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Each country that we visit brings a new experience. Our visit to Belgium brought us both joy and sadness. Joy at sharing the Belgiam people's love of life and their warm hospitality. Sadness as we visited the devastation of war at Flander's Field. This is a brief story of our stay in Belgium We were met at Brussels airport by the Festival committee who quickly escorted us to the bus that would take us on our journey to a little village called Steneke. On arrival at their community hall, a welcome committee made up of our host families was there to meet us. it was not long before our young people regarded these people as their temporary Moms and Dads, sisters and brothers - this was how our dancers referred to our host families throughout the week. As directors, my two daughters Heather and Deborah and grand-daughter Kendra and myself felt comfortable in the situation. There was no doubt that we would all be very well taken care of. Other countries in attendance were Hungary, Korea, Argentina, Georgia (Russia) and Sicily. A special church service was planned with Hungary, Belgium and Canada in attendance. Amazing Grace was played on the pipes by Jim Forbes and sung by Denis Carr. A reading was done by Caroline Lajoie. The interesting part of this venture was that Denis, Kenton, Caroline and Melissa MacDonald in full kilt attire arrived at the church on bicycles ! On the route home from the service, a group of cyclists who were participating in a bicycle rally that day came upon them, drove past them, and the quickly turned around to take a second look at the strange attire.
The sadness comes as you walk through the rows and stop to read the inscriptions; one soldier died at the age of 19. Many were marked "A Soldier of the Great War". We came across one who was a member of the Cameron Highlanders. The maple leaf was engraved on the Canadian tomb stones. Our tour guide explained that during the war, these grounds were fields of water, mud and dead soldiers. Still in awe the numbers that lost their lives, we signed the visitors book and went on our way to the next site. Our next stop in Flanders was "Hill 62". A monument to the Canadians sits where the Canadians fought and won the battle in June 1916. It was here that the first gas attack took place. Next to the hill is a stretch of trenches, preserved in it's original state. As we walked through the trenches, I am sure that we all shed a silent tear. We could only imagine the suffering that took place in these muddy and cold dugouts. Our next stop was at the German soldiers grave site. Three thousand young cadets and student volunteers of the Reserve Corps lie here. Our last stop was at a little chapel in Flanders. Here we saw a monument to John McRae which consisted of a photo of John, his famous poem and a wreath of poppies - inserted into the wreath, two miniature Canadian flags. On our last official night of the festival, we were given a party which included a barbeque followed by an exchange of dances between the Belgians and the Canadians. The last tune to be played was the Ballad of St. Anne's. As this happens to be one of our concert tunes, an improntu demonstration of dance steps was performed. The dancers all took turns doing their favourite steps and much to the surprise of all it ended with the three generations of MacCulloch's strutting their stuff; Rae, daughters Heather and Deborah and Grand-daughter Kendra. It was nearly time to bid farewell to our host families but there was still one more protocol that Denis Carr was instrumental organizing. Our gift to the people of Belgium was the purchase and planting of a Canadian maple tree on the grounds of their community hall. Following the tree planting, a formal party was selected to include 5 Canadian and 5 Belgian delegates. Jim Forbes piped the party around the tree. The ceremony ended with a toast to all. And now for our good-byes. A friendship circle was formed as we sang Auld Lang Syne. E-mail addresses were exchanged, lots of hugs and kisses and farewells, and along with a hope that we will meet again, we loaded the bus and were on our way home. Looking back, I would consider this trip to have been both a joyous experience as well as an educational one, especially for our young dancers. How better way to learn about the devastation of war. I am sure that because of our visit to Flanders Fields, November 11th will have a very special meaning for all of us. |
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