Elementary school students in Mallorytown, Ont., joined members of the Royal Canadian Legion and the general public for a memorial service on County Road 5 on the Friday before Remembrance Day.
The kids were able to learn outside of the classroom as they heard the stories of 19 local servicemen who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Ashley Perkins, a teacher at Front of Yonge Elementary School in Mallorytown, attended the ceremony with her students.
“It’s important for our students to remember,” said Perkins. “It’s really nice to go to this ceremony and put that into perspective for them, to show them that the whole community remembers and how important that is for all of us.”
Students were involved in several aspects of the ceremony, including placing Canadian flags at each of the crosses along the roadside memorial. Children also did readings and sang songs as part of the event.
The annual service is put on by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 484. This year, the ceremony profiled serviceman Fred Cook, who died fighting near the end of the First World War.
“He was poisoned by a gas shell and later died of his wounds on Nov. 16, 1918, just five days after the Armistice was signed,” said Bud Andress, co-ordinator of the ceremony. “He’s buried in France.”
The annual Remembrance Road ceremony takes place just north of Mallortytown, which is located about 45 minutes northwest of Kingston.
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