Either bedecked specially for the occasion or emerging from hibernation, local flower "children" brought lilacs and daffodils and tulips and their own special brand of peace to see John Lennon Tuesday.

Scattered here and there in the crowd happy souls offered their flowers to nearby noses and offered the 'V' peace sign.

But the majority of the crowd were very ordinary-looking University of Ottawa students, a smattering of teeny-boppers and one elderly lady in a mink stole.

Most of them "just want to hear what he has to say," and most of them denied wanting to see John Lennon the Beatle.

After a half-hour wait in front of the administration building a crowd of nearly 300 was told Lennon would not arrive until 6.30 p.m.

However the Beatle, his wife Yoko Ono and five-year-old daughter Kyoko arrived from their week-long Montreal bed-in 45 minutes later and spoke to a chosen crowd during a world peace seminar at the university's arts building.

Then at 6.30 John made a token appearance on the administration steps, refusing to stay any longer when students wouldn't give him room.

-End of article

Copyright, The Ottawa Citizen, 1969; e-published here with kind permission from The Citizen. Ottawa Beatles Site