It was a full house at the Armoury in Prince Albert for the 2024 Remembrance Day ceremonies.
Rick Hodgson, the president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 2 in Prince Albert, says he was pleased with the support from the community.
“It went really well with lots of chairs filled up, I think a lot more people than last year. They’re coming back out and supporting everything and it was a good service so it went well. Now here at the lounge it looks like we are just as full, a lot more than I expected. Things are all over, people are coming out again.”
The ceremonies had contributions from many different organisations from across the city. Live music was performed by the Prince Albert City Band, Sir Mehaken Ahenakew from Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation performed a smudging and the North Saskatchewan Regiment performed a gun salute.
As part of the laying of wreaths, more than fifteen organizations were represented and several individuals came forward to lay wreaths of their own.
Several Remembrance Day staples were also part of the ceremonies including the playing of The Last Post on the trumpet and the reading of John McRae’s poem In Flanders Fields by Royal Canadian Air Cadet Vrag Patel.
With so many moving parts in the ceremonies, Hodgson says it was a big undertaking to make sure everything went according to plan.
“We have probably had three meetings leading up into the day where we get together. Everybody has their part. Armies get people in to do the chairs and we line up all of the colour parties to go like the young cadets, the RCMP, everybody gets their position for the parade. We had a good turnout for the parade with the firemen, city police, penitentiary and all that. It’s a big undertaking. It was right down to the last week when we had our final meeting and made sure everything was finalised.”
2024 marks several anniversaries for the Canadian Armed Forces. According to Veterans Affairs Canada, it has been 10 years since the last soldiers returned home from Afghanistan. Canadian soldiers also played a critical role in the events of D-Day on June 6, 1944. More than 14,000 Canadian troops took part in the evasion of Normandy and took part in the landing on Juno Beach with British and other Allied forces.
Hodgson says Remembrance Day is important because it helps educate people on the sacrifices that have been made many years ago.
”Those anniversaries happened all this year, which is nice to see, and it shows us how far back that goes, and how we’re still trying to educate the people with stuff that happened, and keep this stuff going on for the future, for the veterans for what they did, and the ones that didn’t come home, and the ones that come home.”
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