Saturday 10 May 2008

The warmth of sunshine and good company

Liberation Day dawned grey and drizzly but the sun soon shone and by the middle of the day it was warm and sunny. It was a great start for our parishioners to have fine weather for their outing to the festivities and celebrations in Liberation Square but, whatever the weather, we were always going to be sure of the warmth of good company. I had to go off early to be sure to be in the States Chamber in time for the special sitting after which I walked down in procession after the Bailiff, the Lieut-Governor and the President of Madeira, with all the members of the Royal Court and the States, to join the crowds in Liberation Square. I could see Elaine and our party of parishioners on the other side of the square, and have to admit that I would have much rather been sitting with them! Elaine had joined our party at the Parish Hall, under the guidance of Mike Mallet who is a past-master at organising these events, and our bus-load of parishioners were driven down to Liberation Square by another parishioner, Brian Malzard. St Saviour certainly had a good spot from where to view and take part in, the proceedings. The honouring of Liberation Day remains very close to Jersey hearts and we were delighted to see so many of our war years parishioners made it down to the square to enjoy an occasion that so fittingly marked their experiences, but we were also very pleased to welcome our Miss St Saviour, Claudia Freitas, who represented the young people of our parish in honouring our older parishioners. I have to say that for our parish at least ─ and quite a few others, I would say ─ the highlight of the afternoon was when our own Sadie Rennard went up on to the podium to sing Man Bieau P'tit Jèrri (Beautiful Jersey).

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