Travel letter from Des

Amongst the letters I've come across in the last day or so is an aerogramme from Des, sent from Canada, when he and Monica went over for a reunion with some of Des's wartime squadron.  I only know that the date of the letter was 17 Sept - there's no year, although by squinting very hard at the postmark it could be 1980.  (It could also be 1930!)  [John Stokes has now confirmed that it was indeed 1980.]

I think the letter was written in a couple of stages: one long stretch and then a little bit to fill up the last space at the end.  

Dear Pat, Daphne, Jack and Co,
    This was to be a copy (virtually) of my letter to John and Barbara, but as I began that in San Francisco it would be inappropriate.  On the evening of 10 Sept we had a banquet in the Monterey Room of our hotel - went off OK, but 'banquet' would be a grandiose name for it.  I believe a batch of Aussies and perhaps Tour No 1 (which did not eventuate) were to join us (27) but this did not happen.  However I'm sure all enjoyed the night.  It was a nice hotel, in fact all the accommodation has been very good.  You would be interested Jack in the plumbing fixtures.  No loose plugs in the basins - steel (or chrome I suppose) ones operated by push rod which comes up through the tap assembly - new to me.  Usually showers have been over the bath with separate taps (ie H& C) regulating temp. & supply through the bath faucet - when temp. adjusted you lift a lever and the water then travels to the shower rose!
Pretty hard to squeeze letter writing into the day, but occasionally it is possible usually in morning as cases have to be ready about an hour before bus departure when we are on the move.  Tour to date has been immensely enjoyable with quite a few highlights, some recorded on film, but I guess a movie camera with sound would have been needed to capture some of the spirit of the moment, eg, the 'Bert Albert' [Alpert, probably] band in the street at Tijuana.  Wish you could all be with us.  Monica has just [been] watching a moose opposite the hotel.  There had been a couple of elk earlier.  Hope the bears wait until we depart before making their appearance!

The current version of the Airtram - you
can see why Monica might have had her
eyes shut!

Enjoyed S.F. where we took a bus tour of city and some also visited Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf for a look around and a bit of shopping.  Fabulous shopping - could have spent a fortune, but we still have a long way to go.  On to Edmonton and Winnipeg today.  Flew to Vancouver on DC 8 and stayed in centre of city - very noisy at night.  Great bus tour of this beautiful city including visit to Queen Elizabeth Park with sunken garden where some Japanese?? weddings were being photographed.  Unfortunately my pictures are a little disappointing.  Had dinner one night at revolving restaurant 32? storeys up (highlight of visit).  Also spent time in tremendous shopping mall which spread underground to link up with two big stores, Hudson Bay Coy and [word indecipherable].  On way to Kamloops by coach we stopped at Hell's Gate, a fast stretch of deep wild water on Fraser's (?) river.  Descended gorge by Airtram which took about 28 people (including Monica - probably with eyes closed!) to where snacks, restrooms and ingenious salmon by-pass were located.  Travel Lodge Motel very comfortable and quiet.  Enjoyed Chinese meal at restaurant.  Indian heritage fairly evident along the way.
28 Sept. At this stage the reunion is over - met some wonderful people and had great time.  More later. Love Monica and Des.  xxoo

Hannagan Family Reunion 1976

The whole kit and caboodle...all those who attended. Brian Hannagan and his family were also involved - in fact I think he organised it.


The Charles and Flora Hannagan descendents. Probably the last time all this group were ever gathered together in one place. Missing are all the Des and Joyce O'Flaherty family.


Three of the Aunts (Charles Hannagan's sisters): Annie, Tess and Rose. I think the fourth lady - on the right - is a relative of Brian's.

The picnic/reunion took place at Chingford Park (not Woodhaugh Gardens, as I said in the original email about this! - Thanks, John Stokes, for keeping me accurate!!)

Mark Hannagan turns 50

His sister, Jane, has written:
We have just come back from Cambridge, having gathered all my siblings to celebrate Mark's 50th, or, as he says, Chris' 52nd. Great catch up with all.

