MISS N. LUXFORD HONOURED

Press, Volume LXXXIIi, Issue 25302, 30 September 1947, Page 2

MISS N. LUXFORD HONOURED

INVESTED WITH 0.8. E. IN WASHINGTON CEREMONY AT NEW ZEALAND LEGATION (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, September 26. The New Zeafend Minister to the United States (Sir Carl Berendsen) highly praised Miss Nola Luxford for her “inspiring” work for New Zealand servicemen in New York, and Colonel Lawrence Westbrook, president of the United States Joint Purchasing Board in the Pacific, for his services, both to the United States and New Zealand, at a ceremony to-day in which Sir Carl Berendsen invested each with the 0.8. E. Sir Carl Berendsen said that Miss Luxford had provided a home away from home for New Zealand servicemen when they needed it most. The recipients of her hospitality and their families would always remember with gratitude her self-sacrificing efforts. He added that Colonel Westbrook, while protecting his own country’s needs, had always been mindful of New Zealand’s interests. It was largely as a result of his co-operation • and sympathetic apprdach to the problem that purchasing for the large American forces in the Pacific had been, made with so small an effect upon the New Zealand economy. The investiture took place at the New Zealand Legation against a background of American, British, and New Zealand flags, and in the presence of about 100 New Zealanders and friends, who were afterwards entertained by Sir Carl and Lady Berendsen at a cocktail party, which also marked the observance of New Zealand Day. The legation’s small, precious stores of toherpa and whitebait—delicacies comparatively unknown in Washington—were a feature of the buffet.