A few hundred people gathered in the misty air in front of Sidney’s town hall and cenotaph Thursday morning to commemorate Canadian service members who have served in and been lost to war.
Reduced in size due to the pandemic, the Remembrance Day ceremony opened with a stand-in-place parade of about 100 veterans, instead of the usual march from the Mary Winspear Centre.
Residents adorned with poppies and masks looked on in a wide semi-circle of the town hall as the colour party marched to the front, before everyone joined together in singing O Canada.
The flags, originally at half mast, were raised to honour those lost to war before being lowered back down in continued remembrance of the thousands of Indigenous children who died in residential schools.
For each fallen hero from the region, a bell was struck. At 11 a.m., all in attendance fell quiet for the Last Post and two minutes of silence. There was also a recitation of the John McCrae poem In Flanders Fields and wreath laying by several groups.
The ceremony ended with the singing of God Save the Queen before service members and residents dispersed.
People were also able to tune into Sidney’s ceremony and many others around the region through online livestreams. Sidney’s can be watched back on the Mary Winspear Centre’s website.
READ ALSO: Former peacekeeper proud of shifting gears, adding diploma to his toolbox
Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
