Remembrance Day 2024

Ottawa has a big ceremony, which we watched on TV. We're aren't able to attend any ceremonies.  We've been to our fair share of them. When I taught, we would have prepared for a month for assemblies. The kids were eager to learn. We wrote poems, plays, skits, songs, learned about what went on in history. We talked to family about ancestors who served. Some of my students fled The Gulf War, the horrors and trauma in Vietnam. More recently, Canada has taken in many refugees from Ukraine, as well.

Don't listen to the Opposition Leader. Our PM Trudeau has NOT forbidden prayers at the ceremony. They continue to spread lies. 

When you see the Maple Leaf emblazoned on a uniform, you see a legacy of courage and sacrifice. That legacy lives on — through monuments, through ceremonies, through stories of patriotism, and through our remembrance. #CanadaRemembers pic.twitter.com/1ZySqjeiEb

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 11, 2024

Today.... we reflect pic.twitter.com/WrcWW1R1yO

— Tim O'Loan (@TimOLoan) November 11, 2024

Remembrance Day flyovers were interesting. Ottawa has them, of course. And air traffic has been busy with interesting sightings.

over the River just before 11 am this Monday morn. Wolfe Is. pic.twitter.com/dVOHNBpgCF

— Lynda Crothers (@scubadiver5) November 11, 2024

They left town after the event.

🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫 🛫

 Other Air traffic

BRUSR01: Nov.8

CFC669 Nov. 8

CHEETA 61 Top Aces Nov. 7

An ATV rolled over near Flower Station. The man was taken to Ottawa Hospital, but died from his injuries. 

Nov. 6    12:44

The Ornge helicopter was back Nov. 9th↓???

Nov. 9 15:38

Nov. 9 15:35

 

Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. We shall watch the ceremony on TV. It is always quite moving. That will mean front row seats, and an ability to hear the ceremony. It is -4 C., and a chilly one. 

There are ceremonies in small towns across the province, as well as the televised one in Ottawa. Kids in school have had ceremonies on Friday. Students who attend Glebe Collegiate in Ottawa had a special project. They have mapped the homes on the website, and recognized their service.

The project is called "Walking Them Home(opens in a new tab)." Students learn about the history of individual soldiers who went to Glebe Collegiate and place signs in front of their former homes.

Almonte's Gr. 6 students visited Auld Kirk Cemetery, where about 100 veterans rest. This ceremony was held with the support of the No Stone Left Alone (NSLA) Memorial Foundation. They put poppies on the headstones and had a ceremony.

Frosty is dressed in his regalia. We've a flag and sign up. 

 

Remembrance Day 2021

We are having a few health issues, so we will stay close to home today. Our national broadcasters feature the ceremony in downtown Ottawa on TV. We tape it and watch it. This is the cenotaph in Ottawa.

We've attended quite a few ceremonies, back in the day. My students wrote some plays, songs, skits, and I coordinated school assemblies and prepared the order of program. We educated everyone on protocols, and began using inclusive language. Women served, as well as men. Our troops were and are diverse, and now the BIPOC community is gaining recognition. First Nations members were banned from joining the Legion. 

One year our entire school wrote to troops serving as Peacekeepers.
We ended up with a Pen Pal, PO1 Dennis Irwin, HMCS PRESERVER, who sent us photos. My grade 4/5 students made it into a video, putting the song we'd written to the photos.

We've been to ceremonies in Bala, Perth. Joseph Brian laid a wreath in Ottawa:

            

I scanned Photos of soldiers from the 1940s found in my mother's memory box.

We visited the Canadians in Afghanistan - Repatriation Memorial in 2012. 

When we lived in Muskoka, we found the beauty of a small town ceremony. Bala and Wahta took turns hosting the ceremony. These were the 2008 photos.

Sgt. at Arms, Keith Metcalfe, left.

This was my favourite ceremony on Wahta Territory, near Bala, 2009. 

