This newsletter is a little different than usual. My husband Tracey and I were away for almost all of May, visiting France. May was a fairly quiet month at MMHS and there isn't a lot of new activity scheduled in June.

I do want to especially thank Ann Kenyon for her Third Thursday presentation on May 16 and to the Mandarin Community Club for hosting a special reception to honor Ann.

And, I'd like to update you that the Facilities Grant is still in the state budget and we should know for sure after the Governor returns from Israel and signs off or issues vetoes on the budget presented by the Legislature a month ago. We'll keep you informed.

Also, I'd like to recognize and congratulate one of our very special volunteers, Harleigh Murray, who recently graduated from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Harleigh has quietly done so many wonderful things for MMHS including: creating a scavenger hunt for the children who visit; being in charge of the children's games for Winter Celebration and the  "Back to School" event; and helping with park clean-ups and office work. She has a beautiful spirit of giving, always offers to help anywhere she is needed, and does so with contagious joy. We wish Harleigh the very best as she moves on to college in her studies. We so appreciate her involvement and her contributions to MMHS during her middle and high school years. She is a bright and shining star in the world!

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So.....this trip was one we had yearned to take for many years. And it was indeed a wonderful experience all the way around and we visited some amazingly beautiful and historic places.

We included three stops that were actually connected to Mandarin's history: 1. We visited the grave of Pvt. Marion Joseph Losco; 2.  We visited the French home of the Sisters of St. Joseph; 3. And, we visited the grave of Lt. William W. Webb.

So, I am going to take the opportunity to share those visits with you through this newsletter and hope that you enjoy seeing these places that have such a local connection

Sandy Arpen

You all know the story of Mandarin/Loretto's  Marion Losco by now. We have been honoring him with a special exhibit for the last 2 years and volunteer Paul Ghiotto wrote a book about him based on his letters home during World War I. We had to visit this cemetery to pay our respects on behalf of all of Mandarin.

Marion lies in a grave in the very front row, five markers in from the front gate! We were given a tour by Superintendent Bert Caloud. Bert was a wonderfully informative guy, retired military, and so interested in any information he could gain about any of the 6,012 known men and 597 unknowns that are buried here These soldiers were involved in the Aisne-Marne and Oisne-Aisne offensives which took place March - September, 1918. 310,000 American soldiers and Marines fought in these operations which helped end the war on November 11, 1918. Marion was killed on or around July 31. Bert told us that based on his date of death, Marion was killed just beyond the cemetery location. We gave him a copy of Paul's book, A Soldier's Story for his cemetery library.

As you can see, Marion's grave was photographed with some home-grown Mandarin frogs, thanks to the Frog Man, Don Bowden, who is friends with some of the Losco family. We could not leave them, but we placed them there temporarily for a photo.

The church in the photos is actually located in a small town west of the cemetery, Vincy- Manoeuvre. In a letter written to his mother on July 14 Marion says, "I went to church this morning and just came back. It was just across the street. We are still in a little town called Vincy, that we have been for quite awhile." This was two weeks before his death. The church has been there since 1580.

 

Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial

 

Lt. William W. Webb

Divers Lee Manley and Keith Holland

Continuing with the last story of the Maple Leaf series,  "Back in Time with Brett" by MMHS volunteer Brett Nolan features Part 3!   

 

The Mandarin Museum and the Schoolhouse are open on Saturdays from 9-4. All other historic buildings in Walter Jones Historical Park (11964 Mandarin Rd.) AND the Mandarin Store and PO (12471 Mandarin Rd.), are open from 10-2 on the first Saturday. Exceptions to this schedule are listed in the calendar above.