My accommodation here was a cabin of my own in Margaret and Charlie's beautiful wooded garden.

 

 

The view that welcomed me every morning from my balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie and Margaret, a wonderful couple with a wicked sense of humour, always had a beer ready for me and Charlie could pick his wines like a true connoisseur. They were good friends.

Every morning Margaret would feed the birds and the red squirrels who tended to argue with the birds over the food.

 

 

Their wooded garden is beautiful, initially started by Margaret when just a young girl and has been improved and extended by much hard work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhododedrons are everywhere but interspersed are lots of unusual plants such as epimediums, hostas and primulas. If you keep your eyes open orchids can be found like Cypripedium acaule shown below right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steps and paths are everywhere and early on my first morning I took a quiet walk around. Almost like a maze you twisted and turned and found surprises to delight you at every turn. A true plantspersons garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I didn't stay with Margaret and Charlie very long I did cram a lot in including a visit to Vera Peck's lovely garden. Vera grows many rare and beautiful plants here and is very knowledgable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vera is a very generous plant giver as you can see from Margaret's carrier bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Margaret also took me to see the small but delightful garden of Frank Dorsey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie is a volunteer at the University of British Columbia Botanic Gardens like many of the people there and although the day we visited was taken up by the annual inventory of plants, Brent Hine the rock garden Curator kindly gave up an hour of his time to show me around.

Here are some views of the rock garden and a couple of the plants growing there.

 

 

 

 

The rock garden is laid out in geographical areas from Mediteranean to North America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lewisia tweedyi shown on the far right seems to be an easy plant to grow outside here. In the UK we have to give it overhead protection during winter. Below left is Eriogonum flavum var. flavum loving the deep root run given by the gravel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 12th May soon arrived and as I had to give a talk in Seattle that evening a swift transfer was needed. From Canada back into the U.S. I went. Just a couple of questions and a look at my passport was all it took. I thought at one time I might have to walk over the border as if I was a hostage being exchanged. Once there I met up with Steve Doonan who most of you know was the co-founder of Grandridge Nursery. The nursery isn't quite like the old times and has been deliberately run down a bit. There were still dozens of choice plants there however with trays of different species of double anemonellas, trilliums, cypripediums and jankaeas. It was a plantsman's paradise. Steve had planted several jankaeas in a piece of tufa giving them quite a dramatic look. He had many cypripediums in one of the covered areas as well, one is shown here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The very generous Steve Doonan who gave me as many plants as I wanted, especially double anemonellas. Thanks Steve you are a gem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day passed quickly and before I knew it I was speaking to the Northwest Chapter on 'Campanulas to Kill For' especially requested by Steve as it turned out. I am sure most of the audience saw campanulas they never knew existed. Unfortunately the time flashed by and I didn't get to speak very long with my friend Rick Lupp. Perhaps in Utah next year Rick. Alice and Ernie Lauber gave me a bed for the night and it was up early the next day for Mindy to transport me to Seattle airport, the Alaskan Chapter had begun.

 

 

part two-the alaska experience

 

 

 

 

Carmel met me at Anchorage Airport just after mid day and whisked me off home. Although it was Friday the 13th nothing untoward happened and it was a welcome pot luck supper party that greeted me later that evening. How nice to meet people you are later going to have in your audience. It helps relax everyone and makes the talk easier to give.

 

Carmel is fourth from the right in the back row. In case you don't know me by now, I am at the far left. Carmel's husband took this pic, he is in real estate and his hobby is rocks, rock and more rocks, often hiking to out of the way places with a friend, who runs a local rock shop, to obtain anything unusual.

The following day, Saturday I was to give my talk 'The Cultivation of Western North American Alpines' but before that Verna and Frank Pratt were to take me on a little garden tour. The snow was still on the mountains and too low to view alpines in the wild.

 

 

 

 

 

The first garden we visited belonged to Florene and Doug Carney. Very large and a lot of work to keep it up together but it was lovely. A well stocked rock garden including the ever present Lewisia tweedyi and a fine form of Pulsatilla as you can see below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Verna and Frank's car has a numberplate to die for.

 

 

 

 

 

We then went to see Rhonda Williams large nursery. I only wish I could have taken back all the plants I wanted there. She has a large demonstration rock garden and even had Douglasia gormanii (Androsace constancei) and Aquilegia jonesii growing and flowering there. Although the douglasia had gone over the aquilegia was still blooming as you can see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had time to squeeze in one more garden and that belonged to Kathy Swick and what a delightful small garden she has. Situated in a cul de sac she has planted right to the road and is just changing part of it to a crevice garden to cram in more plants.

