Moose Javians looking to pay their respects to Canada’s troops can do so during the Legion’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony at Mosaic Place.
“We have a few surprises this year,” said Kathleen Martell, president of the Moose Jaw Legion. “This year we’re going to do things differently and it’s going to be quite special.”
The Legion’s Remembrance Day service will begin at 10:40 a.m. on November 11, but people wanting to attend are encouraged to be seated by 10:30.
This year, the service will involve volunteers from the Legion, Reserves, Dragoons and 15 Wing.
“It’s a pretty awesome sight to see all of these people remembering,” said Martell. “We have to remember those young men and women who sacrificed their lives and limbs for us.”
The volunteers from the various forces and the cadets will march in to Mosaic Place along High St., and an invitation has been extended to the Knights of Columbus, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides to join the march.
At the end of the ceremony, they will march back to the Legion for a public lunch.
High St. will be closed for the marches, but Martell said, “(the Legion) asks people to be patient with us and to come out and see the parade.”
During last year’s ceremony, Martell said, there were some issues with the sound system, but those problems have since “been reckoned with” and volunteers from 15 Wing will be assisting with the management of the system.
The Legion will also be observing remembrance in other ways.
Because the weather is unpredictable, the Legion generally doesn’t place a poppy on every Moose Jaw veteran’s grave for Remembrance Day, but it does place a flag on the 2,000 veteran graves in Rosedale on Decoration Day, said Martell.
Instead, the Legion’s members will wear poppies, and Martell will observe a tradition of her own by placing a wreath at the Peacock Collegiate war memorial.
“If we want to keep our freedom, we have to remember what these young people have done for us,” said Martell.
