August 7, 2011

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 4 to 8 pm

Location: Porto Vecchio condominium, 1250 South Washington Street, Porto Vecchio Front, Alexandria, VA 22314

Our traditional “Red Hot & Blue” Memphis-style barbecue dinner (pulled pork, chicken, beef, baked beans, potato salad and cole slaw and, for dessert, some special bakery yummies) will precede our speaker. We’ll have plenty of cold drinks on hand, too.

Where: Alexandria (the same location we’ve used before); We are especially fortunate to once again make use of a delightful and cool room at the Porto Vecchio condominium, 1250 South Washington Street, Porto Vecchio Front, Alexandria, VA 22314 (the front desk telephone is 703-684-3800). This is at the southernmost tip of Old Town Alexandria, just off South Washington Street (which is also called the George Washington Parkway), just outside (south of) the Beltway, on the Virginia side of the Wilson Bridge. It is a large, yellow “Italianate” looking building facing the Potomac (it will be on your left if you are driving south on the Parkway). There is parking in front and in the “moat” to the right. Please leave your license plate number with the front desk when you enter (and they will direct you to the right room).

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024

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What: Churchill’s Decision to attack the French Fleet, July 1940 is an event little remembered today, but it made for wrenching headlines at the time. After all, it took place just weeks after a last-minute attempt to merge France and Britain into a single country as German forces penetrated deeply into French towns and countryside. But that fleet’s modern elements—including several battleships, at least one of which was not yet fully complete, posed a deadly threat to the Royal Navy should Hitler move to take them over. The French surrender saw the country’s fleet moored at a variety of ports in France, North Africa and as far away as Dakar and Alexandria, Egypt. How to keep their dangerous potential from German control was of utmost concern as the Battle of Britain loomed.

Who: Brooke C. Stoddard is an Alexandria-based book author and editor who worked for years with Time-Life Books and also the National Geographic. For several years he edited Military Heritage magazine, and has written about various World War II topics for World War II magazine. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Historic Preservation and other periodicals. He earned his undergraduate degree at Princeton University. He has just published World in the Balance: The Perilous Months of June-October 1940 (Potomac Books, 1940), and there will be copies for purchase (and author signing) at the picnic.

NOTE: We can only accommodate the first 45 people who respond to this invitation.

WSC SUMMER 2011 PICNIC EVENT–PLEASE PRINT THIS PAGE AND RETURN WITH YOUR CHECK

Reserve YOUR place! The price per person is $33, payable in advance (so we can order sufficient food, wine, and soft drinks)….so please, and NOT LATER THAN Monday, August 1, send the names of those attending along with your check, made out to Washington Society for Churchill, and then mailed to Ellen Sterling, 4507 Airlie Way, Annandale, VA 22003. Call Ellen at 703-256-9304 if you have any questions.

Please list ALL people for whom you are reserving a place:
Name(s):

Address:

Telephone: __________________ E-mail: _______________________

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WASHINGTON SOCIETY FOR CHURCHILL
4507 Airlie Way
Annandale, VA 22003