The fifth annual White Poppy Ceremony took place today at 12:45 pm without a hitch. Whereas there were more people from the 11:00 am ceremony milling about the Cenotaph than former years, there was no police presence at the north side so tension was reduced and people were quiet and respectful.
Pat and Bessa spoke after the laying of the wreath, in addition to Brenda Carr Vellino, Heather Menzies and several others, all evoking peace and co-operation as an alternative to combat.
Heather read John McCrae’s iconic poem, In Flanders Fields, interpreting it as a lament and not the bellicose call to war which most of us learned in public school.
Several people spoke extemporaneously and one made the point, gesturing at the monument of men and horses pulling a large-wheeled canon, “Those men didn’t give their lives, their lives were taken from them. They went to war and had little choice.”
This year’s White Poppy Ceremony lasted longer than other years since more people spoke and as such, passersby had opportunity to stop, listen and discover an alternative to the jingoistic bombast of the earlier ceremony.