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The Islander - Thursday 22^nd July 1999

ASCENSION ISLAND HERITAGE SOCIETY
OPENING OF NEW ARCHIVE BUILDING

On Wednesday 14th July the new AIHS Archive Building was officially opened by the Administrator Roger Huxley, on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and by Captain Jim Podger on behalf of the Maersk Shipping Company.

The Administrator first gave an introduction explaining how the Archives had been a dream for the Heritage Society for some years. However, it was not until the FCO donated funds for the building, and the Maersk Shipping Company made a donation to be used for the internal fittings, that the dream became a reality, and he thanked them for their support.

Then the ribbon was cut by Captain Podger to officially open the building
As this was the Administrator’s last function for the AIHS, the committee paid tribute to his help and dedication to the Society over the years.

Those present also included Sqn Ldr Colin Menage RAF, Major Larry Martin USAF, Farther Keith and Ginny James, and the committee

The T.As. Constructed the building, which was then finished internally by AIS. Recently the money donated by the Maersk Shipping Co. has been used to equip it with shelving, files, archive boxes, stationery, and a computer.
The members of the Society have already made a start on the involved job of sorting and cataloguing, but when this is finished the archives will be available for research by anybody on the Island or from overseas

THE CITIZEN ST. HELENA ISLAND NO.36 JULY 1999

SCHOOL PAGE
From the Deputy Headteacher - Mrs Tania Maggot

 

New Students
I would like to start this week by wishing a very warm Two Boats school welcome to our new students: Chelsea Thomas, Jaylee Crowie and Vetanie Muschamp. I am sure all of the staff and students would join me in wishing you all the best for the time you spend with us.

Activities Weeks
The last two weeks of the school year see our Senior School students and teachers completing various projects, which we hope will improve our school surroundings. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the companies who have given us their help and support with this.

We will also be receiving input from Major Charles Monk (UK Civil Affairs Group) on Careers and Higher Education opportunities abroad. During his visit Major Monk will also be setting leadership tasks for our students - maybe we have a future Station Commander of RAF Ascension hiding amongst our student body!!

Leavers Assembly
The afternoon of Wednesday 28 July sees us presenting our awards for Effort and Achievement in each Year Group.

Being presented will be the Philpott award for Kindness and the Hutchinson Award for Special effort. We will also be presenting Certificates for those children who gave an exceptional overall performance in the SAT's Tests. Any parents wishing to attend are welcome.

New School Year
As I am sure most parents are now aware the school closes for this year on Friday 30 July 1999. As usual this will be a half day with the students finishing at 12.15 pm.

The school staff return to work for an INSET day on Tuesday 14 September 1999 with all pupils due back on Wednesday 15 September 1999.

Thank You
To all those who have helped the school over the past school year either by giving up your time or making a donation in one way or another I would like to say thank you. All of us here at Two Boats School feel very honoured to be part of such a giving community.

All that is left for me to say it that I hope you all enjoy the holiday and I look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready to work in September.

Tania Maggott
Deputy Headteacher

MESSAGE TO TWO BOATS SCHOOL
From Betty Joshua - Headteacher

To all the staff and students...

Enjoy the last few days of school and have a good holiday wherever you are and whatever you do!!
Take care and I shall see you all in September.

Betty Joshua

ASCENSION ISLAND

POST OFFICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

No.18/99

NEW COMMEMORATIVE STAMP ISSUE

"30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST MANNED MOON LANDING"

On Tuesday, 20 July, the Post Office will release for sale a set of four stamps and a souvenir sheet to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the First Manned Moon Landing. This is a Crown Agents omnibus issue which involves 14 commonwealth postal administrations from around the world. The Ascension collection are as follows: -

15p - Command and Service Module

35p - The moon taken from Apollo II

40p - Satellite Tracking Station on Ascension

50p - The Lander Module lifts off the moon

£1.50 - The souvenir sheet depicts the Command Module flying above the earth with the moon surface in the foreground. It also bears the Apollo II logo and contains an unusual perforated circular stamp.

Sets of stamps at £1.40, souvenir sheets at £1.50, First Day Covers at £1.90 and First Day Cover souvenir sheets at £2.00 will be on sale at the Georgetown Post Office for a period of three months from the date of issue. They will still be available to collectors from the Philatelic Bureau for a further twelve months provided stocks lasts.

