With Remembrance Day ceremonies cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a small group of people gathered on Wednesday for a ceremony hosted by the Prince Albert Legion and ANAVETS club.
The ceremony was approximately 15 minutes long and included the Colour Parties march, The Last Post followed by The Rouse and Laying of Wreaths, and Benediction by Padre.
The private ceremony took place in front of the cenotaph at the Court of Queen’s Bench. Following that, the group went to the cenotaph at City Hall to lay wreaths.
Grant Ursaki has been the master of ceremonies for the last couple of years at the Prince Albert Armoury service. Ursaki said with COVID-19 concerns this year, they couldn’t invite the public to the ceremony but still felt they had to do something for Remembrance Day.
“I was in the air force for 40 years and I’ve never seen a situation like this where we could not actually get together en masse and have a ceremony, so this is unique,” Ursaki said.
Ursaki said it means a lot for him to still be able to have a service.
“Even though I didn’t end up in combat myself I lost a lot of friends over the years in the service – people I worked with, people who worked for me. It’s not easy. So it’s very important to me and to people who have showed up that we do something.”
