The Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch has announced its plans for its annual Remembrance Day service.
The legion will host a ceremony on Nov. 11, but it will have a different look and format than previous editions. For many years, it has taken place at the Estevan Comprehensive School, either in the cafetorium and the courtyard, or in the school’s gymnasium.
But since the school is closed off to outside visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony will be held outdoors at the cenotaph adjacent to the Estevan Court House in 2020.
Troy LeBlanc, who is the chairman of the Remembrance Day service committee for the local legion branch, said there will be a limited number of people able to attend the service, but they have a way for everyone to watch.
“Everything will be streamed, so you will be able to enjoy the annual service, either through our Facebook page or through Access Communications, who will be filming it on-site the morning of,” said LeBlanc. “You can actually enjoy the Remembrance Day services from the comfort of your own home.”
The ceremony will start at its traditional time of 10:45 a.m. and will occur regardless of the weather on Nov. 11.
“It will look a lot different than our services in years past. It will be very condensed,” LeBlanc said.
There will be some customary elements of a Remembrance Day service, such as the playing of the Last Post, the two minutes of silence, the reading of Flanders Field and other poems and music. But there won’t be a guest speaker or the marching.
There will also be a wreath ceremony at the cenotaph, with local dignitaries and community leaders involved, but the local army and air cadets won’t be accompanying the dignitaries.
LeBlanc noted that there will likely be a digital poppy drop in the evening. The cenotaph will be lit up throughout the night.
The legion believes it is important to have something for Remembrance Day this year. It’s the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and of Canada’s liberation of The Netherlands.
“We haven’t ever, to my knowledge, not had a service,” said LeBlanc, who has been working on plans for this year’s commemoration since June. “The purpose of Remembrance Day is always to remember our fallen comrades because they paid the ultimate sacrifice. And we will always attempt to make sure that there is a service held. It might just be in a different form. But we will always remember them.”
Some legion branches have said they’re not holding a Remembrance Day service at all. Others are now speaking to Estevan about how the local branch will make this event happen.
“They were under the impression that nobody was doing anything,” said LeBlanc. “And so when they heard that we were doing something, I’ve been getting called from several other branches.
“A lot of people’s biggest concern is just the change of it. They’re used to being in an indoor service, or multiple services; in the case of Regina, for example, they usually have two or three services that day.”
The provincial government recently released guidelines as part of its Reopen Saskatchewan Plan for how Remembrance Day services could proceed.
LeBlanc hopes that people will take advantage of the live streaming opportunities to watch the service online.
The service will be part of content throughout the day on the legion’s Facebook page and on Access Communications. They will also show Remembrance Day ceremonies from previous years, interviews from local veterans, a story about the Estevan Soldiers’ Tree monument, and the multimedia presentation with photos of local veterans that has aired during the Remembrance Day service in previous years.
Also shown will be the presentations that Capt. Craig Bird, a local military historian and the commanding officer of the No. 2901 Estevan Army Cadets, has made in honour of Vimy Ridge and the Battle of the Scheldt.
