Not just the best singer but best cook too
The carol service on Christmas Eve was the highlight of the calendar at the Methodist Church, Wellawatte and its success was assured with Maurine Fernando leading the treble line. She had a strong beautiful soprano voice with perfect pitch and all that the rest of the trebles (sopranos) had to do was follow her. In fact, the whole choir of trebles, altos, tenors and basses followed her lead.
My father, John Reid, was the Choirmaster in the 1950's and 60's. I sang bass. I remember that after choir practices, as my father and I walked home, he used to say how much he relied on Maurine to lift the choir to a good performance. The same applied, of course, to the singing of the choir every Thursday at practice and every Sunday at worship.
She was not just the best singer. She was the best cook. In the early years of bringing up my own family, whenever a birthday came around I called on Maurine as caterer. Her cakes could not be matched and her stringhopper pillau was out of this world. Her pattties, cutlets and sandwiches melted in the mouth, especially those three tiered sandwiches with beetroot and asparagus.
The Reids lived down Hamers Place, Wellawatte and the Fernandos lived down the next lane, Collingwood Place.
I was a frequent enough visitor to her home to see the character in her. She had a heart of gold. What really impressed me was that she, an ardent Christian, married a Buddhist, lived in harmony with him and raised a family with him. This told me that what mattered most to her was love, a broad mind, tolerance and understanding. She was an example worth following. If the rest of Sri Lanka were of like mind, the country would have prospered with no conflict.
What a great celebration there would have been in heaven on February 24 for her 100th birthday, with much singing in the company of John Reid, Mavis Bandara, James Bernard, Daphne Jansz (Lieversz), Dorothy Felsinger (Lieversz), Molly Reihardt, Keith de Kretser, Rev and Mrs. Soma Perera, Dr. Noel Baptist and the others in the Methodist Church choir of her time. Bless her soul!