Owen Wiscombe

A NEW award is to be presented for the first time at today’s Battle of Flowers, in memory of a parade stalwart who died last year.

The Owen Wiscombe Design Award Trophy will be presented to the best-designed large float in the parade.

Mr Wiscombe, who died last September at the age of 64, was a strong supporter of the Battle of Flowers for a number of years and a keen float designer.

He began his involvement with the parade in the mid-1980s through the Airport Social Club’s paper flowers entries. As their designer, he took the club to the top of the paper class.

When the club disbanded, he then helped the parish of St Helier to re-enter the parade in the early 1990s, designing a number of their floats, including Zulu Fantasy in 1992, which won the Prix d’Excellence.

Mr Wiscombe then went on to work with the Mary Bidan and Friends exhibit, helping them to win the Prix des Fleurs.

And he was also involved with organising the Battle. From the 1980s to the early 1990s he stood on the Battle’s exhibits committee and took the chair for a number of years. He helped raise the standard of the parade to its current level.

Mr Wiscombe was also jointly responsible for introducing the Moonlight Parade. Moving up from chairing the exhibits committee, Mr Wiscombe became vice-chairman of the entire parade for three years and he remained an active member of the association until his death.