There’s a little less than 45 hours before the bugle poignantly sounds The Last Post at the cenotaph outside Richmond City Hall and baker Gerald Stenson is busy preparing the feast.
With 500 lemon and mincemeat tarts and 300 Remembrance Day-themed pieces of shortbread to bake, Stenson has his work, quite literally, cut out; juggling paying his respects by donating his goods to the post-ceremony reception with preparing to move his business across the road.
Having helped out with the event for a couple of years, Stenson—who owns Diplomat Bakery in Steveston—was debating how he could manage to contribute at the same time as moving his store.
When he heard from reception organizer Judith Hutson that one of the other bakeries had pulled out, however, Stenson had no hesitation to continue his philanthropy.
“I’ve been doing it for two years; ever since Judith came into the bakery and asked if I could help. I said I’d be happy to,” Stenson told the News on Monday.
“This year is difficult, as we are in the process of moving. But when I heard one of the other bakers pulled out, I couldn’t let Judith down.
“We can’t let people forget what’s been done for us; people have given their lives.”
The Diplomat Bakery and Stenson is just one of dozens of people, not least Hutson, who make possible the reception inside city hall after the respects have been paid by hundreds of people at the cenotaph outside.
As well as Diplomat, Steveston Bakery chips in with a similar haul of freshly-baked items, the Richmond Youth Honour Choir—in its second year of being involved with around 40 students—provides the entertainment, while the Friends of the Richmond Archives spend hours and hours putting the wartime displays together.
And then there are the 15 or so volunteers that hand out the reception invitations and order of service to the crowd and then help serve the refreshments indoors afterwards.
“Every year it gets easier and easier; especially now that the City of Richmond is on side with the event,” said Hutson, now in her fifth year of helping put on the reception in the city hall galleria, where between 1,200 and 1,500 people turned out in 2014.
“Lots of people don’t understand what goes on in the background, but I can tell you, it takes many, many hands to pull this off.
“And the bakeries, well, they are amazing, as they are only small businesses and they’re willing to give their time and fabulous product.
“It’s grown every year in popularity from the first year, when we just had Tim Hortons on board and no one thought it was a good idea.”
One of the families that help out with the volunteering is the Huttons, mom Jillian, son, Phillip, 17, and daughter Emily, 14.
“I was in the military and both my grandfathers were in the British Army,” said Hutton, who served as a finance clerk in the Canadian Army. “So it means a lot to me. This is our third year of helping as a family and we love it, we love being able to contribute.”
Hutson said she starts organizing each year’s event about two months in advance, but says it’s really a “matter of getting out and confirming with the bakeries and everyone else if they’re helping out.”
“I do spend lots of personal time on the event, but it’s nothing compared to the likes of the bakeries.
“I’m more than happy to donate my time; Remembrance Day means a lot to me.”
Check Friday’s edition of the Richmond News and online at Richmond-News.com for photos of the Remembrance Day service and reception.
