Amazing service

Saturday evening saw a service of recognition (NOT RETIREMENT!!!) for my 80-year old Corps Sergeant Major at Mashbury. He can be a bit miserable from time to time and I think gets a bit frustrated by me (my administration is really nowhere near his standards), however his service is absolutely exemplary - he has run the Corps for the last 20 years, and in all honesty still runs it!

He was called on to give a speech on Saturday night and although he had prepared copious notes, unwisely decided not to stick to them. 35-minutes later, the DC had to step in to shut him up and he'd only got as far as 1967 and had got rather bogged down in the finer details of the construction of the hall (how many cement mixers, whose tractor they borrowed to dig the trenches etc. etc.). Picking the bones out of this speech was not easy, but what struck me was the devotion of him (and his colleagues) in spending their evenings and weekends building their own SA hall. I have some involvement in the construction of new buildings now and never have I seen this level of commitment recently.

On my office wall I have a picture of the original horse-drawn caravan that came out of the Clapton training garrison and planted the Corps at Mashbury. It has painted on the side the inscription "The faithful" - that spirit still lives on.