With Remembrance Day approaching, this is the time of the year when people pause to remember those who served and continue to serve this country.
In Aldergrove, members of the Royal Canadian Legion plan the Nov. 11 services months in advance, as about 3,000 people in the community come out annually to honour the sacrifices of war veterans.
Parade marshal Shaun Francis, said those who want to march will meet at 10:15 a.m. at 268 Street and Old Yale Road, just off Fraser Highway, while the military vehicles that have become an annual tradition of the event will assemble down the road.
“The majority of the parade will form up on Old Yale Road, and our good friend with all the military equipment is usually on 264th,” Francis explained.
“And then we’ll be marching off at 10:30 and then making our way to the cenotaph, where we’ll be assembled for the Remembrance service.”
Air cadets will march in the parade and perform as part of the ceremony, and the sea cadets will be the guards around the cenotaph at the legion.
In addition to veterans, also in attendance will be Scouts, Girl Guides, Aldergrove Elks, Langley Township Fire Department, and Langley RCMP.
The ceremony will commence with singing of O Canada and prayer offerings. A member of the Royal Canadian Legion will then briefly talk about why Remembrance Day is celebrated.
At 11 a.m. the attendees will observe a two-minute silence dedicated to those Canadian soldiers who died fighting in the world wars and other peacekeeping missions. Following that, “rouse and reveille” shall be sounded along with the piper’s lament, after which one of the legion members will deliver a short sermon.
The wreaths will then be laid at the cenotaph by a few dignitaries and RCMP officials. Members of the public can place their poppy on a wreath or at the base of at cenotaph as a sign of respect at the end of the ceremony.
"There's 120 names on our cenotaph, between the first and second wars, of those from the Aldergrove area," Francis said.
After the service at the cenotaph, the legion will host a potluck.
He noted that Fraser Highway will be closed to traffic from approximately 10 a.m. until after the ceremony is over between 264 and 268 Streets on Monday, Nov. 11.
Francis has been a member of the legion since 1988, joining the Aldergrove legion specifically in 2008 when he moved to town. He'd lived in Keremeos and then Osoyoos, before coming to Aldergrove.
He's been the parade marshal for the Remembrance Day ceremony since 2009 for Aldergrove.
What he's noticed over the years is the loss of more veterans each year.
"We are very much at the tail end of the Second World War veterans. I think maybe we've got a half dozen of [them], and then it rolls into the Korean and Cold War veterans," Francis commented.
But, he said Aldergrove honours its fallen and its veterans very well.
"We always have a good crowd, which makes the legion, and those veterans that are still with us, feel good about it."
The Remembrance Day ceremony will take place on Monday, Nov. 11, at the Aldergrove legion, located at 26607 Fraser Hwy.
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