Roses laid on graves of Titanic victims as Halifax honours 100th anniversary

HALIFAX – Children not even old enough to have seen the film version of Titanic played an important part in paying tribute to those lost in the disaster 100 years ago.

Youngsters such as five-year-old Hayden Little, who held onto a yellow rose throughout a spiritual service Sunday at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery to honour Titanic victims.

Joined by his mother Kristie Wenaus and his nine-year-old brother Andrew, Hayden was among the hundreds of people who showed their respects at the Halifax cemetery, where 121 people were laid to rest a century ago.

“I wanted to remember the people that died April 15th a hundred years ago,” said older brother Andrew Little, who stood dressed in a kilt in front of the grave William Henry Harrison – the secretary of White Star Line chairman J. Bruce Ismay.

Hayden was a little shy and didn’t have too much to say at the end of the 90-minute long service, after he put his rose at the base of what has until recently been known as the grave of the “Unknown Child.”

But all eyes were on the brothers and the lines of cadets, scouts and students who also took part in the symbolic gesture of laying roses on the graves.

“I couldn’t help but be struck by the small boy who is here with us today, near the tomb of until recently an unnamed boy similar in age,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay said to those in attendance.

MacKay noted thanks to the developments in the last hundred years, scientists were able to determine – in 2011 -the toddler’s identity.

Sidney Leslie Goodwin was only 19-months-old – a little more than three years younger than Hayden – when he was found floating, frozen to death, in the waters of the Atlantic. His was the fourth of 328 bodies the crew of the Mackay-Bennett cable ship retrieved from where Titanic went down April 15, 1912.

The young ages of the Little boys exemplifies how the legacy of Titanic has captured both the fascination and empathy of people all over the world for generations now.

People from far off places travelled to Halifax to mark the occasion and honour their personal connections to Titanic.

The city saw in increase in tourist traffic, as memorial events ran throughout the weekend.

Horses pulled an old-fashioned funeral carriage, carrying a wooden coffin, through streets of downtown as part of a commemorative candlelight procession.

That was followed by a tribute concert hosted by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent, who told the tale of Titanic’s first and final voyage in between music and dance performances.

All told, the province’s Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage says 3,000 people attended the outdoor event – which ended with a symbolic firing of distress flares, a moment of silence for the 1,522 victims and bells chiming at the same churches that alerted the city of bodies arriving from the wreck site 100 years earlier.

“No ocean tragedy gripped the world or this city more than the events that transpired off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and Labrador on this day 100 years ago,” said Andrew Murphy, chair of the Titanic 100 Society.

Murphy said the “outpouring of support and compassion” was a characteristic of Halifax then and now.

But for Andrew and Hayden’s mother, taking part in the centenary commemorations was as much about preserving the legacies of Titanic and its victims.

“It was very important for me to spend this 100th anniversary here and more importantly it was important for my boys to be here,” Wenaus said. “I want them to understand the significance.”

*With files from Ross Lord, Global News