Remembrance Day ‘farce’
Did the church and corporation not realise that this would happen if they did not talk to the Bonfire Boyes? Perhaps they did. They seemed to want to use Remembrance Day to make a point about the status they believe they should be given in the town. Every year, Winchelsea’s parish councillors, who are the elected representatives of the town, lay a wreath on behalf of the community. This year, the councillor laying their wreath was told that he had to wait until the end because he was just a member of the public. So he followed such civic pillars as the Rye Round Table, someone calling themselves “Winchelsea wartime residents still in residence” and two wreaths laid privately by retired naval and army officers!
The person laying down the law was a member of the corporation, who claimed to have organised an order of service by virtue of his authority as the chief collector for the Poppy Appeal in Winchelsea. As it turned out, there was no order of any sort. The procession from the church could not get to the war memorial because people were blocking the path, the worthies of the corporation were unsure when to remove their hats and the people with wreaths stood around waiting to see who was next. All a bit of a shambles really.
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Hide AdRemembrance Day is for the whole community. It is not owned by the church, the corporation or Poppy Appeal collectors. Out of respect, I hope the whole town will be consulted about next year.
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