Author Archives: Michael K. Barbour

About Michael K. Barbour

Michael K. Barbour is the Director of Faculty Development and a Professor of Instructional Design for the College of Education and Health Sciences at Touro University California. He has been involved with K-12 online learning in a variety of countries for well over a decade as a researcher, teacher, course designer and administrator. Michael's research focuses on the effective design, delivery and support of K-12 online learning, particularly for students located in rural jurisdictions.

90th Anniversary Challenge Coin Design Competition

Leave a reply

In the lead up to our 90^th anniversary on August 12, 2021 we have been exploring ways to provide some form of commemoration of this milestone for our membership. Other branches have undertaken everything from t-shirts and jackets to ball caps to lapel pins and buttons to cookbooks to ceremonial plates and spoons – even matchbooks and ashtrays. For example, this is a throwback lapel pin from Branch 25.

Many will recall that last year we produced a challenge coin to mark an occasion. In 1995, Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion began its affiliation with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Arkansas Division. In his initial proposal to the branch, Comrade Fred Rutledge wrote that the relationship between the two organizations was natural, as it was quite common for Legion branches in Canada to sponsor a local cadet corps. At the time, then Commanding Officer Lt. Lee Smith wrote that this affiliation would assist the cadets in participating to the fullest in the many training opportunities available to them. To commemorate that anniversary, Branch #25 sponsored a competition to design a challenge coin that reflected this 25^th anniversary, as well as both Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Arkansas Division.

Branch 25 is currently sponsoring a competition for the design of a 90^th anniversary challenge coin. To providing you with some inspiration, below are example of existing Royal Canadian Legion challenge coins.

Over the years, there have been branches of the Royal Canadian Legion in Oakland, Sacramento, Alameda, Redwood City, Petaluma, Berkeley, Hayward, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Francisco. Today, only the branch in San Francisco remains. However, as branches ceased to exist the San Francisco branch assumed responsibility for their members and commitments – including maintaining and honouring the plots with Canadian and British veterans at Liberty Cemetery in Petaluma and Greenlawn Cemetery in Colma.

So submit your design of a 90^th anniversary challenge coin to commemorate the occasion and recognize our history to mkbarbour-at-gmail.com

Please RSVP – Upcoming Veterans Affairs Canada virtual panel – Remembrance in a digital age / Veuillez confirmer votre participation – Discussion virtuelle d’Anciens Combattants Canada – La commémoration à l’ère numérique

Leave a reply

This event from Veterans Affairs Canada may be of interest to some of our members.

Le français suit.

Remembering the brave Canadians who have put their lives on the line defending peace and freedom is as important as ever. Yet how we commemorate our Veterans’ service and sacrifice is changing. While monuments and ceremonies will always have their place, we have to evolve our commemorative activities to embrace more digital tools and spaces if we want to truly engage with Canadians.

Join us at 12:00 PM ET on 29 April 2021 for a one-hour virtual panel discussion on the future of commemoration in Canada. This time we will be talking about remembrance in the digital age.

Panelists will be:

Captain Kirk Sullivan from @CAFinUS;
Carolyn Patton from the Vimy Foundation and;
Caroline Dromaguet from the Canadian War Museum

The discussion will be moderated by Anthony Wilson-Smith from Historica Canada.

To register, please email us at vac.education-education.acc@veterans.gc.ca and include the following:

Language preference for the session (English, French or bilingual)
Any questions you have for the panelists

You have until April 23 to RSVP. If you are not able to watch the live event, the session will also be available for later viewing on our website.

We invite you to share this message with your network or anyone you think would be interested.

Thank you,

Veterans Affairs Canada

***********************************************

Il n’a jamais été aussi important de se souvenir des braves Canadiens et Canadiennes qui ont risqué leur vie pour défendre la paix et la liberté. Toutefois, la façon dont nous commémorons le service et les sacrifices de nos vétérans évolue. S’il est vrai que les monuments et les cérémonies auront toujours leur place, nous devons moderniser nos activités commémoratives afin de tirer profit des outils et des espaces numériques et, ainsi, de mobiliser pleinement la population canadienne.