A R Francis
Postmistress
Post Office - Georgetown
12th July 1999

Father Keith Writes:

PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN.  ASCENSION ISLAND (Diocese of St. Helena) Parish Priest: Fr. Keith James - 6431 Church Warden: Mervyn Isaacs Church Warden: Cheryl Anthony

Dear Friends,

It just so happens that the set reading for Morning Prayer this morning was the story of David and
Abigail. (David you remember was the one who slew Goliath and who later became king.)
David is at this time living the life of an outlaw with about six hundred followers at his command. Feeding
that lot can't have been easy, and there comes the time when David sends ten of his men to the very
rich local landowner asking for help, pointing out that they have not stolen any of his sheep or ill-treated
any of his servants while living on his land. Nabal owned three thousand sheep and one thousand goats,
but we are told that he was a 'mean, bad tempered man' and he refuses. David's men go back, he is
enraged, and sets off with all his army to get by force what he wanted thinking 'God strike me dead if I
don't kill everyone of them before morning.
One of Nabul's servants tells his wife Abigail how he has rebuffed David's men inspite of their having
acted so honourably in the past. And Abigail fears the worst.
She quickly assembles a whole mule-train of bread, wine, roast mutton and figs and sets off to meet
David herself, telling Nabul nothing.
'She was riding her donkey round a bend of the hillside when suddenly she met David and his men
As in all good stories, the heroine - who was beautiful and intelligent - wins over the hero, her peoples
life is spared, Nabul later suffers a heart attack and dies, David marries Abigail and they ride off into the
sunset together or something like that! (1 Samuel 25 if you want to look it up)
This week we say goodbye to Roger. To the church, and indeed the whole Island, he has been anything
but a mean, bad-tempered man; he has been a great support.
His job has been very demanding and exacting, difficult decisions have had to be made. I doubt whether
he has always 'got it right', at times the rebels must have marched against him. You can only take
analogies so far, but who knows, maybe at times it has been Niddy who has saved his bacon.
You go with our prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery to full health for Niddy and for a long and happy and fulfilling retirement together.

God Bless You and Keep You,
Fr Keith & Ginny.

LETTERS

NEWS FROM ASCENSION AUXILIARY AIRFIELD By Maj. Larry Martin

By the time this article is published, the Shuttle Columbia, scheduled to launch July 22, should be in orbit with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The launch was originally scheduled for early Tuesday morning, July 20. Countdown was halted with six seconds to spare. It appears erroneous data from a gas detection system caused the halt to the countdown. The shuttle is now slated for launch on Thursday morning during a window of 04:28 to 05:14 (Ascension Island time). The shuttle mission is scheduled to last five days with a landing planned at the Kennedy Space Center. Last Saturday, a USAF P-3 Orion landed at Wideawake Field. The P-3 is on Ascension Island to support the Chandra mission. Possibly more to follow on that mission in my next Islander article. I mentioned in my last article that the Atlas IIA Centaur GOES-L mission was rescheduled for an August launch. Based on the latest information I have from Cape Canaveral, this mission is now on an indefinite hold. As I receive more information, I will relay in future articles.

Last week, a MILSTAR team installed a ground-based beacon at our High Frequency (HF) building, located just south of the airhead. Thanks to the hard work of base personnel, the team was able to quickly install the rack of equipment and antenna in a matter of hours. After a few tests, the equipment was declared operational. The beacon, used for MILSTAR station keeping duties, was designed to be remotely operated; so, if all goes well, the day to day operation of the beacon should have minimal impact on station resources. The first operational use of the equipment will occur sometime in August. The team had nothing but high praise for the assistance they received while at the base. In the short time I have been here, I have seen the quality and professionalism exhibited by island personnel, so I wasn’t surprised by those comments. As they say at my last assignment – “Another job done right.”

As some of you may have noticed, the Consolidated Instrumentation Facility or CIF, just south of Wideawake Field is experiencing discoloration and corrosion to its stainless steel fixtures. The primary areas of concern are the downspouts, doors, and roof. We are testing different processes for cleaning these surfaces. Two previous tests did not produce good results so those were immediately disapproved. Last week, we tested a new solution. Based on preliminary analysis, the results of this test are highly encouraging. We still have one more test to perform. Once we have completed that test we will forward our recommendation to Patrick AFB and await their decision.

The big event last Sunday was the First Annual Ray Beano Cup “Texas Scramble” Golf Tournament followed by the 4th Annual Chili Cookoff, both held at the One Boat Golf Club. What an event! The Ray Beano Cup went to Johnny Hobson, Jimmy Bennett, and Joyce Bennett. Well done! We had an impressive total of eleven entries for the chili cookoff. The number one chili went to Myrtle Joshua, Jack Whitaker, Guy Barallon, and Fred Kenney. The second place team was Norma Thomas (Dover) and Cedric Richards. Rich Tochtrop’s chili took third place honors. The hottest chili award went to Helen Tivnen and Kenny Everett. Thanks to the American Legion for their hard work. I think it would be safe to say that everyone had a great time.

