The International Convent was
held in Toronto in September 2010. All that attended received a copy
of welcome letters from the Canadian Prime Minster, the Premier of Ontario, the
Mayor of Toronto and the Grand Prior of Canada. In addition they got a
wee goodie bag which included the Toronto Visitor Guide, and Subway/Route
Map. In addition all attendees at the Saturday night banquet were gifted
with a book about Canada or one of Toronto. Both these books were of
fantastic quality and weighed a ton!
Picture of the Goodie Bag and the Canada Book
The above pins were presented with the
compliments of the Honourable Steve Peters, Speaker of the Legislative
Assembly of Ontario.
Various meetings took place
between the Grand Priors of different countries, and events were organised
for all visitors to see the local Parliament and have a tour to Niagara
Falls on the Thursday. Friday had a variety of speakers with myself giving a
wee talk about the web and how we all needed to do better with our web
sites.
Saturday was the grand
investiture where new Knights and Dames were invested and others receiving
promotions and the installation of a new Grand Master.
There was a parade from the
hotel to St. James Cathedral with a Piper leading the way.
After the investiture there
was the banquet which lasted some 3+ hours with many toasts, including one
to the Queen and of course all the Grand Priors from the various countries
that attended.
All in all everyone seemed to
have a most enjoyable visit. I am particularly proud of our own Reverend
Dame Nola Crewe, Prior of the St James Priory of Toronto for doing such a
marvellous job of organising the event.
We welcomed our new
international leaders elected for 2010-2013
Grand Master: Brigadier General Patrick E. REA (USA)
Grand Commander: Major General Robert E. Dysney (USA)
Deputy Grand Commander: Colonel (r) Dr. Marcel de Picciotto (FRANCE)
Chancellor: General Pertti Reverend Ruotsalo (FINLAND)
New Secretary General appointed: Simon St Clair (FRANCE)
Chaplain General: Bishop Munib Younan (JERUSALEM)
Hope I got all these correct.
Below I have scanned in the
Agenda for the visit and also the church service which are in pdf format.
Agenda
| Church Service
Note: Tons of pictures
were taken by a professional photographer and when the pictures are made
available I'll include some on this page. I also hope to get some
pictures of the trip to Niagara Falls. |