Joignez-vous à nous le 29 avril 2021 à 12 h (HE) pour une discussion virtuelle d’une heure sur l’avenir de la commémoration au Canada. Le thème de la discussion sera la commémoration à l’ère numérique.

Voici les panélistes :

Capitaine Kirk Sullivan de @CAFinUS;
Carolyn Patton de la Fondation Vimy;
Caroline Dromaguet du Musée canadien de la guerre.

La discussion sera animée par Anthony Wilson-Smith de Historica Canada.

Pour vous inscrire, veuillez nous écrire au vac.education-education.acc@veterans.gc.ca et fournir les renseignements suivants :

Votre langue de préférence pour le déroulement de la rencontre (français, anglais ou bilingue)
Toute question que vous aimeriez poser aux panélistes

Vous avez jusqu’au 23 avril pour confirmer votre participation. Si vous ne pouvez pas participer, ne vous en faites pas, la discussion sera enregistrée et disponible sur notre site Web.

Nous vous invitons à partager ce message aux membres de votre réseau ou à quiconque pourrait être intéressé.

Merci,

Anciens Combattants Canada

ANZAC Day 2021

Leave a reply

In one week, US Branch 25 of the Royal Canadian Legion are partnering with the Australian American Chamber of Commerce San Francisco and the New Zealand American Association of San Francisco to stream a small ANZAC day service at 10am on Sunday, 25 April. You can register to watch the ceremony at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_z8P32gA8TIiycnJB4Cbb5w

your RBLI news and updates are here!

Leave a reply

A newsletter from the organization formerly known as There But Not There.

View this email in your browser

Hello

This year, Royal British Legion Industries will embark on the biggest national campaign in its history of more than 100 years.

Last year, all celebrations were scrapped; the public was left with no way to recognise the iconic 75th anniversary of VE Day.

However, this year, we will see the nation galvanised as part of Tommy’s Race to Victory Relay – a truly national event that will see RBLI’s iconic Tommy figure travel the length of the UK, stopping at iconic military locations and cities on the way.

RBLI’s incredibly successful #TommyInTheWindow campaign will once again come to the fore to see the British public commemorate along with a range of challenges and activities that everyone can get involved in.

Will you join us in marking this VE Day? Visit our VE Day Hub to see how you can get involved!

VISIT VE DAY HUB

The Tommy Club is 6 Months Old!

Thank you to all of our current Champions for making the first six months of the Tommy Club so special.

We never could have imagined how much support you’d all give us and our veterans and how brilliant this community would be in such a short space of time. Keep up the good work, recruit more Champions and let’s see this community grow!

Visit the Tommy Club website for more information on how to become a Champion.

TOMMY CLUB WEBSITE

Are you, or do you know, a veteran in any of the following communities who deserves special recognition?

Tommy’s Race to Victory relay will see a team of military veterans run and cycle the length of the country over nine days – starting on 29^th April and finishing on VE Day itself, the 8^th May.

And we want you to get involved. Are you, or do you know, a veteran in any of the following communities who should receive the special edition Tommy figures?

Saturday 1st May – Newcastle
Sunday 2^nd May – Catterick, Ripon Huby, Bradford/Leeds
Monday 3^rd May – Manchester (PM)
Tuesday 4^th May – Manchester (AM), Liverpool, Wrexham
Wednesday 5^th May – Coventry, Leamington Spa, Wolverhampton
Thursday 6^th May – Oxford, London
Friday 7^th May – London
Saturday 8^th May – London (Tower of London), Chatham

If you do please email Nicholas.wesson@rbli.co.uk or call 07500 602 008 to register your interest.

Can you help us Race to Victory for a marathon finish?

You are really getting in the street party spirit – together you’ve bought over 5 miles of VE Day bunting!

We’ve decided to set you all a challenge…can you line the streets with a marathon distance of bunting for VE Day? We would be delighted to smash 26 miles of bunting because it creates employment for our beneficiaries and helps to fund all the amazing services we provide across RBLI.

To help you help us, we have put together a discounted 4 pack VE Day Tommy Bunting Bundle.