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The ESU Remembers Queen Elizabeth

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It is with admiration and profound respect that we pay tribute to the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty served as Patron of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth since granting it a formal Royal Charter in 1957. She served alongside her husband the late Prince Philip who was President of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth from 1952 to 2011. The Princess Royal, Princess Anne has since taken the mantle as President of the English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth.

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A Queen's Tea: The Final Tribute

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Monday, September 19, 2022 at 6:00 PM CT

All ESU members and Friends of ESU are cordially invited to a special Queen's Tea hosted by Anna Marie's Tea and the ESU on September 19 at 6:00 pm. This will be a final tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. We invite you to share your memories and stories about Queen Elizabeth. You are also welcome to bring any memorabilia you have of the Queen to share with everyone—in other words, a "Royal Show and Tell." We will have drawings for door prizes too.

This will be a full English Tea served at Anna Marie's Teas in Liberty, Missouri. The tea will include a variety of tea sandwiches, sweets, Brenda's signature scones, mock Devonshire cream, fine fruit butter or fruit jams and premium tea. 

When: Monday, September 19, 2022, at 6:00 pm Central Time

Where: Anna Marie's Teas, 343 W. Liberty Dr., Liberty, MO.

Directions and parking: Click here  Parking is limited around Anna Marie's Teas.  Please carpool where possible. 

Tickets: $28 per person. Please pay online here with credit or debit card.

Friends and Guests:  We welcome friends and guests so please bring your friends. This is a special Tea Party celebrating Queen Elizabeth and we encourage you to purchase your tickets as soon as possible so you won't be disappointed. 

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ESU Gala Watch Party

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ESU Kansas City Members and Guests Are Cordially Invited

After two postponements due to the pandemic, the ESU Headquarters is celebrating its long-anticipated Centennial Gala. This will be a special event held in New York City with Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal in attendance. The ESU invites all members and their guests across the U.S. to participate virtually in the celebration on Monday, October 3, 2022..

The ESU Kansas City Branch will hold a Watch Party in Kansas City to watch all the festivities during a live-stream broadcast from the Cosmopolitan Club in New York City.

Our Kansas City Branch Watch Party will be held at the Club House of City Place Apartments in Westport. The Club House has a large TV screen for everyone to see the program, sofas, chairs, a full kitchen, and a full-size pool table.

We invite all members and their guests to bring a hot or cold appetizer or dessert to share with everyone. ESU will provide beverages including champagne to toast HRH Princess Anne.

When: Monday, October 3, 2022,

Time: Please arrive between 4:00-4:30 pm Central Time. The program begins at 5:00 pm CT.

Where: Club House at City Place Apartments, 701 Westport Rd., Kansas City, MO.

Tickets: This is a free event for ESU members and guests. Cash donations in any amount are welcome but not required to cover cost of reserving Club House.

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Twelfth Night & Sunday Brunch

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Join our ESU group for a fun, romantic comedy & Sunday Brunch!

Are you ready to see a funny, fresh, contemporary take on a Shakespearean crowd-pleaser? Well, you're in luck. This comedy of mistaken identity, music, and the madness of love is ESU's next group event. This romantic comedy is produced by KC Rep and all ESU members and guests are invited to attend the Sunday matinee performance on September 25 at 2:00 pm.

Our ESU group will first meet for a delightful Sunday Brunch at Grand Street Café on the Plaza. This award-winning brunch has all your favorites brunch items. See brunch menu here. Then, just a short drive to the Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus.

When: Sunday, September 25, 2022.

Time: 12:00 pm Brunch at Grand Street Café, 4740 Grand Ave, Kansas City, MO. Separate food checks, 21% gratuity added to checks BUT no sales tax.

Arrive at Spencer Theatre: 1:30 pm. UMKC campus, 4949 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO

Curtain: 2:00 pm

Tickets: We have a group discount of $36.00 per ticket. Call KC Rep ticket office at (816) 235-2700. Tell them you are with the ESU Group to purchase a ticket(s) for Twelfth Night for September 25 at 2:00 pm. Purchase with credit or debit card. Pick up your ticket(s) in lobby at Will Call desk under name "ESU Group."

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ESU Happy Hour Guest Speaker: Professor Jeremy Crang

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Join Our Next ESU Happy Hour
Guest Speaker: Professor Jeremy Crang

Next Happy Hour: Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at 3:00 PM Central Time

During the Second World War some 600,000 women were absorbed into the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and the Women's Royal Naval Service. These women performed important military functions for the British armed forces, both at home and overseas, and the jobs they undertook ranged from cooking, typing and telephony to stripping down torpedoes, overhauling aircraft engines, and operating the fire control instruments in anti-aircraft gun batteries. In his recent book Sisters in Arms (Cambridge University Press, 2020), which draws on a multitude of sources and combines organizational history with the personal experiences of servicewomen, Jeremy Crang traces the wartime history of the WAAF, ATS, WRNS, and the integration of women into the armed forces. Professor Crang's talk will be presented live from Edinburgh, Scotland. ESU Happy Hours are free online programs for members and guests. Please register. Read more.

