On Wednesday, March 11, Anthony Pelling will address the Sandhills Branch of the English-Speaking Union on the subject of "What it means to be English."

This event will be held at the Country Club of North Carolina. Cocktails will be served at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m.

Pelling, who is English, is a member of the E-SU national board and vice president of the Richmond, Va., branch.

He "retired" to the United States in 1995 after three careers in the U.K. He held the post of head of manpower planning for the U.K. Nationalized Coal Industry, at Under Secretary level. In addition, he held five posts in the U.K. Departments of the Environment and of Transport, and was a board director of London's biggest lobbying firm.

In Richmond, Pelling has served on the Chamber of Commerce International Council, his local residences' Association Board, and for six years as president of a nonprofit foundation which has purchased and plans to renovate a 1928 grand movie palace and its Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ.

Pelling sponsored and helped organize the E-SU Regional Conference in Richmond last year, and is a friend of Lord Watson of Richmond, who visited the Pinehurst branch last November. He has E-SU interests very much at heart and is an active member of the E-SU National Board.

There are some quaint, unconscious traits of behavior that help to identify the English: in the street, in the pub, on public transport, in dealing with others, and in their humor.

These will be described; however, they are under threat, as national identity is becoming a political hot potato.

What exactly does it mean to be British? What exactly does it mean to be English? Is Britain about to break up? Between A.D. 927 and A.D. 1707, England was a separate nation. Could it become so again?

To the British this may be a serious issue. Pelling will treat it lightheartedly.

Those interested in attending the event and obtaining information regarding membership in the English-Speaking Union, should contact Martha O'Connor, membership/chair, at 235-0635, or e-mail Dr. Phil Hinsley at p.hinsley@ gmail.com.