Remembrance Day Service 2021
Re: November 11 Remembrance Service 2021
Last year, due to the pandemic and inclement weather, our annual Remembrance Day service was moved indoors with a limited number of participants. The service was then livestreamed onto our branch’s Facebook channel to the public in order to allow them to observe it in a safe fashion.
We had hoped that as time went on, we would be able to reconvene this year for a full service for our town and area residents as we remember our Veterans and those who have paid the ultimate price in service to our Country.
However, as we enter another fall and winter with increased pandemic restrictions. In addition to a new variant of the COVID-19 virus, our branch has had to make many difficult decisions on how we will proceed with this year’s ceremony.
Our service of Remembrance will be held, albeit with strict limitations on attendance. This will include Veterans, Legion members, RCMP. 1st Responders and representatives of our community partners. We are making this difficult decision keeping in mind our duty to the Veterans we serve, and our communal responsibilities towards the health and safety of the public at large.
Our service will be livestreamed beginning at 1050 am on November 11, 2021 on the branch’s Facebook page.
It will also be available for viewing on YouTube later that day. Both links will be posted onto the branch’s Facebook page and will be shared with the pages maintained by the Town of Lumsden and other community groups.
Following the service, we will gather at the Cenotaph to complete the Act of Remembrance. The public is invited to the park to participate and lay poppies for those who have passed. Distance and masking requirements will be observed for the outdoor service.
To stream the Remembrance Day service, please follow the Lumsden Legion’s page at: facebook.com/LumsdenLegion
As we work through these difficult times together, we urge that those community members who have not made the time to get vaccinated against COVID-19 do so to protect themselves, their neighbours, and all of our loved ones. Just as our forebears collected scrap and rationed meat, we too can endure the relatively minor inconveniences of masking up and keeping apart in order to defeat this invisible enemy.
Regardless of what comes, the Lumsden Legion remains dedicated to marking the sacrifices of those Canadians who have served our country, be it in peacetime or at war, by whatever means possible. While we may have to mark Remembrance Day from a distance for another year, we look forward to the day when we may do so together.
Matthew L. Valgardson,
