A Day to Remember

05.11.12

The Garden of Remembrance at St Paul's, on the north side of the Cathedral, was the site of the Royal British Legion City of London Poppy Day Appeal service. But first, as this was early morning, to breakfast in the Crypt with more than 100 other Masters, plus clerics, members of the services and particularly the band of the Irish Guards. We were greeted by the President of the Royal British Legion Lieutenant General Sir John Kiszely KCB MC, formed up and made our way to what was a most moving ceremony in the Garden. Fortunately it was a sunny, if very cold, day. The service was conducted by the Dean of St Paul's the Very Reverend David Ison and the guests led by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress David and Elizabeth Wootton who represented the citizens of London.

The service in the garden was short but moving with the band of the Irish Guards and the Royal British Legion Flag Bearers adding to the occasion. We all took our turn to plant our cross on the Remembrance Garden lawn and the service finished with the Kohima Prayer: "When you go home, tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow we gave our today''. It was a ceremony that allowed all to reflect and show their gratitude for the sacrifices made by others on our behalf.

And so to the office, which is just a short walk from St Paul's, to meet with the Wardens and lunch  (sandwiches) with the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the form of their CEO Anne Godfrey. An excellent meeting which gave us the opportunity to exchange views on the state of the marketing profession. This was followed by the monthly Master & Wardens meeting which ended at about 7:00pm. As always, having been out all day I had amasses a pile of emails, ten to the Master and thirty eight to the other me. I think I'll leave them until the morning.

John Flynn
Master Marketor