Lastly, I have some softball updates. As you know, we are in the middle of a double-elimination (knockout) tournament. Teams will remain in the tournament until they experience two losses. The results thus far are:

Georgetown	40	Security	43
Airheads	9	SerCo	29
Admin	41	Bad Boys	36
Hotshots	15	Dodgers	20
Dodgers	28	Bad Boys	34
Hotshots	13	Admin	13

Major Larry Martin

The Met Office Weather Report

Statistics for the week ending 18th July 1999.

ASCENSION SEA SWELL FORECAST ( based on data available on Monday afternoon) :

Sea temperature around Ascension Island : 26 C

ASCENSION ISLAND: There were some heavy showers again this week especially Tuesday when 8.5m was recorded at the Airhead and the wind has been fresh to strong at times as well. But some days were pleasantly fine and sunny, like Sunday which was the warmest day of the week.

ST HELENA: Gary Thomas writes:- The week began as the previous ended, dry and sunny, but each day from Wednesday there have been some very welcome showers, mixed with 4 to 5 hours of sunshine and a fresh to strong breeze, with the highest gust reaching 42 knots. Mean temperature 16.9C, mean wind speed 14.8kt and total sunshine 37.3 hours. Sea conditions have been very good.

U.K: The week started off very warm and sunny in most places but England and Wales turned a little more cloudy around mid-week, with temperatures returning to about normal for the time of year. Scotland though, suffered with wind and rain at times mainly on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

FALKLAND ISLANDS: It was fine and sunny until Thursday when a strong NW'ly wind brought a period of cloud and rain. On Friday it became colder with some sleet showers and a fresh SW'ly surface wind. Saturday was similar with occasional sleet or snow showers. On Sunday fine and sunny weather returned to the Falkland Islands again.

METCHAT ************************ “METCHAT” ************************ METCHAT ************************ “METCHAT *************************

We live in a world full of rules and regulations. We find them everywhere, at work, in the Mess, on the highway and even at home (handed out by Wife or significant other). Some laws tell us what not to do, while some advise us what to do and then there are the laws which give us an understanding of science and nature. Most of our scientific laws such as the equations of motion and mathematical relationships between heat as a form of energy and temperature and pressure are relatively easy to understand. Some are far more difficult to understand like the Second Law of Thermodynamics. It is related to a concept called Entropy which is a measure of disorder and chaos in the Universe. It talks in terms of irreversible processes, of things wearing out, and ordered states continually moving to a disordered state. I mention it because it is fascinating theorem and considered by many to be the most important law in science. But please don't ask me to explain! (ask Cestrian). Instead I offer a few of the more simple Scientific Laws:

Newton's 1st Law of Motion.
Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.......

.......it could be written this way
A body in a state of rest (enjoying an evening meal, say) will remain there until compelled into motion by an outside force (such as Gloria).

The Third Law of Thermodynamics
Things get worse under Pressure.

Archimedes Third Principal
When a body is immersed in water, the telephone will ring.

The second Law of Forces (MT manual 1998 revised )
Don't force it, use a bigger hammer

and finally when things go pear-shaped at work remember this line from Rudyard Kiplings Poem 'If'...
"If you can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you."

Which translates as:-

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs,
it's just possible that you haven't understood the situation.

or:

The man who smiles when things go wrong
has thought of someone he can blame it on.

RUFUS.

Hash Trash
Hash No.757- also known as the ultimate faff hash!!!

This week's hashers:
Small Thing, The Fugitive, Sniffy, Dozy Ha 'P 'orth, Roly Poly, A-Drain, Frank-n-
Furter, Xena, Lance-a-little, Warp Speed, Peacock, Ivor the engine, Thunderthighs, Fit
Guy, Wannabe, Beanybaby, Morticia, Radar, Blind pew, Lady like, Thomas the tank
engine, Chief Longpole, Shirley Temple, Hong Kong Phooey; and welcome to newcomers
Larry, Cilla, Gena and Nasrin.

This weeks hash was a case study in masterful time killing. All credit to hares, Sniffy and A-drain. The brief included "how a hash works" and "rules of the game" plus helpful hints such as "fossilized fish are not edible". At least ten minutes gone there.

