Christian Gammon-Roy
Tribune
Remembrance Day ceremonies and activities throughout West Nipissing continue to bring the community together in honouring local veterans. While the Royal Canadian Legion’s poppy campaign goes on, collecting funds for veterans in need, the local Legion branch 225 also expanded their banner campaign, and helped organize multiple ceremonies throughout the municipality. However, it isn’t only the Legion putting in the work. Community members are also coming out and participating in remembrance.
Ceremonies kicked off as early as Saturday, November 7, when the United 50 Club in Cache Bay put on a wreath laying gathering at the Cache Bay cenotaph, and also hosted a light lunch afterwards. Several Legion members and local dignitaries attended the solemn ceremony, which saw about 50 people taking part. The same day, the Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary held a Remembrance luncheon at the Legion hall.
A few days later in Field, another ceremony and luncheon were hosted in the Knights of Columbus hall. Students from École élémentaire catholique Christ-Roi attended and contributed, reciting the prayers and poems during the ceremony attended by over 70 people.
The ceremony in Sturgeon Falls, at the cenotaph by the Legion hall, was also well attended, with local students reading poems before the wreath laying. The ceremony opened with a very special event that’s been three years in the making: the 450 squadron out of Petawawa did a fly-by overhead with their Chinook CH-147F helicopter, with the crowd of nearly 300 looking up to the sky in amazement. Legion officials said they reached out for the last three years to get the fly-by, and were informed about two months ago that West Nipissing was on the list of possible sites for this year. The fly-by was confirmed just a couple of weeks before the ceremony.
