News And Events
Message from the President
Welcome Message
Dear Members and Prospective members,
Unless you are a new member who joined the ESU since April 1st of the year, members, and prospects, are kindly asked to rejoin/join beginning July 1st, the ESU's fiscal new year. The dues remain the same, $52/Single, $75/Couple. The fees are a small price to pay to support local and National philanthropies which are aimed at leveraging the ESU mission, both here and around the world. The ESU "Expands minds, Strengthens friendships, Unlocks opportunities – through the use of the English language." Where our youth is concerned,
"The English-Speaking Union believes every child should be able to make their voice heard. We believe that the ability to progress and to thrive in life relies on oracy – speaking and listening – skills, which are not currently a prominent part of the school curriculum. Our debate, public speaking and cultural exchange programs help young people to engage with the world, to speak more confidently and to listen to and understand different points of view. These skills improve young people's attainment, emotional intelligence, and social skills, helping them to live their lives to the fullest."
You all should have just received a Sign Up/Renew letter from our Chairman, Quinn Peeper, MD, together with related materials, including membership forms. You may either join/renew with those forms or with the following information:
You can join or rejoin using the Membership Tab on the Branch website: www.esuus.org/charlottesville
(If you go to our website, you might want to visit the Photo Galleries of past Member events. Good fun.)
Or, mail a check made out to the English-Speaking Union and send it to: The English-Speaking Union of the United States, 144 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016.
Why join?
Shakespeare Competition - Imagine that your Branch helped launch a young woman from Charlottesville High School, the Branch winner of the Shakespeare Competition, into a competition with other winners from across the country, for a thrilling weekend in NYC, culminating in various collaborations with their peers on the stage of Lincoln Center. Thanks to the founding gift of $5,000.00 by now recently deceased John Watterson, and his wife, Yvonne, we were able to increase the prize monies for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. My wife Marilyn and I gave $4,000.00 this spring to be added to the Shakespeare Fund which will permit the prize monies to be increased further still in the coming year. For all those members who attended the Competition at Blackfriars Theater in Staunton last February, seeing was believing. Our Education Committee is hard at work enlisting a couple of more schools to join in the competition this coming season, from six last year to eight this year we hope.
Teachers Learning Abroad – Thanks to the largesse of Judy and Bob Smith, who gifted the Branch's Teachers Learning Abroad (TLAB) program, $100,000.00 last year, instead of sending one candidate every year other year, by the time you receive this, two High School teachers will have begun a three-week program of study at Oxford University. Imagine what energy and new perspectives they will bring to their classrooms upon their return. Think of the other teachers/students they will meet and experience together from America and other countries.
Expanding the footprint of the Branch – Thanks to an unrestricted additional gift from Judy and Bob Smith of $100,000.00 early this year, Branch Officers and Directors will have funds to help support programs/initiatives of organizations with similar missions, and or, have funds to bring in speakers from more distant locations, compensate them for travel and lodging, pay a larger honorarium where appropriate, in order to further augment the quality of programing offered to Members.
Member Educational and Social Programs - Now also consider the variety of educational and cultural opportunities offered to our members this past year. These included: a Black-Tie Kick-Off function last October featuring Professor Mark Metcalf speaking on, "Whither the PRC: A rising power or dynasty in decline." Then followed the talk by Member Neil Wiley, who spoke of a world, the pinnacle of which he achieved, "The Second Oldest Profession: The United States Intelligence Community – how it works and why you should car." The Yuletide gave us a "Dickens of a Christmas Party" at the elegant, ante-bellum, home of members Ginna and Richard Kelly, the Glenmore House. In February Members enjoyed both the Shakespeare Competition at Blackfriars, and a private screening of the "Mystery Movie" at the Crown Violet theater of My Fair Lady. Later in March, Members were treated to a scintillating presentation, by Professor Emerita Karen Chase Levinson, titled, "An unlikely industrialist: Charles Dickens and the production of creative energy." Later in April, Members were treated at the home of Members Bill and Lizzie McGowan. Lizzie's artistry, anatomically perfect painting of all flowers mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare, was nothing short of remarkable. President Williams added to the event a brief history, discussion, and tasting of six different styles of Sherry. The season was crowned at the elegant home of Member Barbara Sieg, where Members toasted the memory of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of His Britannic Majesty, King Charles III. Quite a season!
What's on tap for the 2023-2024 program season – Please find attached the coming season of events. Please download and mark your calendars. As usual, we will have a variety of programs, beginning with a serious consideration of an existential threat to the West by the Chinese Communist Party. A couple of the Branch events are a little pricey of necessity. Others are most reasonable, including one at Monticello's Kenmore House, one in support of the Shakespeare Competition and a Christmas "experience", and one to highlight Member talent and expertise, an extraordinary opportunity to engage with one of our speakers in the timely question of the preservation of Free Speech, and a finale AGM and Garden Party at the lovely home of Members Cindy and Bob Bryan.
In Conclusion: Please do not tarry. Rejoin, sign up. We are a well-educated, well-traveled, merry band who support two very worthy philanthropies, and together seek continuing education and bonhomie in the pursuit thereof. As always, any questions, email me or call at 434/981-0444
Very Sincerely, Phil
Dr. Henry P. Williams III, Charlottesville ESU Branch President