The "on on" was called and we all galloped off. "Peep peep" squeaked Thomas the tank engine zooming past everyone with boundless energy. More lethargic crew members stumbled and grunted along behind. The route quickly revealed itself to be loopy, in more ways than one. There was an odd temptation to yell "everybody do se do" so that the cross country dancing could really begin in more organised figures of eight!! Needless to say the circle checks saw much tomfoolery and merriment as a result of unrequited hyperactivity.

Many more backchecks, an incident between Lance-a-little, The Fugitive and a beer (the phrase "taking a rattle from a baby" springs to mind) and we were above the KInka KIub with shortlived ideas of gatecrashing a party. Dozy Ha'P'orth was seen to half inch an iron Brew. Shame on you Dozy! Scampered home in high spirits, with oldies such as Morticia and Roly Poly seeing fit to take a short cut, by way of back check bypass!! Oh well, they do so well for their age don't they?!!. More silly behaviour followed the hash, and as usual, merriment ensued.

Thanks a lot to Sniffy and A-drain for a leisurely hash with nice long circle checks. Just the way we like it, eh Morty?!!

Next weeks hares: Hong Kong Phoocy, The Fugitive Ivor the F'igine
From: old Saints Beach hut (Past Pan-Am)

Week after: Warp Speed and Small thing from Dew Pond.

Hash Scribe: (now with a restraining order on Morticia)
Blind Pew

Visit the Ascension Island Hash Web Site

ASCENSION GIRL GUIDE ASSOCIATION GUIDING NEWS

Sunday 4th July saw the last church parade at St Mary's for our girls for this school year. Meetings, too, will cease in a couple of weeks time when school will close for the long holiday break and Guide and Brownie leaders leave the island for holidays abroad and a well-deserved rest.
As we come to the end of another year of guiding it is good to reflect on what the girls have been doing during their
regular weekly meetings. To recount it all would need far more time than I have at this moment as in less than 24
hours, I shall be bound for St Helena on the RMS. However we shall revisit some of the main events and activities
from the years programme.

RAINBOW GUIDES

Our youngest members, those delightful little Rainbows, under the leadership of Debbie Prince, have been actively
involved in a varied programme linked to the eight guiding points each under a different colour of the rainbow. One
of the early highlights was the Halloween Fancy Dress Party which was shared by their counterparts, the Beavers, as well as the Brownies, Cubs, Guides and Scouts. For Christmas they were continuing to make things especially Christmas cards and crackers, and, of course, had a lovely party together.
Rainbow numbers decreased as we went into the New Year but this did not deter the small but secure group to
continue to be active. They went beachcombing and used the shells collected to make mobiles. In February their
leader Debbie was enrolled at our Thinking Day ceremony. Work around an international theme involved the girls in learning about different countries and their flags, ( the Brownies and Guides prepared for Thinking Day under the
same theme). During the month of March the Rainbows were in the safe hands of Teresa Ryan who had been assisting Debbie prior to Debbie's leave period, We extend a big thank-you to Teresa for her support and we are sure you enjoyed the experience.
Sadly the Rainbows unit is no longer meeting and Debbie has had to make a very difficult decision to close down.
After 8 months working with the girls, it was a rather sad time but numbers had fallen to just 3 and they became very limited in what they could do together. However we are grateful to Debbie for her leadership and we can but hope that, whilst she's still on the Island a few more little Rainbows will come our way and bring some sunshine into our lives as they have done over the past months. Thank you, Debbie.

BROWNIE GUIDES

Well there's no chance of Brownies closing down because they are currently numbered at 11. This does include a few girls who have moved down from the Rainbow unit. Helping Guiders Tania Maggott and Tammy Green are two young leaders, Elaine Young and Moria Peters. These young people were Girl Guides at one stage and have taken on this challenge to help out at Brownie meetings. Well done girls!
Over the year Brownies have been working on the eight point programme and completed their relevant journeys -i.e. Footpath, Road and Highway. They have also achieved some interest badges. Here are some of the high spots of their programme. The first idea continued from thinking day and the girls worked hard to put together a unit booklet all about themselves. This booklet then progressed on a 'round the world' journey to other Brownies in different countries. Our Ascension Brownies look forward to the return of their booklet at Christmas. Hopefully, too, they'll receive cards, letters, and photographs from those Brownies who have shared their booklet. What a super idea.
History was made for our present unit when they went for their first overnight camp at Garden Cottage. Rumour has it that the fairies and gnomes who are usually out and about on the mountain decided to move to Norfolk Pines for that period! What fun the girls and leaders must have had! I wonder who had the most sleep?
More recently an unusual location was used for a Brownie Enrolment Ceremony - where? - Sugar Lumps! Well that was certainly different and I'm sure those who were enrolled will, no doubt, remember the event well.
Well done Brownies - what's next?

