Remembrance Day Ceremony
The annual November 11th Remembrance Day Ceremony has played a major role in Canada since 1931. Every year, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Canadians gather in Memorial Parks, churches, community halls, workplaces, schools and homes to stand in honour of all who have fallen.
In continuing with this tradition, the local organizing committee consisting of members of the Carleton Place Legion Captain A. Roy Brown Branch #192, are well into the planning stages of conducting the annual parade and Cenotaph Ceremony this year on Tuesday, November 11th.
The parade will form up on Mill Street at Bridge Street beside the Town Hall at 10:20 a.m. and march off at 10:35 a.m. and will be led by Parade Commander, Peter Schaffer, President of the local Captain A. Roy Brown Legon Branch 192. The Legion Colour Party will be led by Sgt-At-Arms Mike Paasila and will be followed by the MacEoin-Ramsay Pipe Band.
The parade will march from Mill Street along Bridge Street to Franklin Street and onto Veterans Way in front of the Cenotaph. The Cenotaph Ceremony will begin in Veterans Memorial Park at 10:50 a.m. and will also be streamed on the Captain A. Roy Brown Branch 192 Facebook page. Veterans and other local organizations including the local Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps #211 Lanark and the Navy League Cadet Corps #181 Carlplace will also participate in the parade. Plans are also being made to arrange for a marching contingent from the Canadian Forces Military Base in Petawawa to be included in the parade.
A great addition to the Ceremony for the past two years has been a fly past of Chinook Helicopters. A request has again been made through the Canadian Armed Forces to have one or possibly two Chinook Helicopters fly over the Ceremony again this year. Plans are also in the works to have a firing party attend the Ceremony again this year from Base Petawawa.
The Carleton Place and District Community Band will again participate in the Ceremony and will be led by their Band Conductor, Gary Payne, with band member Mike Peckett playing Last Post and Rouse during the Ceremony. The lament will be played by the Pipe Major of the MacEoin-Ramsay Pipe Band, Kris Bawden.
The RCSCC 211 Lanark will provide a sentry at the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Day Ceremony. Two cadets will also lower and raise the Cenotaph flags during the Ceremony. An all-night vigil at the Cenotaph will not be held this year by the cadets from RCSCC 211 Lanark due to uniformed staff being transferred to support other units in Arnprior and Brockville. However, cadets from the NLCC 181 Carlplace will hold a shortened vigil at the Cenotaph between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. They will utilize the Zion Memorial United Church to keep warm and for the changing of the guard throughout the vigil. We ask the general public to support these cadets by visiting the vigil during the hours mentioned.
Road closures will take place to facilitate the parade and Ceremony on November 11th with the Veterans Way portion of Franklin Street being closed to traffic from 5 a.m. through to the completion of the Ceremony at approximately 12 noon.
Franklin Street from Bridge Street to Beckwith Street will also be closed from 9 a.m. until following the Ceremony, as will Beckwith Street from the Public Library parking lot through to Mill Street and Mill Street from Bridge Street to Beckwith Street. As a result, residents and businesses are being asked not to have any vehicles parked in these areas during this time. No parking signs will be placed in these areas where street closures will take place, and everyone’s cooperation is being requested.
Should there be a gun salute and a fly past during he Ceremony, the noise could be quite loud from both the gun salute and the fly past of the Chinook Helicopters, and it is recommended that you leave any pets at home other than certified service dogs. The loud sounds will traumatize your pets, and it would be totally unfair to them to have to endure these loud sounds.
The annual Poppy Campaign begins on Friday, October 31st this year, and Poppy boxes will be placed at various merchants throughout Carleton Place. Volunteers will also be at various business establishments for people to donate towards the annual local Poppy Campaign. Poppies are not sold, but rather any and all donations are graciously accepted.
The Royal Canadian Legion encourages all Canadians to wear a Poppy during the Poppy Campaign and observe a moment of silence on November 11th. In doing so, it identifies the sacrifices of the many who have fallen in the service of their country and acknowledges the courage and dedication of those who have served and to those who continue to serve.
Poppies may be worn throughout the Remembrance period, including in the evening after Remembrance Day Ceremony. Some choose to remove their Poppy at the end of the day on November 11th and place their Poppy on the Cenotaph or on a wreath as a sign of respect. This has become a poignant tradition each year at the National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa as thousands of Poppies are placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We also follow this tradition here at our Cenotaph in Carleton Place by having Poppies placed in a box located in front of the Cenotaph following the Ceremony.
We will Remember them!
