SUNDRE – The community Remembrance Day service returned to River Valley School for the first time since 2019, but the near-capacity crowd that prior to the pandemic packed the gymnasium did not.
The ceremony had in the years leading up to the pandemic been relocated to the school’s gymnasium from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #223 in Sundre, where there wasn’t enough space to comfortably accommodate the sizeable crowd that would invariably result in people standing just about shoulder-to-shoulder all the way back to the hall’s front doors.
And over the past couple of years when gathering restrictions were in place, the local Royal Canadian Legion had opted to organize outdoor services at the Veterans’ Homecoming Park cenotaph.
But with public health measures essentially completely lifted, the branch was able to make arrangements for the ceremony’s return to River Valley School.
However, many of the chairs that were once all occupied sat empty, with more than half of available seating spoken for.
Those who attended heard from Christina Ferguson, the local Legion’s president, as well as Capt. Todd MacDonald, chaplain.
Ferguson officiated the service and read the poem In Flanders Fields as well as the honour roll of the local servicemen who lost their lives during both World Wars and subsequent deployments to conflicts from South Korea to Afghanistan.
MacDonald spoke in part not only about the Canadian military but also emergency services members’ mantra of setting aside one’s self in service to community and country.
Soldiers and first responders all give of themselves both physically and emotionally, he said.
In fulfilling their duty, some come back changed; others come back in a box, he said, adding that’s a sacrifice they made that others might live.
He also talked about how prior to becoming the longest-reigning monarch in the history of the Commonwealth, then-Princess Elizabeth had as a teenager on the cusp of adulthood served a role in the military, learning to drive and even repair trucks after joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service’s Mechanical Division. Queen Elizabeth II died Sept. 8, 2022.
“Let us never forget their contributions every day,” MacDonald said, referring to all of those in the past as well as those who to this day continue putting self aside in dedication of service to others.
The Sundre Community Choir also returned to offer some soothing melodies during the ceremony.
After the conclusion of the official formalities – which included the colour party’s march, the moment of silence, a rendition of Last Post and Reveille as well as the laying of wreaths – sandwiches prepared by the Sundre Legion’s auxiliary were served for everyone who wanted to stay a while and socialize over a snack to enjoy a physical connection that can only be felt by getting together, said MacDonald.
MacDonald also said he was glad the service could once again be hosted indoors, where the heated building ensured veterans and seniors who were able to attend could be comfortable and warm.
“Only the hardiest could make it out,” he said about services at the cenotaph, adding that location also wasn’t ideal in terms of accessibility for those with wheelchairs or walkers.
So, returning to the warm embrace of an accommodating space like the school’s gym was a blessing, he said.
“The school has just bent over backward to make this happen,” he said.
