BONNYVILLE – This Nov. 11, the Remembrance Day ceremony hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 183 – Bonnyville, will return to its traditional roots and will be held outside of the Legion building. The ceremony will begin at 10:45 a.m.
Explaining the meaning behind the old school shift, the president of the Legion’s Bonnyville Branch, Jaime Beaupre, tells Lakeland This Week, “They used to shut Main Street down, then the (veterans and) soldiers would march down to the old Provincial Building and there would be young Beaver and Cub Scouts along with them.”
As Beaupre recalls, it was always a cold march because the entire ceremony would be held outdoors.
The Bonnyville Remembrance Day ceremony has been held at a few different locations over the years, including the current Provincial Building before moving to the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre (C2), Beaupre explains.
“Last year with COVID we couldn't do it (at the C2). So, we put it outside in front of our building,” he says. “It just caught on and everybody this year – well that's what they wanted us to do and so we are going back to doing it that way.”
Following the ceremony, those with proof of vaccination will be able to socialize together inside the Legion and share stories over a glass of Moose Milk and a free lunch.
The unusual sounding cocktail, Moose Milk, is a traditional Canadian Armed Forces beverage made from ice cream, milk and a combination of Canadian Whisky and other spirits, explained Beaupre. The popular Canadian military drink can be traced back to the early 1900s.
Those participating in the event are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs as outdoor seating will be limited.
Graveyard Duty
For the first time, Bonnyville Legion members, as well as members of the public who wish to join, will take part in graveyard duty at the Kehewin Cree Nation cemetery at 1 p.m.
Afterwards, those taking part will proceed to other cemeteries in and around the Town of Bonnyville to toast and pay respect to all the fallen veterans marked with a military stone.
The group is expected to return to the Legion by 3 p.m. where a celebration is planned.
The Last Post
To honour Indigenous customs, tobacco will be left at the gravesites of Indigenous veterans at the Kehewin cemetery.
With the exception of one Kehewin veteran, Private Dave John, “this will be the first Remembrance Day for the three other Aboriginal veterans with their (military) gravestones,” says Beaupre.
Through the Last Post Fund, an organization whose mission it is to provide gravestones for Canadian and allied veterans with grave markers, Beaupre and family members of Indigenous veterans identified three local graves requiring military tombstones.
The soldiers identified and provided with tombstones this year were Private John Paul, Private Lloyd Poitras, and Rifleman Norbert Clarence Jebeaux.
Another tombstone with the assistance of the Last Post Fund is anticipated to be erected in La Corey for veteran Isadore Cardinal in the coming months after the first stone delivered by the organization was damaged before being installed.
More information is being collected to determine if another military stone will be erected for a Kehewin veteran who served in the military after WWI but was not registered, according to Beaupre.
The Bonnyville Legion President is now working with Cold Lake First Nation and Saddle Lake Cree Nation to locate and mark more Indigenous veterans’ grave sites.
