Remembrance Day in the Cariboo

The Quesnel and Williams Lake Royal Canadian Legion Branches will be holding their traditional Remembrance Day ceremonies on Monday, November 11.

Both ceremonies will have a parade that will begin between 10 o’clock and 10:30 in the morning.

Quesnel will have a parade that will start from the Legion and march down to the Cenotaph on Kinchant Street.

In Williams Lake, the march will begin at the Gibraltar Room for the honour roll and march to the City Hall Cenotaph.

At 11 o’clock, there will be the traditional two minutes of silence and wreath laying ceremonies.

Afterwards, there will be dinners held for Veterans, their families, and caretakers held at each respective Legion branches. Quesnel’s Legion will have a Mess Hall styled luncheon and dinner starting at 1 o’clock for Veterans.

Dave Carey, President of the Quesnel Legion, says that today, the Legion has had difficulty reaching the younger generation of children in the high school age range. Carey

“It’s tradition to wear the poppy, it may not mean much to them [the kids], but to me and other Veterans it means a lot to see everyone wear them,” Carey says. “I have no empirical evidence, but I hasten to say that there are few families in Canada, going back two or three generations, that were not affected by conflict.”

“It’s important to keep this tradition and symbol, and to honour what those young men went through when they fought.”