GIRL GUIDES

And so on to guides and this has been the case where we have had Brownies becoming guides and that's the way we want it to be! The eight point programme continues at this stage based on the same principles and followed according to the interests and enthusiasms of the girls and their leaders. At this stage the girls are more adventurous and find that the challenges bring new interests and new experiences. So, besides the occasional climb or walk, our guides this year have been abseilling at Sugar Lumps (a popular place with our girls), and overnight hiking to Comfortless Cove from Georgetown. These were two of the main events undertaken, but with leaders Cheryl and Winnie, they've also visited the Maersk earlier this year, raised a goodly sum from their sponsored walk, cooked pancakes (and eaten them!), collected litter and worked towards various badges.
So, all in all, our girls from the youngest to the oldest have had a varied programme and enjoyed themselves in the
process. We take our hats off to our leaders for their commitment to guiding and all that it stands for. We appreciate the time spent planning and carrying out their termly programmes. Well done everyone and we look forward to a another exiting and challenging year ahead.

Betty Joshua (Dep.Com)

ASCENSION PREMIERSHIP 1999

9-A-SIDE INTER-CLUB TOURNAMENT

Results – Tables – Fixtures - News

Calling all football fans, the 9-a-side Cup and Plate competition is upon us once again. At a second meeting on Monday 12 July, seven teams were entered and after a short discussion on the rules for the tournament, the first round draw took place. The teams and their captains are:

Mountain View Club - Dean Collis
Two Boats Club I - Darrin Henry
Two Boats Club II - Dennis Francis
Volcano Club I - Leroy Peters
Volcano Club II - Richard Joshua
Saints Club I - Alan Stevens
Saints Club II - Tris Moyce

The draw has been arranged so that all teams play four games, apart from the loser of Cup Semi-Final 2, who will play 6 games, because of one team having a bye to the Cup Semi- Final. All games will start at 7.30pm at Travellers Hill field. The first round games will be a straight knockout, one game only, to separate teams into the semi-finals of the Cup competition or for the losers, the Plate. The semi-final winners will be decided by aggregate score over two legs.

All teams are required to supply a linesman for their match. Any players who collect 2 yellow cards over the competition will serve a one match suspension the following game and obviously, a red card at any time means an automatic one game suspension. The games will consist of two 40 minute halves, with extra time of 10 minutes each way if required in the first round or second legs of the semis. If after extra time a winner has not been decided then there will be a penalty shoot-out of best of 5 penalties each, followed by single sudden death penalties if required. The golden goal is NOT being played.

The subject of school age players taking part was discussed at the meeting and it was unanimously decided that in the interests of player safety, no players under 16 years of age could take part in the tournament. It was also agreed that this rule could be changed for the 6- a-side tournament only, bringing the age limit down to 14 years. It is hoped the six-a-side will follow the 9-a-side.

The first games of the 9-a-side will take place from Monday 26 July. (The weeks delay is to allow the softball to finish) Those at the meeting will notice the order of games has also changed. This is to allow Semi-Final 2 to be decided earliest as the loser is required to make up the Plate Semi-Final 1.

Finally, we are in desperate need of referees. Many of the current referees are shift workers as well as players and already it is proving difficult scheduling officials for each game. None of the current refereeing volunteers are specially qualified, just people like yourselves with an interest in the game and a willingness to get involved and help out. If there is anyone out there with refereeing experience, or if you think you would like to give it a try for the first time, please contact any of the committee members. Your help would be most appreciated.
We have a current copy of the laws of the game, just in case!

Next weeks fixtures:

The Committee: Chairman-Johnny Hobson, Secretary-Richard Thomas, Treasurer-Darrin
Henry.

Ascension Island Interactive

EDITOR - Caroline Parker
The New Islander Office, Fort Hayes, Georgetown, Ascension Island.
Tel/Fax 00 + 247 6327

E-Mail: editors@the-islander.org.ac
Deadline: 12 PM Tuesdays

Contributors: Neil McFall, Penny Peters, Debbie Prince, Father Keith, Sharon Andrews, Dean Collis, Betty Joshua, Tania Maggott, Larry Martin.

Printer: RAXA
The Islander post-box is situated in the entrance to the Administrator’s Office.
Deadline for all contributions is 12.00 on Tuesday

All articles © copyright 1999 The Islander Newspaper. All rights reserved.

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