Since the pandemic is unlikely to be finished by November, Moose Jaw’s legion Branch No. 59 plans to hold a scaled-down Remembrance Day service that will be broadcast online.
In normal times about 4,500 people would pack into Mosaic Place on Nov. 11 to honour veterans and those men who died while serving their country. This year, however, about 25 people — from the legion, 15 Wing, the Saskatchewan Dragoons, elected officials, veterans, and other invitees — will gather at the Moose Jaw Funeral Home for a ceremony that will look similar but be shorter in length.
The funeral home plans to broadcast the ceremony on its website at www.moosejawfuneralhome.com/webcast, with the video to start at 10:30 a.m. The service will also be on YouTube and linked through Branch No. 59’s Facebook page.
There is also the national Remembrance Day service in Ottawa that the Royal Canadian Legion’s national headquarters will show through its Facebook page, beginning at 8:45 a.m. local time. About 150 people are expected to attend that event.
Due to restrictions on crowd numbers, Moose Jaw’s legion will not hold its regular open house after the ceremony; the building will be closed.
Being forced to downsize the annual service does not sit well with legion first vice-president Sue Knox.
“It sucks, quite honestly,” she said recently. “It’s tough with this COVID, but our priority is to remember our veterans and keep our own people safe during this campaign.”
During this year’s ceremony, the legion will not use the large cenotaph that is normally displayed at Mosaic Place. Instead, it will use a small white cross and pre-lay the wreaths. Those representatives in attendance will walk up to the cross, either salute or pay their respects briefly, and then sit down again.
After the service, the legion will take those wreaths and lay them at the cenotaph in Crescent Park. Meanwhile, anyone who bought a wreath can lay it at any of the cemeteries or cenotaphs in the city from 12 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 11. The legion will collect the wreaths at the end of the day.
“We’re not going to apologize for the way we are doing things,” Knox added, “but certainly the aspect that we can at least have a small ceremony to remember our veterans and the sacrifices that they made is better than not having anything at all.”
Anyone who wants to purchase a wreath can contact the legion at 306-692-5453.
