Archived post… Thank you from ‘ NAVY LADY’ : YEAR END UPDATE

100th Anniversary of the Canadian Navy

Wren Associations of Canada thank you the public, and the naval community, for your interest in the 1910-2010 Canadian Naval Centennial Rose…’Navy Lady’.

Based on information we have received – over 45 centennial rose events have taken place across Canada during 2010, plus many individual plantings.

Thank you to all, for pictures, newspaper clippings and notes sent to us – via navylady@thewrens.com

Our gratitude to J.C. Bakker and Sons Limited of St Catharines Ontario for their consideration and caring for our rose during the past 3 years, and to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for the locating and providing our original plant from St.Jean-sur-Richelieu, PQ and trademarking our name ACTM Navy Lady.

We thank the Centennial Committee especially Captain Pickford and CPO2 Cheryl Bush for their assistance with our journey into the unknown world of roses.

Thank you to Pauline Hebb for the suggestion of the name Navy Lady!

Update – 2011 Future Events

Planting of “Navy Lady” rose is a way of celebrating, remembering or commemorating events in 2011.

Our sincere thanks to all who participated in the Wrens Project and we sincerely hope that Our Rose will continue to be planted all across Canada in 2011 and in the future.

Rose Committee: 2010. Joan Balch, Georgie Hebb, Diane Huba, the  late Bev Covington, the late Pauline Hebb, the late Betty Butler. With the Presidents at both ends of the project, Janet Watt and Margaret Haliburton. And on the west coast, Barbara Duncan of Victoria BC.

There have been about 35 plantings of AC™ Navy Lady across Canada that we know of. Some formal and ceremonial, some not so formal. We would like to thank everyone who planted Navy Lady in places of Naval significance, places of remembrance, and other locations. We’d also like to thank everyone who has planted Navy Lady in their own garden, or a garden of a loved one, or perhaps a seniors’ residence for many to enjoy.

Navy Lady will be available for years to come. If you were not able to purchase one this year, please check with your local nursery this fall to see if they will be available there. If they didn’t carry them this year, perhaps they will order them in from our grower JC Bakker for next spring.

We are very proud of our lovely Navy Lady, she has a beautiful deep dark red flower, a very spectacular colour, with many blooms on the plant. The foliage comes in as a deep red which changes to green.

We are collecting stories and photos from many of the plantings, and will list them here as we get them.

Original Project Notice

Announcing the 2010 Canadian Naval Centennial Rose. The Wren Association of Toronto, along with Wren Associations across Canada, chose this rose developed by Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and grown exclusively by J.C. Bakker Nurseries in St Catharines, to celebrate the Canadian Naval Centennial, 1910-2010. Ceremonial plantings will take place across Canada in the commemorative year 2010 and onward, in locations of naval significance, attended by Wrens, other Naval Veterans, serving Naval personnel and local officials.

“Navy Lady” has been named as a dedication to the thousands of Canadian women who served in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS), known as Wrens, and the women who continue to serve today as members of the Canadian Navy.

Our rose can be purchased through selected retail nurseries across Canada.

Details of availability… Click here for current list AS OF January 2013

In the 2010 celebration year we dedicate this rose as a tribute to our Shipmates, all the gallant men and women who served at sea and ashore in Canadian Navy, past, present and future.

Due to the serious wartime shortage of sailors for sea billets, the Navy decided to organize a women’s division of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) “to release a man to go to sea.” On July 31, 1942, the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service was established. The WRCNS, unlike other Allied female units, was not an auxiliary but rather a formed unit of the RCN and its officers held the King’s commission. At peak strength, over 6,000 women were fulfilling the various roles of coders, confidential clerks, messengers, telegraphists, cooks, stewards and some 35 other important duties. The WRCNS was disbanded in 1946. In 1951 a Wren section was reformed in the RCN, initially in the Reserve but becoming full-time regulars by 1955. Wrens continued to serve in the RCN and RCNR (reserve) until unification of the Canadian Forces. Women in the navy were still known as Wrens until the late eighties. Today, no longer called Wrens, women serve in the Canadian Navy, both regular and reserve, ashore and at sea.

The aim of the Canadian Naval Centennial is to build and strengthen in Canadians an appreciation for their navy and, as Canada is a maritime nation, to promote the role of the navy within the Canadian Forces. The focus is to honour the past, to showcase the current navy, and to reinforce the future.

“Commemorate, Celebrate, Commit” ™

Our rose AC™ Navy Lady, 2010 and beyond.

The shape and colour of the flowers are a beautiful, dark red velvet, with a very light fragrance. Between June and the autumn frosts it has reflowering blooms.

Height & Habit: average, good vigor

Fragrance: light

Available as of planting season 2011 at selected retailers across Canada.

Many groups have contacted the Wrens regarding plantings at Naval locations, Legions, Museums, events etc. Thank you so much for your participation!