Twelfth Visit to the US - 1977

Back from his 12th visit to the United States is Mr Cyril Braund, of Green Gardens, Northam, with a new fund of experiences to draw upon.

He and Mrs Braund have again been staying with their daughter, now in Kansas City. He had been there only three days and was sitting sunning himself in a temperature of 75 degrees when by chance an 'Eye Witness Report' television crew pulled up to obtain his views on that night's baseball match. More exciting was time spend with the police - but in the nicest possible way. A fellow Rotarian and a captain in the city police who is a traffic control officer took him on an extended tour of the black area. This really got him up in the air for his wish to travel in a police helicopter was quickly granted.

An assignment involved checking on a van speeding along the expressway and dropping down to take pictures, and another circling a house that it had been reported was being burgled. Back on the ground there was a visit to the pistol range.
Another highlight of the holiday was a trip to the Nasa Space Center in Houston where Mr Braund attended a meeting of the Rotary Club and heard a Congressman who had flown from Washington speaking about the engergy crisis in the US.

Mr Braund also enjoyed meeting again Mr Robert King, formerly a consultant at the NDI, Barnstaple, and now a heart specialist at St Luke's Hospital at Houston. He formerly lived in Instow which is the home of his son-in-law, Mr Geoffrey Day, former chairman of Bideford Round Table.