Friendly Societies March

In the late, humid Friday afternoon of July 28, a group of some 25 Bermudians is gathered outside Magistrates Court on Parliament Street, in the shadow of the imposing House of Assembly on the hill. Participants and a small audience (despite considerable advertising) gather for the first the first in a series of July 2006 events honouring Bermuda's emancipation from slavery (1834), which are being co-organised by the Bermuda Government Department of Community & Cultural Affairs and various community groups. The Bermuda Friendly Society Association has co-organised this opening event, the Re-enactment and Rededication of the Colonial Opera House and Independent Orders. After warmly welcoming those of us attending the particpants organise themselves in an understood order, and eager begin the march right on time, even perhaps a little early. Save for the portable cd player held by co-organiser Mr. Boyd Smith playing bagpiped songs and hymns, the small procession moves quietly through the streets of Hamilton towards the 'Back of Town', with a man holding traffic at bay at street crossings. Some people on the streets stop to watch, others move by and ignore the procession. Many of the ladies march in fine white dresses trimmed with lace and heels, while the gentlemen sport an equally distinguished look in their dark suits and shined shoes. Almost all wear their Lodge regalia, sasches, ribbons and medals decorated with intricate embroideries symbolic of affiliations and honours. Banners are held, with the Motto 'Unity in Strength' held like an apron out in front and across the marchers. I run ahead to take photographs and video clips, and then fall behind following at a slight distance, respecting the separation of marcher and spectator. The march ends across from the Bermuda Industrial Union headquarters at the site of the Manchester Unity Hall and Colonial Opera House, once side by side but the latter destroyed by fire in 1978. In the parking lot where the Opera House once stood the marchers and onlookers gather for a short programme of proclamation, hymns, prayers and re-dedication to the principles of the Bermuda Friendly Societies and comments from the Minister of Community Affairs & Sport, the Hon. Dale Butler. Following the ceremony we are welcomed into the grand hall on the upper level of the surviving Lodge building. The walls are adorned with colourful paintings, portraits of former members, a Bermuda crest, boards with specific Lodge names and numbers and words such as 'Friendship' and 'Love' painted on small wood plaques. A colloborative exhibition by the various Lodges fills the hall, with photographs, painting, memorabilia along tables bordering the hall. I spoke to Society members and they told me about these objects, from minute books, to replica wood swords. There was some disappointment that the turn out was not better, but a sense that the exhibition is not in vain but serves an important purpose, one of dedication and remberance even if it goes without without wider and especially younger appreciation.

Top photo: Marchers at the intersection of Parliament and Church Streets. Bottom photo: Sister Valerie Tuzo and Brother Michael Bradshaw with Lodge items brought together for the temporary exhibition at Manchester Unity Hall.