Blowing snow and cold weather made being outside unpleasant, but it did little to prevent the parade from marching proudly to the Chesterville Cenotaph. Tinkess Photo

CHESTERVILLE – While cold, snowy weather may not be pleasant when attending an outdoor event, it somehow seems fitting that these would be the weather conditions as Canadians gather on Nov. 11 to remember.

Chesterville has a reputation of caring for its own, and remembering its own is not far removed from that. That’s why there is typically a large turnout on Remembrance Day, and this year was no exception. While the weather wasn’t pleasant, it didn’t matter, there is a responsibility to turn out on Nov. 11 to pay your respects, give thanks, and to remember and honour those who paid the ultimate price.

It is wonderful to see the number of young people who are learning the importance in remembering those who came before, and trying to understand what it might have been like to be in your late teens and shipping out to fight a battle so far from home, knowing that there was a good chance you might not make it home. Understandably, it can be a difficult concept to wrap your head around, particularly for those so young, but it is encouraging to see them actively involved and making the effort to understand. It gives hope to the idea that they too might someday be prepared to accept the torch of responsibility, and do, when the time come, what needs to be done. Let us hope that it means preserving the act of remembering, not they themselves being remembered.

As the bugle sounded The Last Post, during the two minutes of silence, and The Rouse, it was interesting to look through the crowd at each person, lost in their thoughts, and to appreciate how each, in the non-stop world in which we live, makes the time on this day to stop, listen, and think. Young, old and in between, each takes from the ceremony what they will, giving in return just through their presence. Some lay a wreath on behalf of their organization, their business, or in remembrance of a particular person, each one placed reverently in place.

As the ceremony came to an end, the colour party marched off from whence they came, and most people returned to their daily life. Several, however approached the Cenotaph, reading the names, considering the wreaths, and placing their own poppy as a personal act of remembrance, as a way of saying they may be gone, but they will not be forgotten, not ever.