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  [California Study Center]

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PITCAIRN ISLANDS STUDY CENTER, Pacific Union College, Angwin, California USA.

Herbert Ford, 559-592-0980, 559-732-0313.

PITCAIRN ISLANDERS NOW IN NEW ZEALAND WILL TRAVEL TO THE U.S. TO SPEAK AT A FIRST OF ITS KIND CONFERENCE ON BOUNTY-PITCAIRN.

                        ANGWIN (Napa County) Calif., May 10, 2005—A four-member contingent of Pitcairn Islanders is in New Zealand today on their way to a first-of-its-kind Internet “Bounty-Pitcairn Conference” being held in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, June 23-25.

                        The four Pitcairn representatives to the conference are Tom and Betty Christian, and Nola and Reynold Warren, all of whom have lived on the remote South Pacific island for many years. A number of off-island Pitcairners will also be in attendance at the conference.

                        The event is sponsored by the FRIENDSofPITCAIRN, an international Internet chat/study group headed by Mrs. Barbara Kuchau of Live Oak, Florida. Talks by the Pitcairner Islanders, and scholarly papers relating to various aspects of “The Bounty Saga” will be presented by experts on Pitcairn and Bounty history.

                        The event is being held at The Pier on the St. Petersburg waterfront. A reception kicking off the conference will be held aboard the wooden square rigger replica of H.M.S. Bounty that was built by MGM for the 1962 “Mutiny on the Bounty” movie. The ship is currently moored at The Pier before beginning a tour of cities on the eastern seaboard of the U.S., and the Great Lakes..

                        The keynote address of the conference will be presented by Herbert Ford, director of the Pitcairn Islands Study Center, an educational facility that provides information about The Bounty Saga. The center is located in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

                        While only about 160 members of the 1,000-member Internet group are expected to be registered for the conference, additional hundreds of Floridians and others are expected to attend, most of them out of interest in individual presentations being made or to purchase the many Pitcairn or Bounty-related items that will be on sale at the event.

                        The Pitcairn Island Philatelic Bureau, located in Auckland, will provide sales and service of Pitcairn philately at the conference.

                        Information about the conference may be found at www.bounty-pitcairn-conference.org

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