The rain held off, the crowds did not, for Remembrance Day in downtown Barrie this morning.
Hundreds gathered in Memorial Square on Monday to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, and honour the veterans who served Canada.
“It’s the only place to be today,” said John Flavelle of Barrie. “If it was up to me, they (veterans) would all live for free when they came home.”
The Flavelle family was near the cenotaph in force on Remembrance Day, a typically cool, grey, windy and damp affair.
“I always honour the veterans, and my grandfather,” Janette Flavelle told BarrieToday. “They don’t do enough for these people.”
“It should be a (statutory) holiday,” said Farrah Flavelle.
For some attending Nov. 11 ceremonies, it’s what they’ve always done.
Dylan Moore of Barrie is ex-military, after serving for eight years.
“I’ve been coming to Remembrance Day parades since I was a young cadet,” he said. “I think it’s a tradition we can’t forget. It’s important just to come out.”
Herman Van Rossum was a peacekeeper from Barrie who died just more than a year ago. His family was at Memorial Square on Monday.
“I’m here in honour of my dad,” said daughter Cindy Warren, with her 14-year-old son Kelten. “It mattered what he did.”
“It’s to honour his memory,” said Kelten.
Donna Van Rossum didn’t go to Remembrance Day last year, so close to her husband’s death. But she was back this year.
“We had 54 years together and Remembrance Day has always been extremely important to him,” she said.
Diane Birch, also of Barrie, says her father, father-in-law and uncles all served in the military. She was there for them.
“And it’s to remember all the people who fought for my freedom, and died, so I can stand here on this rainy day,” Birch said.
“I have a long family history with the military,” Deborah O’Dwyer said of her reasons.
A new twist this year was vocalist Ric Ross, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, singing a song about a soldier who died in battle and never got to meet his daughter, and the daughter who never got to meet her father and wondered ‘what’s he like?’
But Remembrance Day in Barrie was also about old traditions that still apply.
Bill Sergeant read In Flanders Fields, Canadian doctor John McCrae’s famous First World War (1914-18) poem that has survived since the Great War, as it was called then.
There was the Last Post, two minutes of silence at 11 a.m., The Lament, Volley Fire and Reveille.
A number of veterans were also introduced, among them William Snow, who is 102 and fought in the Second World War.
Among the politicians attending were Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP Doug Shipley, representing the federal government, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall and Town of Innisfil Coun. Kevin Eisses.
