Havering Honours Dick Bouchard MBE

Mayor unveils unique portrait bench of Dick Bouchard MBE 14th May 2011

We gathered in the north entrance of Central Park Harold Hill in the early afternoon in great anticipation to march across the park to the awaiting crowd of just short of 200 Havering residents, to celebrate the unveiling of a unique bench along with three portrait statues, all with strong local links with the London Borough of Havering. This would have to be one of the proudest and emotional moments in the bands recent history as they shared the special moment along with the great man himself Mr Dick Bouchard MBE for the unveiling of his very own portrait statue. The band continued to play in his honour when Bandmaster Paul Binder invited Dick to conduct the band in front of the crowd consisting of local dignitaries and ex band members. I am sure that moment will stay with the band members for a very long time to come.

Dick Bouchard MBE our very own founder of ‘Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps’ way back in 1957 – Honoured and awarded an MBE in 1999 for services dedicated to youth music in the area and doing him proud are the band who are still going strong today.

keeping him company are

Henry VIII King of England (1509-1547) – Honoured for his links to the local area for acquiring the Manor of Prygo in 1541 known as ‘The Kings House’, where he stayed and hunted Deer,

Harry Eccleston (1923-2010) – Honoured as the Bank of England Designer famed for the first fully pictorial ‘series D’ bank notes 1978 whom lived in Priory Road Harold Hill.

The afternoon ended in the park with 3 cheers from all sealing the honour of this historic day followed by some photos of Dick with the band and statues to capture special memories of this proud day!

The afternoon continued back at the newly founded Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps headquarters in Taunton Road only a stone’s throw away from the newly erected statues for an open day to all ex-band members. Bandmaster Paul Binder escorted Dick Bouchard MBE on a VIP tour of the Headquarters showing him just how far the band had evolved since 1957.

If you would like to go and visit the Statues they are in Central Park, Dagenham Park Drive, Harold Hill.

Proud day!