A Little Vacation

 

Uncle Peg’s Chronicles

March 5, 2026

“A Little Vacation”

 

“These were their settlements. And they kept good family records.”^[1]

Don’t forget to look for the title which is embedded in the chronicle.

 

 

 

FAMILY ALBUM

“Our son, Philip received an achievement medal and citation from the Japanese Military (not a usual accolade). We are so proud of him.” Shared by Celia (Nolte) Anklesaria of the Charles R Holmes line.

 

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force

February 26, 2026

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Achieve Medal 3^rd Class

Awarded to

Major Philip Anklesaria

V-22 Pilot, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262

 

                Since assigned to Marine Tiltrotor Squadron 262 as a V-22 pilot in 2021, he has demonstrated exceptional pilot skills, a wealth of knowledge of operation, deep understanding of Japan and actively supported and cooperated to promote mutual understanding and strengthening not only for Transport Aviation Group, but Japan and US cooperation relationship.                                                                                                              In particular, bilateral airmobile operation with one company from Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade cooperated with III Marine Expeditionary Force during Iron Fist 25 in2025, we conducted consecutive landing operation into one Landing zone, with 13 aircraft within a short time frame. Despite this challenging situation, he provided active yet precise advice and proposals based on his wisdom for operation of controller aircraft and air traffic control, allowing Transportation Aviation Group to establish initial operation capability and improve the interoperability. Both exercises were never met with problems and accomplished safely.                                                                                                                               Moreover, his three-time participation of bilateral exercises with Transport Aviation Group has been the key piece to greatly improve our interoperability.                                                                                                                For these reasons, he is being awarded with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Achievement Medal 3^rd Class in recognition of his contributions and achievements with our sincere gratitude and honoring his distinct service to Transport Aviation Group.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             AOYAMA Yoshiji

Colonel

Commanding Officer

Transport Aviation Group

Japan Ground Self-Defence Force

 

And I Quote:

 

See the description of the header photo.

1925 to 1928

 

Those are the years that our Holmes ancestors spent renewing relationships that had somehow fallen by the wayside but with organization, letter writing, and challenging travel – by hook or by crook – they managed to come together again. They reacquainted and rediscovered their family ties. And then, one by one, they died, and many of those ties died with them.

2025 to 2028

I don’t have a family history lesson for you this week, as I took a little vacation to the Halifax area in between chronicles. The only genealogy I did was to maintain my vigilance as editor of the NBGS Facebook group website. I have been in touch with Paula, who is editing my journal article. I know she will have an issue for me to deal with. I’m not sure what it is yet, but I think it might be the genealogy in the first part. That genealogy is there to demonstrate the difference between Maud’s early upbringing and Fenwick’s, but I don’t think I did it justice.

In Halifax, I saw history, both past and in the making. My cousin on Dad’s side, Cynthia, took me into Halifax where we walked the boardwalk, past little touristy shops and historical spots. We didn’t go into Pier 21, due to time constraints, but we saw some statues representing those who came to Nova Scotia in the 1920s, much later than our family members. We went through the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which represented many eras of sail. The 1917 Halifax Explosion and the Titanic story and items that floated to the surface were sobering and well done, in my opinion. We went to the Maud Lewis exhibit in the art gallery, which was lovely. They fixed up the real wee house (not a replica); it contains some of her art on the furniture that she painted. In case you don’t know, Maud and her husband were destitute; her art now fetches large sums of money.

 

As we walked to the Art Gallery, we passed peaceful but loud protesters on the sidewalk opposite, protesting on their lunch hour the massive budget cuts to the arts in Nova Scotia. This will have ramifications in our literature and publication, small archives, heritage, tourism and I’m sure, other areas. If the predictions come true, it will probably happen also in New Brunswick soon. As you may know, museums and archives often function on shoestring budgets, and rely on volunteers.

I think of the small museum in Petitcodiac, and the library that they are still working on preparations for it’s opening after several years. Will they survive cuts? I hope so.

I also had a couple of lovely visits with my cousin on Mum’s side, Cindy Steeves, and her husband, Greg. We sat around the table and told the same old stories and some new ones.

 

FAMILY HISTORY LESSON

I hope to be back with some family history in the next chronicle. I am redoing a bit of my article in preparation for my revision – not deleting much, but adding bits in different colours that I anticipate will be more reader friendly.

This ends week ten of our centennial virtual celebration of 1926 – 2026.

 

 The Maud Lewis House