Photo credit: James R. Brantley
October 30th was a good day for “leaders” on Capitol Hill.
Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as well as Secretary of State John Kerry joined The Who’s Roger Daltrey to recognize one of the greatest leaders of all times – former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Photo source: Win McNamee/Getty Images North America
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of history’s true love stories,” said Speaker Boehner, “between a great statesman and a nation he called ‘The Great Republic.’ We are here together to bring it all full circle. For today – with peace, justice, and a touch of majesty – Winston Churchill returns to the United States Capitol.”
Video courtesy of www.SPEAKER.gov
October 31st was a good day for guests at the home of Aniko Gaal and Nash Whitney Schott.
It wasn’t the mounds of cavier and smoked salmon that made it a good day (although that too), it was because the guest of honor was Luce Churchill, granddaughter in law of the late Sir Wintson Churchill who had attended the unveiling ceremony at the Capitol the day before.
H.E. Jan Jozef Matthysen,The Ambassador of Belgium with wife Agnes, Marie Royce and Luce Churchill
“It was fantastic,” said Luce referring to the ceremony. “It was a beautiful tribute. The only thing was it was sad that my husband Winston Churchill – the son, the grandson – wasn’t there to see it. He would have loved it.”
The Churchill bust, a donation of the Churchill Centre, “is a rare Estate casting of a historic bust of Churchill sculpted from life by renowned artist Oscar Nemon. Only two other such copies are in existence, in the Churchill War Rooms in London and in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow,” according to the site.
“Beautiful,” she emphasized. “it’s done by Oscar Nemon. It’s a bust that is amazing. It’s very moving, actually, when you see it. You should go to the Capitol and have a look, it’s really fantastic.”
Jennie Churchill, Nash Schott and Luce Churchill
We asked Luce if she is still intimidated by the power of Churchill: “Oh yes,” she replied. “Fovever. If you see The History Channel and if you see him on the war front or when he’s doing his speeches, it’s very moving. He is a personality so strong, and the voice, and the words – his words are incredible. He really knew how to use the English language.”
H.E. Mauro Vieira, The Ambassador of Brazil, Aniko Gaal Schott with Luce Churchill
She also told us of her husband’s relationship with his grandfather. “They were close, very close. As his parents were divorced, he spent a lot of time with his grandparents when he was a little boy. When he was five or six years old, somebody asked him “and what does your grandfather do?” to which he responded “he is a bricklayer, oh yes – a bricklayer and I help him to make a wall around the garden to make a fashionable garden and I give him the bricks.”
The fact that it was also Halloween was not lost on some guests who arrived in outlandish costumes as did our hostess.
Lotti Letanoczky and Aniko Gaal Schott
Samia Farouki. Photo by Janet Donovan
Susan Hurley, Lynda Webster and Judge William Webster – Photo by Janet Donovan
Aniko is an interior designer, her husband Nash is a former federal prosecutor and Luce Churchill is a jewelry designer.
As for the mounds of cavier and salmon – table design by Aniko:
Photo by Janet Donovan
