St Ives in Cambridgeshire |
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A short while after the Mayor Making ceremony it is customary for the incoming mayor and council to take part in a service of thanks and blessing and then to parade through the town.
As mentioned before in the Mayor Making section the choice of Chaplin is dependent upon the personal religious affiliations of the mayor. It is logical to assume therefore that the actual location and nature of the civic service is dependent upon that affiliation too, as indeed it is.
The general conduct of the Civic Service and Parade - remember this varies dependent upon the location of the service;
Around mid-morning on the chosen Sunday as the councillors make their way to the Town Hall, spectators begin to line the streets around Market Hill whilst the youth and community groups assemble in the car park by the Library. At around 10.00am these groups will gather to form a parade whereupon they march, usually accompanied by the RAF Wyton Band, to the Town Hall in Market Hill.
At the Town Hall the parade is joined by the Mayor and councillors and proceeds to the chosen location of the Civic Service.
If the initial parade does not take place the mayor, council, their guests and the company described above assemble in the chosen place of worship, if it does the members of the parade join the community already assembled at the chosen place of worship.
The Mayor and Councillors arriving at All Saints (CofE) Parish Church for the 2000 Civic Service
At the allotted time, around 10.30am, a short service of thanks and blessing takes place led by the Mayor's Chaplin after which the Mayor, Councillors and community groups assemble outside to march back to the Town Hall, usually accompanied by the RAF Wyton Band.
The head of a long parade leaving the Civic Service at All Saints (CofE) Parish Church in 2000
Having arrived back in Market Hill, outside the Town Hall, the parade is halted and the Mayor and Councillors withdraw. The parade is then turned into review order and stood at ease. It is now time for the mayor to review and inspect the assembled company taking time to thank and talk to each group taking part.
The 2003 Mayor, Cllr Kevin Reynolds, thanking the Joint Service Voluntary band from RAF Wyton
The 2003 Mayor, Cllr Kevin Reynolds, here pictured with members of the St John Ambulance
Once the mayor has reviewed the parade and passed his personal thanks to each group for their attendance he/she once again withdraws.
The parade now reform to briefly march off on a short circuit of the town centre, down Merrylands, around the Victoria Memorial and back along Crown Street to return to Market Hill. In the meantime the mayor, councillors and their VIP guests will re-assemble at the saluting base which will have been set up between the Cromwell Memorial and the War Memorial.
2001 Mayor, Cllr Douglas Dew, St Ives Town Council and the O/C RAF Wyton assembled to take the salute
And the salute being delivered
and again
But eventually when all have passed by it is time to relax a little
St Ives is a town of a little over 16,000 persons and as can be seen from the photographs above many of them have turned out either to take part in the parade, to attend the service or perhaps most importantly of all to be a spectator. The puddles at the side of the road lie as testament to the fact that the weather is generally not that good but it does little to dampen the spirit of community.
On the subject of "spirits" by now having hopefully done justice to those spiritual and temporal it is time for refreshment after what will have been a lengthy morning.
The mayor, councillors and guests now adjourn the the Mayor's Reception
Cllr Debbie Reynolds welcoming guests to the Mayor's Reception after the 2003 Civic Service and Parade. Where's the mayor you may ask? Still in the Town Hall removing robes!
What is the point of all this? Simple really! Why do all the youth groups have flags, why do they learn to smartly dress, why do bands learn to pay music, why are we proud of what we do and what would be the point if no one got to see it.
You can see more pictures of the Civic Services and Parades from recent years in the News Archive on this website
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Page last updated 24/07/08 Copyright 2001-2008© JevStar.Com (JevStar™) |
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