Remembrance Day held on Wahta Lands, it was a moving, colourful ceremony. The water sparkled just over the hill. The trees, bare and brown, with the rich green of the pine, danced in the background, as we sang, and laid wreaths in memory of those who have fallen. 

 Branch President, Pam Davidson, led the ceremony. On her left, the Wahta Ladies and their beautiful drums. The ceremony followed protocol with our Sgt. at Arms, Keith Metcalfe, leading the troops at the left of the photo. A marvellous man, he delivers Meals on Wheels, as well as being a mover and shaker at our local legion. A former Paratrooper, he has contributed more than his share of service to his community, and his nation. 

 The Ladies of Wahta sang 'Oh, Canada' in Mohawk, and, below, Amazing Grace.

When and how does your country memorialize your fallen members?

Remembrance Day in Canada

There is a lot going on around Social Media on Remembrance Day vs. Christmas, i.e., don't put up Christmas decorations before Remembrance Day. I'm so tired of it. No one knows what is in our hearts.

I spent so many hours preparing with my students over my 25 years. We'd do at least two weeks of preparation prior to the day. We wrote plays and poetry, they brought in artifacts, and information from our family members who served, or were serving. We looked at data, and wrote web pages. We worked so hard. We'd have a respectful ceremony on the day of, inviting parents and veterans. Today, I've a doctor's appointment.

How Canadian women helped win the Second World War https://t.co/DNe8RMo4WD via @cbcsunday #RemembranceDay #CanadaRemembers

— André Picard (@picardonhealth) November 10, 2019

Happy Birthday JB!

We had the kids over last weekend. It was fun, as always!!!!!

Saturday, November 19

JB is 69! Today is the actual day.
Saturday afternoon we visited, and then, for dinner, spaghetti. Dessert, by Caitlin, was an apple crisp with good stuff JB can eat, and readily accepted candles.



Presents followed, as well as the cutest card, which unfolds into a poster!

Sunday, Remembrance Day

We didn't go out to a service, due to physical issues, but JB shared information about his late uncles, and his father's photo and medals. It meant a lot to the grandkids. We watched the CBC service on TV, and talked about it. I think it was as meaningful. It's difficult seeing a ceremony in some locales.
The kids participated in a ceremony at school, as always. Also, the Girl Guides (including our Isabelle), went to the War Museum on Thursday.

This is my father-in-law, who served in WW II. They were so young.


We've been to our fair share of ceremonies; Perth, Bala, Wahta, and Ottawa.


Hubby laid a wreath one year in Ottawa, prior to retirement, with a tall airline pilot!


Carleton Place has a wonderful display of veterans images on banners, with families represented in some spots.


Next, we went out to get some fresh air. First up, Isabelle found two frogs at the edge of the ice in the goldfish pond. We picked them up, after removing some ice, and took them down to the frog pond. We had to punch a hole in the ice at the frog pond, too. I took them to see the deer scrape. I'd found it during Hooper walkies.



Isabelle rang the bell! She always fetches some walking sticks from the forest.


I'd put the lesser trailcam on the deer scrape, at the suggestion of my photographer buddy, and found a coyote and our big buck.


Isabelle and I went to fetch the other trailcam SD card. I checked it, and found 2092 photos. Isabelle crowed when she heard that!
A buck and a doe, then 1900 photos of 7 or 8 raccoons!


They love cameras!

Bells of Peace

Later, at 4:30, hubby went into town. W'd heard about a Wave of bells to ring out across Canada to mark 100 years since WWI ...
There were about 200 people in the Crystal Palace in Perth, with a couple of readings. The church bells were to be rung 100 times. JB couldn't quite hear them. The legion suggested those without physical bells in the church play tapes. Perhaps that was the problem.

My blog buddy went to his bell ringing in Carleton Place. You can listen to his bells here.

It's another cold day, today, with a storm on the way. It's tougher to manage cats, with Daisy – she is breaking my heart, and both cats reluctant to go outdoors. We're still struggling with Daisy attacking Hooper. Poor hubby, I spent the day crying, yesterday.