INNISFAIL – There will be a Remembrance Day ceremony for the public to honour the men and woman who gave the ultimate sacrifice but it will be modest in comparison to pre-COVID years.
Chris Pickard, branch manager at Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion Branch #104, said the ceremony would be “very similar” to last year and the auditorium will not be used for its traditional one-hour long ceremony before hundreds of Innisfailians and guests.
“It’s best not to do it this year,” said Pickard.
He said the event will start at 10:45 a.m. on Nov. 11 with a parade from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #104 to the cenotaph where the ceremony will be held. Pickard said the bulk of the ceremony should take just a little bit more than half an hour to complete.
“Much like last year we will be laying some wreathes,” said Pickard. “We are not going to put all of them out this year as the Penhold air cadets won’t be able to guard the cenotaph for us. We will just be putting out official dignitaries wreathes, like for the Government of Canada, the mayor, that sort of thing.”
He said the legion is still hoping for good representation for the Innisfail RCMP and the Innisfail Fire Department.
“Of course, the larger they are, the longer the parade will be,” said Pickard, adding when the ceremony ends all participants will parade back into the legion.
“The dignitaries and members will return inside to the clubroom,” said Pickard.
He said at 1 p.m. the legion will then host entertainment. At about that time anyone will be able to watch the 2021 National Remembrance Day Ceremony from the National War Memoria in Ottawa. The ceremony from Ottawa will be broadcast live on television and on the legion’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CanadianLegion/
For more on this year’s Remembrance Day ceremonies go to the Royal Canadian Legion website at https://legion.ca/remembrance
