Jarvie Remembrance Day service honours those who served

JARVIE – On Monday, Nov. 11, the town of Jarvie hosted a Remembrance Day service led by Jim Turnbull and Lt.-Cmdr (retired) the Very Rev. John Tyrrell, and organized by Linda Foster.

The morning was cloudy with a chilly wind as 65 people gathered at the Cenotaph for the ceremony. They laid more than two dozen wreaths in honour of soldiers, family member and friends as the flags flew at half-mast.

Tyrrell led the group in prayer and said, “To remember before God those who died in the service of their country, especially those whose loyalty and courage are cherished in our personal memories.”

The Last Post was played, followed by two minutes of silence with Reveille ending the period of silence.

Tyrrell read the Act of Remembrance and the Kohima Epitaph, “When you go home tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today.”

The laying of wreaths included

• Corp. Schram for the Dominion of Canada and the RCMP;
• Father John Tyrrell for Province of Alberta and the Canadian Forces;
• Christine Wiese paid tribute for the County of Westlock;
• Corp. Schram escorted Marilyn Bell, who represented all the mothers of veterans;
• Rebecca Houle — a nurse herself — stood for all nurses;
• Gwen Booth came forward for Armand Allarie and the soldiers honoured on the Cenotaph – Leo J. Allarie, Luke W. Plant, RB Sandman and C.C. Craney. Booth was in attendance with her 99-year-old mother, Henrietta Allarie;
• Ted Ford stood for Pembina River Natural Gas Co-op;
• Jack English represented the Jarvie community council;
• Fawcett Fire Department gave their respects for all firefighters and Noah Musterer stood for the Jarvie Fire Department;
• Linda Foster stood for Thomas and Leslie Foster, and George Rogers;
• Cathy and Buck Hemmings paid respect for Bud, Patty, Jim and Jennifer England;
• Eileen Lea came forward for Cyril Edgar;
• Jackie Comeau stood for Sir Roger Casavant III;
• Jane Medcke paid respects for Jim Hoyle, Andrew Burns, Earl England and Don Medcke;
• Calvin Beamish came forward for Vern Beamish, and Sid and Len Gurney;
• Bell, Kaliel, Towns and Yancey families paid respect for Herb, Ron, Bert and Howard Bell, George and Jack Kaliel, Bill Towns, and Victor Yancey;
• School trustee Sherry Allen represented the Pembina Hills School Division;
• Helen McKinnon stood for Charles Desranleau;
• William Legault came forward for John Legault;
• Kevin and Maggie McGean stepped forward for Hector Boutilier;
• Morgan and Paige Lea stood for all foreign soldiers;
• Hivam and Kaleb Lea came forward for all mechanics who served;
• LoriAnn Grove and Trudy Chomick paid respects for Philip Lamoreaux, Norman Grove and Bill Demers.

Afterward, the entire crowd came forward in respect to place their poppies on the wreaths.

After the service, the Jarvie Community Centre hosted a delicious lunch with refreshments where people met to visit and share their stories.

In the First World War, 619,000 Canadians enlisted with 61,000 killed and 172,000 wounded according to the Canadian War Museum website. In the Second World War, 1.1 million Canadians enlisted, with 42,000 killed.

There were 26,000 Canadians who fought in the Korean War with 516 killed.

There are Canadian soldiers who participated in peace-keeping missions in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.

We will always remember them and thank them for their service.