Roy Lamore says he hasn’t seen a Remembrance Day crowd so large since the end of the Second World War.
Thousands turned out on Wednesday at Waverly Park for the annual salute to veterans, where Silver Cross mother Carol Klukie laid the ceremonial first wreath at the foot of the cenotaph in honour of her son Josh, killed in Afghanistan in 2006.
“When you were here today, you could just hear the crowd shake and it makes you think that the veterans who have passed on just wanted to get up and say thank you to the kids, the veterans, the cadets and everyone,” said the 89-year-old Lamore, a veteran of the Second World War who served as cook during the conflict.
Lamore said the warm weather was a big factor in the turnout to the outdoor ceremony, but said veteran’s groups are also spreading awareness in schools about the sacrifices made by Canadian service men and women over the past century.
“They’re starting to pick up the torch,” said Lamore, who will spend the afternoon helping students clean the tombstones of local veterans.
“They’re starting to get the feeling of what war’s all about, the sacrifices we made. We’re going to these schools and I think that’s the best thing.”
Eleven-year-old Kyra Brimmell, a Grade 6 student at Our Lady of Charity School, said a number of family members have given their lives in war, the No. 1 reason she wanted to lay a wreath on behalf of schoolchildren across the city.
It’s the least she can do to honour them, she added.
“They helped make Canada a free country and without them that probably wouldn’t have happened.”
Classmate Albert White concurred.
“It’s important for everyone to come down here and show their respect for all the veterans who fought in the wars and still continue to fight,” he said.
Robert Cutbush, president of the Port Arthur Branch No. 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion, called it a great day for a Remembrance Day ceremony. Not that he was surprised at the show of support.
“Thunder Bay is a very generous town, supporting it’s servicemen and veterans. It was great to see people of all ages come out, especially the schoolchildren, today,” Cutbush said.
“We have to keep celebrating it to remember the sacrifices that our men and women have given the ultimate sacrifice to give us our freedoms. If we fail to stop remembering, it will be lost. Every day for me is a Remembrance Day.”
Wednesday’s ceremony included a reading of the Lord’s Prayer, the singing of Oh Canada and a three-plane fly-over and the playing of Taps as the 11 o’clock hour struck.
