That meant the annual Remembrance Day ceremony in Mosaic Place — an event that regularly attracts close to 4,500 supporters, if not more — had to be scaled down by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 59 into a smaller format designed to protect everyone involved.
In the end, the Moose Jaw Funeral Home served as host for the 2020 Remembrance Day ceremony, a gathering limited to members of the Legion and Anavets as well as special invited guests and dignitaries.
All told, around 25 people took part in the 2020 ceremony in person. But close to 1,000 more took advantage of the opportunity to watch the ceremony from home as the event was broadcast live on Facebook and on the Moose Jaw Funeral Home's YouTube page.
Viewers were greeted with a miniature cenotaph with ‘Lest We Forget’ emblazoned along the front and wreaths pre-placed to prevent the risk of COVID-19 spread. The Saskatchewan Dragoons Cenotaph Guard stood sentinel, as is the case during every Remembrance Day and Decoration Day ceremony.
Padre Rev. Ron Cairns conducted the service, with Dragoons chaplain Linda Tomlinson-Seebach offering the Remembrance Day message, touching on the silence of the ceremony between the Last Post and the Rouse and the meaning behind it today.
“(The bugle) was to signal the duty officer had completed their inspection of the camp, and the silent hours had begun. Silent hours,” Tomlinson-Seebach explained. “The Rouse was sounded in the morning to wake the soldiers up… every time we re-enact this ceremony every time the trumpet is sounded and there is the silence, this deafening, long uncomfortable silence, a silence that speaks to our hearts and souls. A dead silence that says life matters, and so does peace.
“Every time we hear that ugly, dead silence, it’s a time to remember what mortality truly means and we remember the values that underlie the sacrifice and the service of those who paid the price for us.”
The Last Post and Rouse were performed by retired Capt. Rick Elmer, with piper Michelle Gallagher offering The Lament.
The event concluded with a selection of dignitaries honouring the pre-placed wreaths, including Member of Parliament Tom Lukiwski, MLA Greg Lawrence, Mayor Fraser Tolmie as well as members of 15 Wing, the Saskatchewan Dragoons, Canadian Armed Forces and of course the Royal Canadian Legion and Anavets.
Padre Cairns also offered his thanks to those at home watching.
“I would like to recognize all those among us in our virtual audience who have been a part of our great brotherhood and sisterhood of the Canadian Armed Forces… your service and sacrifice have kept our country of Canada and our allies safe and free, in times past and now, in air and on the ground and the seas,” Cairns said. “Thank you for your service.”
The full half-hour ceremony can be found on the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 59 Facebook page.
