October 6th, 2015

We are thrilled and honoured to host a visit from Joan O’Malley this Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in our gym. Please see below for more information on this special guest!

BRIEF BIO: MRS. JOAN O’MALLEY

On a snowy Friday night in 1964, Joan O’Malley sewed the first red maple-leaf flag ever flown! It was one of three of the final three prototype designs. Because Prime Minister Pearson requested these prototypes after normal business hours, her father, Ken Donovan (assistant purchasing director for the Canadian Government Exhibition Commission) was unable to find a seamstress so he called Joan. On the evening of Nov. 6, Joan (age 20) took her machine to the Exhibition Commission’s office in south Ottawa, where sometime after midnight; she completed her sewing. These flags were then delivered in the middle of the night to 24 Sussex Drive. Just hours after O’Malley shut down her sewing machine; Pearson raised them at his residence at Harrington Lake. One prototype flag drawing (of the present flag) on cheesecloth, was a template Joan referred to as she sewed. The whereabouts of two of these three original templates (one is displayed at Queen’s University in Kingston), as well as the three prototype flags flown by Pearson are unknown. Joan and her husband, Brian, reside in Ottawa.
Her sewing machine is stored in their basement along with her collection of news articles/photos organized into large scrap books. Joan’s portion of our short documentary begins with her standing outside the building where she sewed the prototypes. Not having been back there since that night in 1964, this is very poignant. Until our interview, Joan never had her story recorded first-hand.
In September, we forwarded correspondence to Mr. P. Poilievre (M.P. Nepean-Carleton) advising him that Joan is a constituent and requesting his help to have the Peace Tower flag from November 6th presented – her 50th anniversary of sewing the first flag! On November 14th this was presented. We regret we were unable to attend yet overjoyed to have been the catalyst for Joan to receive this wonderful honour.

Google has more extensive coverage about Joan.

by Diane Bonfonte
Chair/Foundeer
Flag Wavers of Waterloo Region

‘CANADIAN FLAG WAVER’!

Composed and Produced by Stephen Bergen
Commissioned by Flag Wavers Of Waterloo Region
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Canada’s Flag!
(Sunday, February 15, 2015 – Monday, February 15, 2016)

It was 1867, a story began
When the Fathers of Confederation
united this great land
The dawn of a nation
The True North strong and free
That’s why I want to be….

CHORUS: A Canadian flag waver
Hold it high, Fly it free!
Side by side with my neighbours
from sea to shining sea!

We will raise it together
and share this history
A Canadian Flag Waver
It’s the red and white for me!

Fly it high above the Rockies
Over Prairies stretching wide
From the cliffs along our coastlines
soaring far beyond earth’s skies
a land of many cultures
makes one great family
That’s why I want to be…

CHORUS

(length – 2 minutes, 22 seconds)

Categories: School Events