The municipal council of Pilar de la Horadada has always been a great supporter of the Remembrance Service held by the Orihuela Costa and District Branch in the small Mil Palmeras Catholic church. Councillors and the mayor have attended on every single occasion since it was first inaugurated over ten years ago in 2007.
The council was instrumental in obtaining permission for the branch to use the church and it was also very supportive when an approach was first made by the RBL to create a Remembrance Garden.
As the branch has developed, and the numbers attending the service have grown, the significance of the Garden has become much more important. There are now many more wreaths, floral tributes and poppies being laid on a regular basis and the names of many deceased branch members are also affixed to the Garden rails, with the garden now becoming a place of much more meaning to the families of those who have passed.
Recognised as such by the mayor of Pilar de la Horadada, Ignacia Ramos, the Branch Chairman, Kevin Reardon, and the Remembrance Day organiser, Eddie Coleman, were both invited to the town Hall last week where they discussed with him and Councillor Pilar Navarro, the possible improvements that could be made to both the garden and to the organisation of the service itself.
They were accompanied by local businesswoman Francisca Samper Navarro, who has supported the RBL in the town since it was first formed, and who regularly acts as branch liaison with the local authorities.
At the meeting the mayor outlined plans for the expansion of the garden which he also suggested be planted year round with poppies and with other popular flowers and shrubs. Whilst the garden would remain under the control of the RBL he said that it would be maintained by staff from the municipal council.
The mayor also offered to replace the sound system that is used during the Remembrance Service and to provide a video service that would be able to relay pictures of the service to televisions that he would have placed outside.
Following the agreement of both parties a plan of the future garden will now be designed by the parks department for approval by the branch committee after which work will get underway in readiness for the 2018 service.
