Saskatoon continues to host Canada’s largest indoor Remembrance Day ceremony after roughly 8,000 people attended the yearly event Friday morning at the SaskTel Centre, according to organizers.
“We have the largest indoor service in the country, so we’re quite proud of that and again it reflects on our citizens,” Brent Wignes, the Saskatoon Remembrance Day committee chairman, said after Friday’s event.
“There’s a lot of bigger cities than us that have less.”
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The 85th annual event included a roughly 2,000-person parade made up of military groups and first responders. A number of local dignitaries were also in attendance and paid their respects by taking part in a wreath laying ceremony.
“It’s really, extremely emotional,” Corman Park Reeve Judy Harwood said.
“I have friends that certainly served; my father was in the army as well, so it floods back a lot of memories.”
The sounds of The Last Post and the Piper’s Lament during Friday’s ceremony served as a time to reflect, according to 12-year-old Army cadet Kyle Pellerin.
“Thinking about all the soldiers … their sacrifice,” Pellerin said.
“How they did it so we can have all these rights and freedoms that we enjoy to this day.”
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While the event is rooted in Canada’s past, organizers said they hope Friday’s sights and sounds help Saskatoon’s youth keep alive memories of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for future generations.
“They should know about our past,” Wignes said.
“They get a certain amount of that in their schooling and stuff like that, but being up close, getting to meet people, your veterans and your police services, your RCMP, that’s great for them.”