A time of change
- Details
- Published on Monday, November 17, 2014
By Sheila Runions
Banner Staff
November 11 ceremonies are steeped in tradition but this year’s event in Rivers saw a number of changes. Held for years in Rivers Theatre, the service was moved in the late 1990s to Rivers Collegiate because the theatre was no longer fit for public service. This year, the Remembrance Day ceremony was held in Riverdale Community Centre because the gym floor at the school is nothing but a base of gravel and the stage is undergoing repairs.
There was no colour party this year, but the four flags stood proudly behind the tables which displayed 10 wreaths and a number of crosses. A different hymn was sung this year — God! As With Silent Hearts — and because the rink has no piano, accompaniment by Jean Young was on a keyboard.
Comrade Darryl Childerhose escorted the parade of branch, auxiliary and police members to the front rows. Bugler Angela Roberts and piper Jamie McFadden played their pieces and branch president Dave Oakey led everyone in “We will remember them.” Auxiliary president Janey Brown read from Romans 13:11-13 and padre Glenna Beauchamp gave the homily (a commentary that follows a reading of Scripture) about Cpl. John Ross and his efforts in the Second World War; he was one of 26 paratroopers who helped the Allies win one of their first victories before D-Day. Mary Ann Mansfield and Shelby Schmidt represented Rivers Elementary School and read In Flanders Fields. Nikoda Holopina from Rivers Collegiate ably delivereed her speech, which included, “We carry cell phones, not guns. We worry about going to the hockey game, not stepping on land mines. We don’t duck for cover when we hear a plane. We honour our veterans and remember their sacrifices, achievements, courage and dedication. They didn’t go to war because they loved fighting, they went to protect our nation and defend our freedoms.”
Mst. Bmbdr. Rick Moran of Rivers was the guest speaker; he read a speech prepared by Department of National Defence. It reminded Canadians that 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, the millions of Canadian lives lost in all the wars, and that Rudyard Kipling’s famous phrase from 1897, Lest We Forget, is what Remembrance Day is truly about.
God of Our Fathers was sung before Oakey read the names from Rivers’ honour roll which Navy cadets April and Alysha Pynn and Morgan Houghton acknowledged by piercing poppies in a cross. Sea cadets Brody Davis and Jasper Robins (all cadets from Rivers; Robins from Rapid City) passed wreaths to 10 representatives who placed them on a stand and then stood in respect. The royal anthem was sung and the crowd remained standing as Childerhose led out the parade he led in an hour earlier.