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ESU Happy Hour Guest Speaker: Professor Jeremy Crang

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Join Our Next ESU Happy Hour
Guest Speaker: Professor Paul Kennedy

Next Happy Hour: Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 3:00 PM Central Time

Join us to hear Yale Professor and eminent historian Paul Kennedy discuss his latest book, Victory At Sea. Through his engrossing narrative, illustrated by maritime artist Paul Marshall's panoramic, full-color paintings, Professor Kennedy chronicles the rise and fall of the great powers during World War II.  Tracking the movements of the six major navies of the war---the allied navies of Britain, France, and the United States and the Axis navies of Germany, Italy, and Japan--- Professor Kennedy tells a story of navel battles, maritime campaigns, and amphibious landings from the sea. By doing so, he shows how changes in naval supremacy during the decade between 1936 and 1946 decisively altered the course of both World War II and the geopolitical balance of powers. ESU Happy Hours are free online programs for members and guests. Please register. Read more.

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ESU Happy Hour Guest Speaker: Dr. James Muller

Event – August 17, 4:00pm Central Time

Join Our Next ESU Happy Hour
Guest Speaker: Dr. James Muller

Next Happy Hour: August 17, 4:00 PM Central Time

Winston Churchill's book, The River War, was published in 1899 when he was 26 years old. This history of the River War in Sudan vividly chronicles the military campaign that altered the destinies of England, Egypt, and the Arabian peoples in northeast Africa.  It was originally published in two volumes but in 1902 was shortened to fit into one volume. Political science professor James Muller produced the unabridged version after more than 30 years of meticulous work. It has been out of print in its unabridged version for more than 120 years. This is the first time in over a century that Churchill's story has been told and published in its entirety.

Professor Muller will tell the story of preparing the new edition and speak about the significance of the book for understanding Churchill's thoughts on empire, war, race and religion. Happy Hours are free online programs for ESU members and guests.

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ESU Lecture Program

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Kansas City's French Heritage Salutes Molière

Mark your calendar for July 14, 2022, at 6:00 pm for a special lecture program featuring our own ESU member, Dr. Felicia Londré, as guest speaker. The program will include a buffet dinner before the lecture. This is a time to celebrate as we continue to bring important, meaningful, and fun ESU programs and events back in-person for our ESU members and Friends of ESU.

Felicia Londré, Ph.D, author of 14 books, Curators' Distinguished Professor Emerita of Theatre at UMKC, and lecturer around the globe, will give our keynote talk.

Who knew the city of Kansas City, Missouri, was a French settlement founded 200 years ago in 1821 by a French fur trader, François Chouteau? It's true but more than that, our French connection ties in with a man who is considered France's Shakespeare—Molière. Molière is universally regarded as the world's greatest comedic playwright of all time. Molière's 400th birthday was January 15 this year and  Felicia will tell the story of Kansas City's French heritage and how the world is watching our multifaceted celebration of Molière's 400th birthday. This will be a unique, interesting, and informative storytelling that only Felicia can tell so well. This program will have some special surprises for you so this is a program you will not want to miss.

Be sure to save the date for  this special occasion held again at The Grand Street Café.  The buffet-style service will include your choice of three entrees, a selection of appetizers, salads, pastries/desserts, and your choice of coffee, iced or hot tea or soda (a cash bar for other beverages is optional). We will have some wonderful door prizes at the end of the program.

When: Thursday, July 14, 2022, 6:00 pm.

Where: Grand Street Café, 4740 Grand Avenue, Kansas City, MO.

Price: $45 per person all-inclusive including gratuity.

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Let's Have A Party To Celebrate Our New Membership Year

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ESU's new membership year begins July 1, 2022 and what better way to bring in the new membership year than with a party!

All ESU members and Friends of ESU are cordially invited to a Membership Renewal Party hosted by our ESU members Sally and Greg Davis. This is a potluck party. ESU will bring  Barbeque Brisket and Ribs. Everyone is invited to bring a side dish such as baked beans, potato salad, tossed salad, or dessert such as fruit, cookies, pie, etc. ESU will also furnish beer, wine, iced tea, and soft drinks.

We want to bring all ESU members together for a casual afternoon party to make it easy and convenient to renew your membership and renew friendships. You can renew online at the party on a secure laptop or with a paper form…either way it's easy, fast and you'll have a chance to meet other ESU members including our newest members! If you are renewing with a paper form (which we will supply) just bring a check to include with the renewal form and we'll mail it for you. You'll see our membership dues are still the same as they have been for many years.

Door Prizes: We'll have drawings for some great door prizes!

When: Sunday, July 10, 2022, 2:00 to 4:00 pm

Where: Sally and Greg Davis' home: 12413 W. 101^st St., Lenexa, KS 66215

Click here for more details.

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ESU Happy Hour

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ESU Members Sharing…
Poems, Sonnets, Verses, & Prose

Wednesday, June 29th at 4:00 pm Central

Oh literature, oh the glorious Art, how it preys upon the marrow in our bones. It scoops the stuffing out of us and chucks us aside. Alas! –D.H. Lawrence

Join our next ESU Happy Hour as members share their favorite poems, sonnets, verses, or flash fiction*. We all have our favorite verses or memorable poems and members and guests from branches across the U.S. will share their favorites. 

Long-time ESU member, Dr. Susan Sinclair, will lead this special Happy Hour program, Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 5:00 pm EDT. This is a free program for all ESU members and guests. Invite your friends to join us.

Please submit your favorite poem, verse, sonnet, or flash fiction*.

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