Final Flourish and Fond Farewells

 And so, we reached the final full day of our Canada tour. It began early — very early — with a heroic logistical effort from Miss King and the staff team to get everyone packed, breakfasted, and checked out before 8:00am. Somehow, they pulled it off with impressive efficiency, and by the time we boarded the coach, all 43 pupils were accounted for and full of pancakes. Naturally.

A particularly touching moment came as Sheila — our wonderful host at the Days Inn Mississauga — climbed aboard the coach to say goodbye. With a genuine tear in her eye, she waved us off as we presented her with a thank-you card from the whole group. While breakfast might seem like a small thing in the grand scheme of a music tour, the welcome and warmth we received from Sheila and the whole Days Inn team became one of the unexpected highlights of the trip. They made every pupil feel seen and valued — and kept them very well-fed.

Our final performance venue was St. John’s Dixie Church, just a short drive away. We prepared in the Memorial Chapel next door, where we had been moved due to the size of our group and the anticipated congregation. When the service began, it was to a packed church of over 200 people — and what a joyful, vibrant occasion it was.

The choir, despite receiving much of the music on the day, rose to the challenge magnificently, sight-reading with skill and performing beautifully throughout a long Palm Sunday Eucharist. They tackled no fewer than sixteen different musical items, including a rather unexpected Psalm pointing and some adventurous harmony from the Director of Music! The band, too, opened the service with two pieces — an unusual but very well-received feature — and rounded off the proceedings with a rousing rendition of The Thunderer, during which the vicar danced down the aisle with the Sunday school children. A glorious moment of pure joy and energy.

After the service, we were treated to a phenomenal potluck lunch in the Willow Room, laid on by the parish community. It was yet another opportunity for our pupils to engage with local people, share stories, and enjoy some truly impressive home-cooked food. The hospitality was humbling, and it brought the tour to a perfect close — a real sense of community, connection, and celebration.

From there, a few pupils departed early for onward flights to Denver and Dallas, and the rest of us returned to the hotel to collect our suitcases and begin the long journey home. A brief terminal mix-up at Toronto airport added a bit of excitement, but we checked in with plenty of time — and, this time, all the luggage made it back to London! British Airways also managed to seat the whole group together, which made supervision far easier. Most pupils boarded the plane, sat down, and were fast asleep within minutes. A short six hours later, we landed in the UK, and the slow process of farewells began — Heathrow drop-offs, family reunions, onward flights — until finally, the coach rolled back into RHS.

Trips like this begin with a great fanfare of anticipation and energy, but they end in a quieter way — people peeling off one by one, friendships and memories still buzzing but bodies understandably flagging. And yet, despite that gradual winding down, the service at St. John’s Dixie gave us a proper sense of closure — a final flourish before the fond farewells.

To everyone who has followed our journey through this blog — thank you for coming with us. Writing each day has been both a joy and a chance to reflect on just how much we’ve done and how far our pupils have come. This tour has been filled with extraordinary experiences, from the grandeur of basilicas to the intimacy of parish churches, from tourist landmarks to ice hockey games, from musical triumphs to unexpected challenges.

What’s been consistent throughout is the sheer brilliance of our pupils. They’ve shown resilience, humour, kindness, flexibility, and musical excellence. They’ve supported each other, tackled the unknown, and thrown themselves into everything with enthusiasm and grace. They return home musically stronger, personally enriched, and with memories that I hope will stay with them for many years to come.

It’s been an immense privilege to travel with them, and an honour to be your blog host.

See you soon at an RHS concert near you.

Brian