{"id":2175,"date":"2023-05-02T13:42:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T17:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/?p=2175"},"modified":"2023-05-02T14:47:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T18:47:10","slug":"the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

St. John Ambulance in Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983, with many events marking the occasion. The organization traces its history back to the First Aid Class held in 1883.

The National Centennial Weekend took place June 3-5, 1983, which included a Royal Visit by HRH Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Grand Prior of the Order of St. John. During his visit, the Duke viewed the National First Aid and Home Health Care Competition and presided over Federal District\u2019s St. John Ambulance Brigade parade.1<\/sup>

One of the events included a visit by Mrs. Ruth Parks, the matron of the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem. The Hospital at that time consisted of 82 beds, treating approximately 35,000 patients, and conducting about 4,000 operations annually.2<\/sup> 25 Cadet Divisions across the country raised $7,000 for the hospital.

The St. John Ambulance Overseas conference was held in Toronto the same month, June 13-17, marking the first time the conference was held outside of the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, St. John Ambulance had 608 Divisions in Canada.3<\/sup> Throughout the year, the organization consisted of 14,500 uniformed volunteers; 10,000-12,000 non-uniformed volunteers; 13,000 certified instructors; and 270 permanent staff members.4<\/sup> In 1982, the St. John Ambulance Training Association provided first aid training to approximately 350,000 people and Home Health Care training to 3,500 Canadians. That same year, 1.8 million hours of volunteer duties were performed, including treating over 200,000 injured or sick people.

A long-time member of St. John Ambulance, Colonel Strome Galloway, completed an updated edition of G.W.L. Nicholson\u2019s The White Cross in Canada, <\/em>published as a centennial year project. That same year, Canada Post released a standard rate postage stamp to commemorate the centennial, which was unveiled by the Duke of Gloucester.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ontario Premier William G. Davis declared June 13-19 as St. John Ambulance Week in Ontario<\/em>. Ontario Place observed June 16 as St. John Day (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day occurs on June 24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were several other ways the centennial was marked across Canada;
Dr. James Gayfer of Winnipeg composed The St. John Ambulance March<\/em> to mark the centennial. The piece was first performed by the Air Command6<\/sup> Band of the Canadian Forces.

To celebrate the centennial, the Alberta Council dressed a knight in full armour on a black horse escorted by a Serving Brother of the Order to tour different locations across Alberta to raise awareness about the organization.7<\/sup>

Boissevain, Manitoba, ran a special turtle derby to mark the occasion, with each Council and Priory sponsoring a turtle.

The Vancouver Branch produced what they called Ready Teddy\u2019s as a fundraiser. Each bear came with a poem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am the Centennial Bear<\/em>
And here are some facts to<\/em>
make you aware<\/em>
That I am living proof of\u00a0<\/em>
Ceaseless devotion<\/em>
From the Atlantic Sea<\/em>
To the Pacific Ocean<\/em>
Of one hundred years of<\/em>
St John action<\/em>
Looking after the sick at\u00a0<\/em>
Numberless functions,<\/em>
Also teaching others the why<\/em>
and the wherefore<\/em>
Of Breathing and Bleeding and\u00a0<\/em>
How one can \u201ccare for\u201d<\/em>
So, why don\u2019t you buy me-<\/em>
I\u2019m ready to love you, to<\/em>
Listen, to simile,<\/em>
Ill share in your laughter<\/em>
And wipe up your tears-<\/em>
In fact, I\u2019ll be ready-<\/em>
For I\u2019m the St. John\u2019s<\/em>
\u201cReady Teddy<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From coast to coast, events were held to highlight the work done by St. John Ambulance in Canada in the last hundred years and overseas by Canadians wearing the White Cross serving during wartime. The members’ effort has shown that St. John Ambulance was ready for another hundred years in Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_______<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/sup> St. John News, Official Publication of St. John Ambulance in Canada, 1982, 2.
2<\/sup> St. John News, 5.
3<\/sup> Christopher McCreery, The Maple Leaf and the White Cross: A History of St. John Ambulance and the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Canada<\/em> (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2008), p. 150.
4<\/sup> St. John News, 3.
5<\/sup> McCreery, 150.
6<\/sup> The organization that was previously and is currently known as the Royal Canadian Air Force.
7<\/sup> St. John News, 4.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1983<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-2175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historical-events","tag-31"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada - Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"St. John Ambulance in Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983, with many events marking the occasion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada - Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"St. John Ambulance in Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983, with many events marking the occasion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-02T17:42:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-02T18:47:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2506\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"St. John Ambulance\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"St. John Ambulance\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"St. John Ambulance\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/e7c35ee9e41fefdb2f987a4963d7831c\"},\"headline\":\"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-02T17:42:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-02T18:47:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/\"},\"wordCount\":654,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"1983\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Historical Events\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/\",\"name\":\"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada - Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-02T17:42:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-02T18:47:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"St. John Ambulance in Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983, with many events marking the occasion.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg\",\"width\":2506,\"height\":1800,\"caption\":\"Plate 14 Duke and Stamp 1983\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/\",\"name\":\"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/SJA_museum_logo_v2.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/SJA_museum_logo_v2.svg\",\"width\":163,\"height\":79,\"caption\":\"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/e7c35ee9e41fefdb2f987a4963d7831c\",\"name\":\"St. John Ambulance\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7292515dca9e7c6aa96033ceacf9b9bc7830a46e3254d965c012c6ee4177b89d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7292515dca9e7c6aa96033ceacf9b9bc7830a46e3254d965c012c6ee4177b89d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7292515dca9e7c6aa96033ceacf9b9bc7830a46e3254d965c012c6ee4177b89d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"St. John Ambulance\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada - Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario","description":"St. John Ambulance in Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983, with many events marking the occasion.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada - Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario","og_description":"St. John Ambulance in Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983, with many events marking the occasion.","og_url":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/","og_site_name":"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario","article_published_time":"2023-05-02T17:42:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-02T18:47:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2506,"height":1800,"url":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"St. John Ambulance","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"St. John Ambulance","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/"},"author":{"name":"St. John Ambulance","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/e7c35ee9e41fefdb2f987a4963d7831c"},"headline":"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada","datePublished":"2023-05-02T17:42:19+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-02T18:47:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/"},"wordCount":654,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg","keywords":["1983"],"articleSection":["Historical Events"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/","url":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/","name":"The Centenary of St. John Ambulance in Canada - Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg","datePublished":"2023-05-02T17:42:19+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-02T18:47:10+00:00","description":"St. John Ambulance in Canada celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1983, with many events marking the occasion.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/the-centenary-of-st-john-ambulance-in-canada\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Plate-14-Duke-and-Stamp-1983.jpg","width":2506,"height":1800,"caption":"Plate 14 Duke and Stamp 1983"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/","name":"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#organization","name":"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario","url":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/SJA_museum_logo_v2.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/SJA_museum_logo_v2.svg","width":163,"height":79,"caption":"Museum of the Order of St. John in Ontario"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/e7c35ee9e41fefdb2f987a4963d7831c","name":"St. John Ambulance","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7292515dca9e7c6aa96033ceacf9b9bc7830a46e3254d965c012c6ee4177b89d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7292515dca9e7c6aa96033ceacf9b9bc7830a46e3254d965c012c6ee4177b89d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7292515dca9e7c6aa96033ceacf9b9bc7830a46e3254d965c012c6ee4177b89d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"St. John Ambulance"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2187,"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2175\/revisions\/2187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museumsjaon.ca\/staging\/6986\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}