Loyalist Participation in Events

Loyalist Week started on Sunday with a church parade at Trinity Anglican Church in Saint John. (Trinity is the oldest congregation in the City, having been founded by Loyalists very shortly after their arrival in 1783. The current building was constructed following the Great Fire of 1877 and houses many historical artifacts, including the Royal Coat of Arms that used to be located in the Council Chamber of the old State House in Boston, which was removed when the city was evacuated by the British.) Several of our members participated in the service and enjoyed the fellowship of the congregation afterwards.

Master of Ceremonies, Terry Keleher, in the role of Major Gilford Studholm, the commander of Fort Howe in Loyalist times, welcomes everyone.

The crowd was welcomed by Councillor Chris Titus, on behalf of the City of Saint John, Minister Trevor Holder, on behalf of the Government of New Brunswick and MP Rodney Weston, on behalf of the Government of Canada.

A large number of school children, many in period clothing, attended the ceremonies.

During the ceremonies, school children symbolically placed geraniums.

It is great to see the younger generation involved in celebration of our history.

There was lots of birthday cake to ease any hunger pains.

The Loyalist Day celebrations closed with a reception and dinner held at the historic Union Club in Saint John. Following the dinner we were privileged to hear a presentation by noted architect John Leroux who talked about “The Loyalist influence on Architecture”. His visual presentation attracted a lot of interest and his lively style meant that nobody was bored. In fact, your president had to prematurely end the question and answer period so that Mr. Leroux could make the drive back to Fredericton in reasonable time.