Well, there you go. These people who were toddlers only a little while ago are now turning 50 and 52. Scary.

I've sent an email to all those on my address list to see if there's any interest in another family reunion. A small amount of response so far, but some response at least!

A few quick notes about the Reunion

We’ve finally had a family reunion. Not on a large scale as yet, because there were plenty of people not there, but we still had around thirty at the dinner last night (Easter Sunday) and some fifty at the informal get-together and lunch today. Jacinta and Daphne did most of the organising, but I think it helped that the blog had been up, and the emails had been going out, since last year. The other thing that triggered it further was that Peter and Jane Ryan were coming over for a trip to the South Island, so that gave us a definite excuse.
We had a meal together last night at The Station Café in Mosgiel – it’s literally the old Mosgiel railway station done up.
On the Ryan side there were Anne and her mother, and her daughter Sophie, and Peter and Jane. I haven’t seen Peter since I was in my mid-teens, back in the late fifties, I guess.
On the Stokes side, there were Des, Mary and Paul Fraher, and Paul – who came in after the meal was finished – and Debbie with her Japanese husband, Hide (pronounced, roughly, Heeday). They’ve only been married about a year.
Daphne was there, along with Jacinta and Dave, Jennifer, Trish and Ross, Teresa and Bob – and Bob’s mother, Peggy – and Denise and Malcolm. The three teenage boys were there too, until they went to Jacinta’s to watch tv: Matthew, Hamish and Finn.
And there were some Crowls: Celia and yours truly, and Stef, Abby and Ben. (Louise and Jacob were in Invercargill.)
We had a buffet meal and there was a good friendly atmosphere, especially considering a number of people didn’t really know each other well.
Today (Easter Monday) we went to the East Taieri Hall from around 11.30 for a bring-a-plate lunch. Being a Hannagan do, of course there was plenty of food…!
I think the only person who wasn’t there today from last night was Peggy. Otherwise the same bunch came, along with John Stokes and Lucy, and their three kids, Madeleine Monica, George Louis and Eloise.
Raymond and Bernadette also came, with Andrew and his wife of a month, Sian (I presume that’s the spelling, although they were pronouncing it Sharne to my ear), and Matthew.
More Crowls came: Dominic, the three little Stewarts: Jenna (who’s birthday it is today as well), Mykala and Luke, and the big Stewart: Doug. Abby also brought Thomas.
Jacinta’s three boys were there: Jack, Charlie and Oscar. And Denise’ daughter, Chloe, came too, and did face-painting on the little kids.
And one last arrival, who makes the number to fifty by my reckoning, was Monica Stokes. Des went and got her after lunch. It was great to have her there, particularly since the home she is in is so close to the proceedings, and having all of us going to her might not have been so convenient.

More on the family reunion

Jane and Peter Ryan, with Peter's Mum, are coming to Dunedin on Sunday 1 April. Des Stokes and Daphne Hannagan will meet them at the airport to go straight to Cromwell where we will stay in Dave and Jacinta's house until Friday.
They'll all be back in Dunedin for Easter and as a result thought Easter Monday would be a good day for a family reunion. The intention is to hire the use of the Presbyterian Church hall (just along from their place in Gladstone Rd) where there's lots of play equipment and room for the children.
Please note that Mike and Celia Crowl now have three bedrooms free in their house, with two lots of single beds, and a double bed available. Anyone needing accommodation for this reunion, let us know.

Family Reunion

For those who've lost the email that referred to this, here's the info again:

HANNAGAN FAMILY REUNION

Date: Monday 9 April
Start Time: 11.30 am
Venue: East Taieri Presbyterian Church Hall

Please bring something for lunch - preferably finger food

There'll also be a meal the night before - venue unknown at the moment - for anyone interested.

R.S.V.P. Daphne - dhannagan@xtra.co.nz - soon - to advise of your presence at this reunion, and most especially

for the dinner the night before as I will have to book.