Maple Leaf Ball 2012
On May 19, more than
three hundred great Canadians will gather to celebrate two anniversaries – Her
Majesty the Queen’s and The Maple Leaf Ball – which, from its inception in
1953, had been one of the glittering gems in the social tiara known as the
London Season ...
Grand
occasions don’t materialize out of
thin air. At the time of the Maple Leaf Ball’s debut at the Savoy Hotel in
1953, the Canadian Women’s Club was already 20 years old. By which time the
Club had already established a stellar reputation for volunteer work far beyond
the call of duty, particularly during the war years.
It was on that truly
impressive record that the ball was launched. And until 2002, this glamorous
annual event attracted royalty along with countless members of the corporate
aristocracy to dine, dance and contribute money to the causes the CWC supports
through the Maple Leaf Trust – the war veterans and Canadian students studying
in Britain.
Some eighty years after
its founding, one can still marvel at what happened when a pair of lonely
Canadian expats got together in London to discuss how they could bring a little
more Canada into their lives here in Britain and share it with others.
It is out of such small
things that big things grow. This is exactly what happened when, in the spring of
1932, two Canadian women met at the Piccadilly Club and discovered that despite
the fact both had been living in London for many years, they had never managed
to meet in all those years. Their auspicious meeting also convinced them that
there must be many more Canadian women in the same boat. So why not start a
club to link up Canadian women throughout the UK?
Which is what they did.
On May 19, 1932, 70 Canadian women turned out to the first meeting and at the
second general meeting on June 7, 1932, the Canadian Women’s Club was born. By
the following spring, the membership had risen to 340. And with a sprinkling of
prominent Canadians and an array of titles on the membership list, it was
hardly surprising that the CWC became very, very popular with the press.
Over the years, the Club
attracted high profile guests such as the Duchess of Gloucester, Lady
Tweedsmuir (wife of novelist and former governor-general John Buchan), HRH
Princess Alice of Athlone (later honorary president and patron until her death in
1981) and Mackenzie King who attended the CWC’s coronation reception for George
VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.
The
social whirl ended abruptly, however,
with the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. From that day onward, the
CWC distinguished itself through its extraordinary volunteerism which extended
to making clothing and blankets for Polish refugees; assisting the Canadian Red
Cross in myriad ways; distributing countless articles to hospitals, hostels and
evacuees; churning out quantities of hospital supplies and comfort bags for men
at the front and providing mobile canteens to serve Canadian troops stationed
in Britain. The first canteen was paid for by members selling their silver. CWC
members also provided at least 2,000 wireless sets to isolated search light
units of the anti-aircraft command and to isolation wards in Canadian hospitals
and first aid cabinets to Canadian flotillas. Oh, and they adopted a small
Canadian warship, MTB 735, keeping its sailors supplied with books, magazines, records
and Christmas presents.
Through it all – through
the bombings and the deprivation – the CWC never lost its flair for a good
time. It continued to put on tea dances for the thousands of Canadian
servicemen and their wives and girlfriends.
After the war,
distribution of relief supplies to civilians continued but, not surprisingly,
the Club, like the rest of the country, suffered from post-war depression.
It didn’t last. By 1948,
the Club had created the Veterans’ Support Committee (which later became the
Maple Leaf Trust) for the 18,000 Canadians who remained in Britain. And it soon
became obvious that more money was needed and that their regular fundraising
schemes were not enough.
So in June 1953, the
inaugural Maple Leaf Ball was held. It was a huge success and continued to be
for the next half century.
Yes, those were the days.
And
now this spirit of fun and volunteerism
is about to be revived for the first Maple Leaf Ball to be held in ten years.
“We hadn’t had one for ten years and we thought it would be a good tie-in with
the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee,” said Patty Bell, chair of the Maple Leaf
Trust.
Fitting too that the Ball
will be held at the Savoy, site of the first Maple Leaf Ball, she adds.
As such, the Ball
provides the perfect opportunity to raise funds for the continued financial
support of Maple Leaf Trust scholars, a commitment which began in 1967 after
the Centennial Ball generated sufficient funds to establish a second charity,
the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund.
“And we continue to
support our veterans who, although their numbers are dwindling, their needs are
increasing,” said Bell. This means providing them with such useful items as
mobility scooters, walkers and stairglides, and sometimes providing financial
assistance.
“As they age, these are
the things we can help them with,” she said. “And if we can help them in any
way, it’s a recognition of what they did in World War II.”
The upcoming Diamond
Anniversary Ball, in support of the Maple Leaf Trust, is one more example of
how the CWC and the Trust continue to provide opportunities for Canadian women
to enjoy a full calendar of events together and to undertake work for the
benefit of Canadians in the UK who may be in need.
The Ball will also add
another sparkling chapter to an eighty-year-long history during which countless
Canadians, together with Brits with an interest in Canada, have supported the
CWC and later the Maple Leaf Trust in raising funds for their charities and
contributing personally and generously to this enduring tradition of
understated elegance, friendship and fun.
Visit: www.mapleleafball.org