Local Legions to hold Remembrance Day services November 11

Local Legions will be holding their traditional Remembrance Day services on Sunday, November 11.

This year the Royal Canadian Legion, in partnership with the Government of Canada, is sponsoring a Bells of Peace event to which local communities throughout the country have been invited to participate.

This is an initiative to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice which ended the First World War. One hundred years ago, the church bells rang out throughout the land in celebration of the ending of a bloody and tragic conflict which ran from 1914-1918.

In honour of the anniversary, bells will once again ring out all across Canada. They will ring 100 times at five second intervals at sunset in each participating community as a way of emulating the joyous occasion a century ago.

The BBC stated at the time that it was “as an outpouring of relief that four years of war had come to an end.”

As a prelude to the Ringing of the Bells, the Legion also asks that Canadian school children search out the graves of WWl veterans and place a small Canadian flag on them.

The Royal Canadian Legion was born from the ashes of the First World War, states the Legion in its “Call to Action” to Legion branches throughout the country.

The Viking Legion No. 81 will not be holding a Bells of Peace event but will have traditional Remembrance Day services.

Viking Remembrance Day Services will be held in the Viking Community Hall. Doors will open at 10 a.m. with services starting at 10:30 a.m. Following the service, Poem, Poster, and Essay Contest awards will be presented. In honour of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, each first place winner will receive a commemorative coin.

Supper will be held at the Viking Legion. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and supper will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The Royal Canadian Legion, Holden Branch #56, will hold its Remembrance Day Services starting at 11 a.m. sharp on Sunday, November 11 at the Cenotaph on Main Street. Legion President Ernie Rudy said the marchers would assemble at the Legion at 10:30 a.m. before heading to the Cenotaph where there will be a service and wreath laying ceremony.

As part of the ceremony, there will be a ringing of the bells 10 times starting at 11 a.m. with local Holden churches participating.

A program will then follow at the Paragon Theatre. Once that has concluded, the Holden Legion will host a potluck lunch and fellowship. Everyone is welcome to come and bring a contribution to the meal.

Irma will hold its Community Remembrance Day Service on Sunday, November 11 starting at 10:45 a.m. in the Irma School gymnasium. There will be a donation box at the entrance with all monies going to the “Wounded Warriors” fund.