LEGIONS OF MUSKOKANS PAY THEIR RESPECTS THIS MORNING TO WAR VETERANS PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

MUSKOKA  — As Last Post echoed across Muskoka, residents paid their Remembrance Day respects this morning town by town and village by village.

Ceremonies large and small recognized what everyone wished they hadn’t had to do — but for unwanted wars.

Still, winter chills didn’t dampen spirits as dapples of sun burst through metaphorically and literal dark clouds.

For an hour they forgot the inch of wet snow they stood their ground against.

Flags at half staff, wreaths were laid at Branch #302 in Gravenhurst just past 11 a.m. today in one of a half dozen Muskoka Remembrance Day services again this year. PHOTOS Mark Clairmont MuskokaTODAY.com

Names of not only First and Second World War veterans lost were read from conflicts and other regional wars closer to memory that affect the latest generations were read off aloud.

Heads bowed, moments of silence broken only by the piper’s lament and the bugler’s rouse, appropriate attention was paid.

“Lest We Forget.”

In Gravenhurst two 2250 Muskoka Pioneer Army Cadets stood centry duty during the ceremoney there.

Corporal Josh Adams and Lance Corporal Gideon Jamieson had just come off overnight duty at the Bracebridge cenotaph, where 18 cadets each stood in the snow for an hour as part of an annual ritual. Jamieson was out from 11 p.m. to midnight and Adams 2-3 a.m.

Warm coats helped brace attendees in Gravenhurst, including the Bifocals Band, as they took an hour to remember and reflect on wars past, present and future.

Across Muskoka legions of people paid their respects to war veterans past, present and future.

Comradeship extended inside beyond the cenotaphs, if cold comfort for families who lost loved ones and friends.

Hot coffee and hotter chilli enabled the assembled to break bread and share fading war stories.

Some in Gravenhurst later repaired to the Mickle Cemetery, along with Branch #302 executive, to lay poppies at the legion plot where Beaver Creek inmates this year and last cleaned up, levelled and landscaped some 500 gravesite name plates.

Important today, essential for the future as days like this are sadly dress rehearsals for next year and the foreseeable future.

In the meantime as age and time dwindles crowds, what attendees lacked in quantity they made up for in quality of care and compassion.

War’s not over, but until it ever is these people had and have the veterans’ backs.

Dozens of legion members and emergency service personnel were among those standing watch over the ceremony in Gravenhurst.
A march past off the parade ground square in front of the centotaph festooned with poppy wreaths ended a fitting tribute today.
Inside the warm Gravenhurst legion the mood was elevated while still respectful as a full house maintained the “Lest We Forget” sentiment.
Lynne Briden and Sherry MacDonald fed the army of supporters hot and spicy chili, hot chocolate and hot dogs.
Piper Tom Montgomery and friend Mark Turney chat with friends at tables lined with families and friends of veterans.
Linda Barnes and her family of Forsythes warm up before heading out to the Mickle Cemetery to pay their respects to their parents buried at the cemetery.
A cake with Canadian Col. John McCrae famous “In Flanders Fields” poem on it was a centrepiece of the post Last Post service.

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