Voice would like to take this opportunity to honour and remember the generations of women and men, past and present, who have served our country during times of war, conflict and peace and those who continue to serve.
Remembrance Day Ceremonies in New Westminster will be held on Thursday, November 11 at the Royal Westminster Regiment Armoury.
Participants are requested to assemble in the Armoury at 9:30 am for the Memorial Service which will begin at 10:00 am. Doors to the Armoury will be closed at 9:45 am. The memorial address will be delivered by His Grace the Duke of Westminster.
Overflow seating will be provided at Queens Avenue United Church. The Church will open at 8:30 am and the public will be able to watch and listen to the Ceremonies taking place in the Armoury.
Following the ceremonies, there will be a parade to the Cenotaph at the front of City Hall. At the Cenotaph, the two minutes of silence will be observed at 11 am. This will be followed by the wreath laying ceremony and the march past on Royal Avenue.
We would also like to acknowledge the successful opening of Honour House here in New Westminster and congratulate those responsible for making this project a reality.
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3 comments:
I am saddened to say that my family and I did attend the New Westminster Remembrance Day ceremonies. It was a bit of a farce, to say the least. We got there early, but not early enough to be seated in the Armoury, so my family went to the church. There seemed to be technical difficulties as the TV monitors did not have sound. The church looked as though it has an amazing sound system, yet no one seemed to know how to connect to the ceremony at the Armory. The church seating was almost full when it was obvious the ceremony had begun. Those of us at the church attempted to use our lip reading skills to understand the ceremony and it wasn't until we saw Cal Donnelly moving his lips slowly that we could tell that we were to sing O Canada. Shortly after this, people started to leave as it was obvious the sound was not going to connected. In a last ditch effort, we were connected by cell phone. Someone at the Armory held up their cell phone while connected to a cell phone at the church, which they put a hand held microphone in front of. The sound quality was so muffled, it was impossible to even understand what was being said. Has this city not heard of a "sound check"? Should something like this not have been dealt with long before the public arrived. The saddedst part of this was the elderly gentleman sitting behind us dressed in uniform with all of the medals on his chest walked out. I found this entire situation sad and embarrassing. I believe that the city should apologize to those that attended, especially the veterans, for this embarrassing fiasco.
Remembering, today, that peace comes with a high cost.
To the person who went to the church:
It is very unfortunate that you and so many others experienced the difficulty that you did at the indoor ceremony. I hope that you and the many others, despite your disappointment, were able to go to the cenotaph and experience the deeply moving ceremony that takes place every year. Compared to the many men and women who sacrificed
so much to maintain freedom, I suggest that you keep your disappointment and experience in context and the meaning of the day.
I am not minimizing the disappointment, but let's not let the overwhelming significance of the day get lost here.
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