Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Remembrance Day, 2016

Remembrance Day fell on a Friday this year. Since I have Fridays off I decided to go downtown to see the Remembrance Day ceremony.

In the past I had attended both the one at Queen's Park and the one at Old City Hall. This year I thought I'd go back there. But, due to time constraints (the fact that I left home late), I  ended up back at Queen's Park (which is a little closer).

It was pretty busy when I arrived. There was a sizeable crowd gathered on the front lawn where the ceremony is normally held. As you can see from the photo, it was a sunny day with white clouds dotting the bright, blue sky.

The emcee was a Francophone military woman. There were a number of dignitaries there including Premier Wynne who had just come from an earlier engagement at Sunnybrook Hospital speaking to the veterans there.

They had some musical performances and speeches were given by indigenous leaders and military personnel. They gave the audience insight into the sacrifices that were made both in the past and in current times.

It was a good time to reflect on what they've done to protect our freedoms as well as show our appreciation.

Afterwards I stopped by the Manulife Building on Bloor across from St. Paul's church to see their display of over 11,800 flags on their front lawn. The employees there put them up in honour of the military personnel killed in both wartime and peacekeeping missions. Each flag represents 10 fallen soldiers.

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