Local Features
February 2011
A big Thank You …
Tom Hillier officially retired as Pastoral Assistant at the end of 2011. He remains, however, as Pastoral Assistant Emeritus in recognition of his enormous contribution to St. Mary’s since 1995 when he enrolled in the first course in the diocese for Pastoral Assistants.
Tom is still kindly helping out in various ways, including taking Home Communions, taking Funerals and Bereavement counselling.
We will be marking his retirement in the near future, so watch this space!
Thank you, Tom, for your faithful and excellent service
Many Congratulations to Veronica and Hedley Mortimer who celebrate their Golden Wedding (50 years) Anniversary on 24 February. Thank you for your many years of valuable service and support of St Mary’s Church.
Mrs Stafford – A Century of Birthdays!
100 Birthday wishes for Mrs Stafford from Violeta, Michael and Brett
We all thoroughly enjoyed a very memorable day on Saturday 3rd December, when my mother reached her 100th Birthday. The Governor of Jersey, General Sir John McColl read out The Queen’s Birthday greeting and Lady McColl presented an outstanding basket of flowers to my mother. They are a charming couple and stayed for about 25 minutes. The local newspaper, The Jersey Evening Post, sent a photographer, picture below. Forty-five minutes later our two boys appeared, having managed to travel over to Jersey for the day as their health held up for long enough.
Except from the Jersey Evening Post: Her son said that his mother had always had a great sense of humour and maintained a genuine interest in other people. Asked what he believed to be the secret of her long life, he said that she had been very active and able to manage in her own home until she was 98.Laughter had also been a main ingredient in her life, he said. 'My mother has always enjoyed a good laugh and had a sense of fun,' he added.
Mrs Stafford had two birthday cakes, slices of which were enjoyed by her family, the staff and other residents. Known for having an incredibly sweet tooth, she also enjoys a glass of Asti Spumante - her preference over champagne, which she regards as too bitter in taste.
29 February is an extra day added to the month of February in a leap year. It is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian calendar and occurs every four years in years evenly divisible by four (except for centenary years not divisible by 400).
In ancient Rome, leap day was on February 24 due to February being the last month of the calendar. The original Roman calendar added an extra month every few years to maintain the correct seasonal changes. The Julian calendar was implemented in 45 BCE, resulting in a leap day being added to the end of February every four years.
In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII refined the Julian calendar with a new rule that a century year is not a leap year unless it is evenly divisible by 400. The introduction of the Gregorian calendar was observed in some countries including Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. The conversion took longer for other countries such as Great Britain (1752) and Lithuania (1915).
A tradition was introduced many centuries ago that allows women to propose to men during a leap year. This privilege of proposing was restricted to leap day in some areas. Leap day was sometimes known as “Bachelors’ Day”. A man was expected to pay a penalty, such as a gown or money, if he refused a marriage offer from a woman.
The tradition’s origin stemmed from an old Irish tale referring to St Bridget striking a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men every four years. This old custom was probably made to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how the leap day balances the calendar.
It was also considered to be unlucky for someone to be born on a leap day in Scotland and for couples to marry on a leap year, including on a leap day, in Greece.
Leap day is also St Oswald’s Day, named after a 10th century archbishop of York who died on February 29, 992. The feast is celebrated on February 29 during leap years and on February 28 in other years.
People born on leap day, February 29, are called "leaplings" or "leapers”. Some prefer to celebrate their birthday on February 28 in a non-leap year because they were born in February, while others celebrate their birthday on March 1 because they do not officially change age on February 28. There are also those who only celebrate their birthday every leap year because they believe there is no substitute to a February 29 birthday.
For legal purposes, their birthdays depend on how different laws count time intervals. In England and Wales the legal birthday of a leapling is 28 February in common years. The main character or the comedy musical, Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan is Frederic. Frederic is an apprenticed who discovers that he was born on 29 February, and so, technically, he only has a birthday each leap year. His apprenticeship indenture state that he remains apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday, and so he must serve for another 63 years and will be in his 80’s by the time he is free!
Famous Leapers
1468 - Pope Paul III last Renaissance pope (1534-1549)
1692 - John Byrom, English poet, hymnist, and inventor of a system of shorthand. (d. 1763)
1736 - Ann Lee, Shaker movement, Manchester England, Founded the Shaker movement and brought it to America in 1776. (d. 1784)
1792 - Gioacchino Rossini - Italian composer (The Barber of Seville, William Tell) (d.1868).
1828 - John Phillip Holland, Ireland - Designed and built the first submarine for U.S. Navy (d.1914)
1896 - Ranchhodji Mararji Desai - 6th Prime Minister of India from March 24, 1977 to July 15 1979. At 83, he was the oldest Prime Minister of India. (d. 1995)
1896 - Stanley Swash, CEO (Woolworths)
1904 - Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberdorft Sr., Germany; had a Christian name for every letter in the alphabet, shortened it to Mr Wolfe Plus 585 Sr. The world's longest name officially used by a person.
1908 - Alf Gover, English cricketer (bowled in 4 Tests for England/famous coach) (d. 2001)
1924 - David Beattie, British governor-general of NZ
1928 - Joss Ackland - British actor
1936 - Jack Lousma - Astronaut; was a crew member of the Skylab 3 flight in 1973 and Columbia Space Shuttle in 1982.
1956 - Bob Speller, Canadian politician - his father-in-law is also a Leap Day Baby
1960 - Ian McKenzie Anderson, British musician and record producer
1984 - Darren Ambrose, English footballer
1988 - Scott Golbourne, English footballer
The Parish Office
c/o The Vicarage
28 Countess Close
Harefield
UB9 6DL