Monday 18th November 2013
Danny Howell writes ~
At tonight’s meeting of the full council of Warminster Town Council, held at the Civic Centre, the duty of reading out the citation of who had won this year’s Civic Award fell to Councillor George Jolley. As George Jolley read out some of the achievements of the winner (such as 26 years on Warminster Town Council, a period of Chairmanship of the Warminster Civic Trust, and many years ceaselessly campaigning to get the Old Town Hall back into public use) without mentioning who the recipient was, former Town Councillor Chris March who was sat in the public gallery looked round at the few members of the public who were in the room, numbering no more than a dozen at that stage of the proceedings, looking to see who could possibly have won. He must have been wondering if it was Tony Nicklin (of the Athenaeum Trust), Caroline Ham (of the Save Dorothy Walk Action Group) or Mark Milton (of the East Boreham Residents Action Group – EBRAG). He might have wondered if it was me but I was the Citizen of Warminster some 20 years ago. Who could it be this time?
So it came as a total shock to Chris when George named him as the winner of the Citizen Of Warminster Award for 2013. Chris, with a look of sheer astonishment on his face, recovering his jaw that had dropped, uttered: “Me? I’m quite shattered! Life is full of surprises.” After accepting a framed certificate from Councillor Jolley, and having his photograph taken with the Mayor of Warminster, Paul Batchelor, Chris made a short speech of thanks, which he began by saying: “I’m so surprised. This is wonderful.” And then he noticed his partner Rosemary sat at the back of the room, adding: “I should have known something was going on. I’m deaf and I could only hear 5% of what George was saying.”
Chris said: “I came to Warminster from Birmingham about 30 years ago. When people knew I was moving to Warminster they said to me it’s a boring place, you won’t find anything to do there. Well, I did find things, all manner of things to do.” After mentioning just three of the organisations he had served on, which included Macmillan Cancer Support, and saying he could never remember things when he needed to, Chris modestly said: “I’ve been a member of this and a member of that.”
Chris went on to say: “One thing I have learnt in this life is you’ve got to be your own person and you’ve got to say what you think.” Referring to comments exchanged between councillors earlier in the meeting when the appointment of Tony Nicklin as Chairman of the Town Development Committee was confirmed despite protestations from Councillor Steve Dancey who had taken a stance because Mr. Nicklin had not been re-elected to the Town Council back in May, Chris March said: “We all have our differences but we must all learn to work together.”
A small reception with drinks and nibbles was held after the gavel had been brought down on Council business, for those who wanted to stay behind and congratulate Chris on his award. Among those who had been present to see Chris March receive the Civic Award were Elisabeth Collyns (Chairman of Warminster Preservation Trust), Mike Heaton (former Chairman of Warminster Civic Trust), and Lucinda Phillips who lives opposite Chris at Church Street, Warminster. Chris told his well-wishers that Lucinda was his oldest friend. With a broad smile he said he had known Lucinda for 46 years and had met her through their individual careers in book publishing.