A solid salute to Bda/US relations

		Next time you find yourself sitting in the waiting room of the American Consulate you may get an unexpected surprise. Walls that were previously lined with bland bulletin boards and posters are now covered with colourful panels depicting the history of Bermuda/U.S. relations from the 1600's up to the present day. The idea for the 'Friendship Wall' came from Marina Slayton, while she was working on her new book Four Centuries of Friendship: America-Bermuda Relations 1609-2009 with her husband U.S. consul general Gregory Slayton.
	Good relations: U.S. consul general Greg Slayton, seen outside the Consulate. He and his wife Marina came up with the idea for a friendship wall celebrating Bermuda’s relationship with the U.S.

"The Friendship Wall really speaks to the 400 years of positive relations between the U.S. and Bermuda," Mr. Slayton said. "I've learned so much myself through the research I've done for both the book and this wall. For example, I did not know much about the gunpowder plot, or that dozens of black Bermudians served in the Civil War."

As part of the Friendship Wall, the Consulate has also hung a very unique eagle carving above the doorway.

"This particular eagle is really an emblem and symbol of the unity between Bermuda, the U.K. and the U.S.," Mr. Slayton said. "It was taken from the White House by the British Invasion Force in the war of 1812 and brought to Bermuda."

Courtesy of the Bermuda Sun