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From the labyrinth of roads winding their way through history of the city and the nation, people came to pay respects on Thursday, Nov. 11 enduring frozen toes, hands and noses, acknowledging those who have given so much more.
Row upon row: names you’ve never heard of, names that make you think you might have known them. [Photo © Preslea Normand]
Poppies lay nestled in the flowering bushes before headstones.
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After a year and a half of COVID-19 isolation, and a 2020 ceremony held under strict lockdown measures, the VIP section of this year’s event — chiefly veterans of the Second World War, Korean War and other military missions — had grown slightly. The rest of the crowd, aside from the many masks still being worn in these pandemic times, brought a sense of normalcy as people came together to share similar stories about family connections to war and sacrifice.
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Sgt. Pamela Culver, who works with the Canadian Armed Forces Transition Group headquarters, is a finance supervisor in charge of the ceremony at Beechwood. “With it being really small, I’m super honoured because not as many people get to take part,” she said before the ceremony began.
“It’s really amazing to see,” she added, referring to the slow return to larger groups for such events. “For instance, we have a Vet that we were able to invite to sit in … our VIP section, so it’s nice that we can expand our seating area a little bit so that we can do that.”

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“Last year it was so small, so it was moving, but it didn’t have the same effect when you get the crowd with Remembrance Day,” noted Sgt. Culver. “It’s so moving, so it’s really exciting that we’re progressing toward that.”
A speaker at the podium acknowledged the trials of the pandemic and said: “May today’s ceremony inspire us to work together for a better future.”
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Sgt. Culver approved of the accessible nature of the ceremony. “One, it’s being recorded so that you can see it in the future. And then, two, for some people that maybe aren’t able to come because they’re more susceptible to illness, or they’re elderly, or it’s too cold for them, they can still be part of it, and I think that’s important too.”
