A bit of Britain graces St Matthew's

A bit of Britain graced St Matthew's Fireside Area on Sunday May 29th.  

 In honour of Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee parishioners enjoyed tea and scones after our Service of the Word. The price of admission? -- a baby outfit. The ACW set a goal of 70 outfits (for the 70 years of Queen Elizabeth's reign) and during the month of May St Matthew's parishioners rose to the challenge with many more than 70 new outfits gathered. These will be part of the Diocesan ACW outreach -- to northern Canada and to local needs. 

As part of the gentle fun of the day, the Queen's smiling photo and the Union Jack took pride of place on the mantel in front of which were displayed the wonderful variety of baby outfits. A real live corgi (courtesy of Belinda Kishimoto) padded royally around adding to a festive atmosphere. A vintage Vancouver Sun newspaper (courtesy of Paulette Farquhar) displayed 1953 photos and accounts of the coronation. Our chef, Rose Rourke, prepared the homemade scones, and Fran Bates made the clotted cream. Others contributed jam, china teapots and silver spoons. Lloyd Bates (with careful moving) wheeled the grand piano into the tea area and played appropriate palm court teatime music, starting, of course, with everyone standing for "God Save the Queen.”   

After so many years without an in-person event, it was a pleasure to dress up in our finery with fancy hats and fascinators and celebrate outreach and fellowship.   

Photos and article by Linda Burton

Related: In Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II on her Platinum Jubilee