Close to 200 persons gathered at the cenotaph at the town hall for the annual Remembrance Day service.
           As Pastor Greg Bright said, that was just the first part of the Remembrance Day ceremony. The second part was at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church and the conclusion was at the Legion Dugout.
The first part involved some prayers in a service led by Bright and Pastor Wilfred Michaels, the Legion padre. The main part of the service was the laying of the wreaths, which were laid by individuals, businesses and organizations.
The Canora squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets had a strong presence at the service, mainly as the flag bearers. After the service, the cadets were joined by two RCMP members dressed in red serge for the procession to the church.
At St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Rev. Franklin Emereuwa welcomed the Legion and the other religious denominations to the use of the church for the Remembrance Day program. Several members of the cadets took prominent roles offering readings from the Bible.
Chris Sokoloski of the Legion had the job of reading the names of the soldiers who did not return.
Pastor Michaels gave the main message, saying the people in the pews needed to use their imaginations to grasp the essence of the message.
Imagine it being 2,000 years ago and everyone was talking about going to see the exciting new rabbi, he said. Imagine Jesus speaking with the children and their wondrous minds soaking up all that He told them just like a sponge.
But one can also use that wondrous imagination to almost be in different stages of Jesus’ life, Michaels said. Imagine being there when He asks forgiveness for the soldier pounding the nails into His wrists.
Michaels had the audience share the experiences of Jesus’ extreme suffering at the end of His life. It was a means to try and understand the extreme sacrifice that He made to die for the sins of all mankind. It was a way of giving thanks to Jesus for His sacrifice.
The crowd had thinned down somewhat from its maximum at the cenotaph, but there was still about two thirds of the church filled, said Ian White, the Legion president.
From the final part of the service, there was a gathering for lunch at the Legion Dugout. About 80 people attended.
A highlight of that part of the service was paying tribute to the late Bill Morrison, said White. Morrison had been the branch’s secretary-treasurer for two years and he was due a medal for two years of service when he died last summer. That medal was presented posthumously to Morrison’s widow, Lucille.
