The Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 288 will host its annual Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 11 at Genesis Place Recreation Centre, in honour of veterans who have fought to preserve Canadians’ rights and freedoms, and those fallen soldiers who drew their last breath in service of their country.
According to Airdrie Legion’s president Jasen Hoffman, this year’s ceremony will return to pre-pandemic programming, including a formal ceremony at Genesis Place beginning at 10 a.m.
“Unfortunately, during the last couple of years with COVID, we had to have our ceremonies at the Cenotaph outdoors,” Hoffman said of the two modified services during the pandemic.
“Because our veterans … [are] not that young anymore, we didn’t want to put anybody at risk.”
He said the ceremony, which will see a return to normalcy, is free for all to attend. But he encouraged attendees to respectfully leave the seats up at the front available for veterans attending the ceremony.
The official ceremony at Genesis Place will coincide with a smaller service run by a Legion executive at the Light Armored Vehicle Memorial off Main Street, in honour of Canada’s Afghanistan veterans.
Following the two services, the local legion’s colour party will be going to the Airdrie Cenotaph briefly to lay a wreath for the unknown soldiers – a show of respect for those who died in battle and were not found or identified.
Hoffman added, after the official ceremonies (which run approximately one hour to an hour and a half), Legionnaires and attendees are encouraged to head over to the local branch on 1 Ave. NE for “libations and comradeship.”
“If anybody wishes to come back to the Legion afterwards and join us, there’s not going to be a big ceremony or anything, there is just a bunch of veterans [enjoying] comradeship and libations,” he said.
According to the Legion president, anybody in the community is welcome to attend either ceremony or the celebrations afterwards.
“It’s our Legion’s [show of] appreciation for the community of Airdrie, and how well they step up and support us,” he said. “Some days it brings a tear to my eye to see how everybody is wearing their poppies around.
“It’s great support and I really do thank the community for everything they do for us.”
Hoffman added the poppy campaign that runs through the Airdrie Legion in the lead-up to Remembrance Day raises funds for cadet programming and helps local veterans and their families in a myriad of ways.
He said the Nov. 11 holiday is not only about honouring the fallen and deployed, but also about remembering all types of servicemen and women who have “helped our country progress.”
“It’s quite a significant day for us – I know civilians can’t quite grasp what these men and women have gone through,” he said adding some Airdrie Legion members have faced active combat.
“We have combat veterans in our branch right now and just to go in and hear some of the stories of these people, of what they’ve gone through and what they deal with – some days it’s heartbreaking.
“With that, they are brave men and women and just to see how strong they can actually be is awe-inspiring.”
