SUNDRE – In the lead up to the annual Remembrance Day service, members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #223 in Sundre delivered ceremonies at the local schools as well as the Myron Thompson Health Centre and the seniors’ lodge.
Rev. Todd MacDonald, president of the local legion, was joined by comrades Bob Pearce, a longtime member, as well as David Borys, who recently joined the legion in Sundre.
At the final service of the day that was hosted on Nov. 7 at the Sundre Seniors’ Supportive Living centre, where more than two dozen lodge residents gathered to pay their respects to those who have served and sacrificed abroad as well as at home and those who continue to do so, MacDonald said there are some people who wonder why the annual day of remembrance is still observed.
Remembrance Day is not just a stat holiday to enjoy a day off, but rather a somber occasion to reflect on those who have embraced committing their lives to a cause greater than themselves in service to others, in all too many instances making the ultimate sacrifice along the way, not just throughout the course of the past century but even in our lifetime.
“You honour them by wearing the poppy,” MacDonald said, adding Remembrance Day is also about being grateful for “the greatest gift they’ve given us: freedom.”
Betty Edwards (née Nicklin), a lodge resident of more than one year who served as a fighter control operator with the RCAF from 1958-60, recited John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields during the ceremony. She had met her late husband, Aldred “Al” Edwards, in Québec during their service with the RCAF.
Borys also shared some thoughts about the importance of taking the time to remember especially as younger generations have never endured the hardships created by the terrible conflicts throughout the First and Second World Wars as experienced first-hand by those who put their lives on hold in service to their country – many never to return home – and about the value of learning the lessons of history to avoid repeating them.
