The National Association of Memorial Masons is 100 years old this year, which it is celebrating with a number of events including taking part in the National Funeral Exhibition (NFE) at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, 15-17 June, building a permanent Centenary Memorial Garden of stone memorials at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, and a Centenary Road Show visiting the regions.

It was on 12 March 1907 at 3pm that a group of memorial masons met in Canon Street Hotel, London, to form what was originally called the National Association of Master Monumen-tal Masons. In the 1970s the name was changed to the National Association of Master Masons but after some members had left to form the Stone Federation the name was changed to its current National Association of Memorial Masons in 1990.

The NAMM centenary celebrations at the NFE will involve the Association staging its own Tradex exhibition as part of the show with a Craftex competition among members to judge the best memorials, which will be on show during the exhibition.

On 20 July NAMM will be hosting a reception for invited guests from the Church and other industry-related bodies to a reception at the House of Commons and in September the current President, Brian Morgan from Mossfords in Cardiff, will host a dinner for all the surviving past-Presidents of the Association.

The Centenary Memorial Garden will open on a date yet to be decided in September or October and the national conference and AGM will be timed to coincide with that. The garden will take the form of a \'time line\' of 22 memorials, stretching from Roman times, through the Saxons and the Middle Ages to the present day. It is intended that a dignitary will perform the opening ceremony.

The 10 NAMM regions are also planning their own celebrations and the NAMM roadshow will support those activities, giving the head office team led by National Executive Officer Ian Gostling a chance to meet members and renew old acquaintances. It is hoped that burial authorities will also come along to visit the roadshow and discuss issues such as NAMM\'s stance letter opposing the requirement for 30-year guarantees on memorials (see the NAMM annual meeting report in the October issue of NSS).

The first roadshow was due to take place this month (January) in Nelson, Lancashire, and another is scheduled for February in Worthing, Sussex.

NAMM says it is determined to make its centenary a year to remember that will become a firm foundation for the next 100 years.