Royal reception for Rivers residents
- Details
- Published on Saturday, April 30, 2016
By Sheila Runions
Banner staff
In mid-February Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon announced her plan to host a birthday party on April 21, the day Queen Elizabeth turned 90. The Queen’s representative in Manitoba invited people born in 1926 to contact her office to express their interest in attending the afternoon party at Government House. Filmon was prepared to invite the first 60 people (and one guest) who responded but her office was so overwhelmed with applications that a morning tea party was held as well. Each party had 150 people and even then, people were turned away because the House could seat no more. Among the guests who attended the afternoon affair were Rivers’ own Georgina Bollman and Bertha Shelvey, who moved to Brandon after living in Rivers for 22 years (1989-2011).
Georgina says, “It was an honour for me to attend,” while Bertha says, “It was an experience of a lifetime.”
Tea was served in gold-trimmed cups while the food consisted of tiny sandwiches with six different fillings, dainties to varied to count and imperial cookies (instead of birthday cake); Georgina chose to keep her cookie as a souvenir. While each table was set with the china and dainties, tea was refilled by “volunteers,” says Georgina. “I was surprised to learn all the help at these functions is volunteer, even the men at the door.” (The parties had 28 volunteers.)
Filmon gave a welcome speech and her press release states, “It seems appropriate to mark the occasion with those who share the Queen’s birth year. Three generations of Canadians have come of age during Her Majesty’s reign. Throughout this historic reign, she has extoled the value of service to community and country and she has made that a theme of speeches on many of the royal visits she has undertaken over six decades.”
Georgina says the speech was, “Lovely. She is lovely and very suitable to be the lieutenant-governor. She told us Government House belongs to all Manitobans and she encouraged us to tour the house; she hopes to have many parties!”
Although Georgina will not be 90 until October, she has always “followed the Queen through the years, I admire her so much. We were born the same year and married the same year, so I've kept a lot of pictures of her family. It’s almost like a friend growing up; we’ve done so many same things together it feels that we have something in common. Now we are 90; it was wonderful to see so many men and women my age able to be out and enjoy themselves.”
Bertha turned 90 a week before Queen Elizabeth; she was born April 14, 1926 in RM of Stanley, west of Melville, Sask. She was accompanied by her husband Ernest, and chauffeured by cousin Diane Deny. Georgina travelled with her daughter Lynne Bollman.