 

 

 

 

After a quick visit to the botanical gardens where Verna and Frank do voluntery work it was off back home to get ready for the evening talk. The location was a bit of a shock, not the Loussac Library as expected but none other than the Anchorage Assembly Chambers. It is where the City Council meets and where others can go and let themselves be heard. Its also where the laws are changed, amended etc.
The following day, Sunday 15th May brought another experience to add to my collection. After Neil, Carmel's husband, delivered me to Anchorage Airport for my quick hop to Homer in order to give my final talk it was a bit of a shock to see the tiny plane in which I had to fly. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and climbed aboard.

 

Although assured it was perfectly safe it looked a bit of a rinky dink to me and when the co-pilot turned around in his seat and started talking about safely I knew this was something different. After a quick hundred yards dash down the tarmac we were up up and away. Just under an hour's flight to Homer.

I was met there by lovely Teena who took me to lunch and then showed me some of the spectacular views. She also showed me the house being built for her family overlookng the bay. It is a beautiful location where the sun can be seen to rise and set. Back at her present home I met her husband Peter and their daughter and was treated to a real cup of tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homer is situated on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula sitting on the shores of Kachemak Bay. It is idealy situated for fishing, hiking, kayaking and is a good take off place for bear watching. The Spit as you can see above stretches out into the bay and is home to theatre, the arts, and over 20 choices of restaurants.

My talk in the afternoon was in the Pratt Museum, the only natural history museum on the Kenai Peninsula. It features indoor exhibits on art, natural history, native cultures, homesteading, fishing, marine ecology and the Exon Valdez oil spill. Outside is a small botanic garden.

 

 

 

 

Here are three examples of quilting that adorn the walls of the museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although my talk was in quite a small room I was pleased to see so many people crammed in and even standing at the back. I hope everyone who came enjoyed themselves, not just with the talk but the nibbles and drinks afterwards.

Once everything was cleared up Teena took me to meet Rita Jo and Leroy who were to host me for the night in Homer. They have lived in Homer a long long time building the cabin and bringing up four children in it. Nowadays they have a bigger place and Rita Jo has a large nursery named Fritz Creek Gardens. After a lovely meal with baked Alaskan halibut, the speciality of Homer, Rita Jo served up a mean margarita. A nice way to relax. One thing that was difficult to get used to however was the long daylight hours and going to bed at 11 pm with the sun still shining was weird. Still, the light evenings helped me to see more sights and after supper Leroy and Rita Jo drove out to the Spit to introduce me to more of Homer.

 

 

The eagles kept watch over the Spit whilst the boats rest up for another hard day's fishing tomorrow. Although we saw plenty of moose during the evening the light was too low to get a decent picture and the results aren't good enough to publish here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A memorial to those lost at sea has been built on the Spit. Commercial fishing here is a very dangerous job.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 16th May was to be my last day in Alaska as I was due to fly home on Tuesday. I don't suppose I could have chosen a better way to finish my tour than the drive from Homer to Anchorage with Rita Jo. We had a fantastic time with everything from a wonderful bacon burger with melted cheese, fries and onion rings to plant hunting, scenic views, a quick tour of a local radio station, finishing with delivery of dozens of plants to one of her customers in Anchorage and a meal with Carmel and Neil at a restaurant washed down by ..........yes you've guessed it, another margarita..

 

The blue bus below served up the best burger I have ever had. What a way to start a day.

Below on the right shows Rita Jo and myself taking a break before plant hunting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Among the plants we found along Turnagain Arm were Polemonium pulcherrimum, Arctostaphylos uva-versi, saxifrage and erigeron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just four pictures showing the wonderful scenery on the drive from Homer to Anchorage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 am Tuesday 17th May, I caught the plane home, I never did have enough time to appreciate Alaska. I was warned that Alaska was a different experience and so it proved. Lovely people, scenery and a completely different way of life. Although only there for

three and a half days I will miss it terribly.

My luggage went on at Anchorage and in spite of three different flights and dire warnings that Alaskan Airlines, Northwest and KLM always lose luggage, my pack and suitcase came fifth and sixth onto the carousel at Bristol Airport. Ye who have little faith!!!!

 

To sum up. In 28 days I travelled thousands of miles, took 10 flights, met lots of old friends and made new, gave 10 talks, signed dozens of books, sampled a wide range of food from apple pie to flying fish eggs, photographed plants in the wild that I had never seen before, saw marvelous scenery, and arrived home shattered but wouldn't have missed it for the world. A big Thank You to all who my trip go smooth especially those who did their best to make good tea!

To cap it all whilst I was away some friends took some of my plants to the Malvern AGS show and one of them, Gilia caespitosa pictured below, was given an Award of Merit.

 

 

 

And finally I turned out to be a local celebrity.

 

 

the end