Remembrance Day – Part I

Posted in Rants

As a reservist, I paraded on Remembrance Day and was proud to do so. When the decision was made to move the traditional outdoor parade to inside the local arena I was still active.

After I left the reserves, my family and I would attend that same service. Being in the stands and watching the ceremony certainly gave a different perspective, but I was bothered by the fact that many in the audience chose to clap to the beat during the March Past. This bothered me a great deal. This was suppose to be a solemn occasion and not a hoedown. I chose to boycott that particular parade. For the last sixteen years, I opted to attend other services.

So last year I decided to give that particular ceremony another shot. I was hoping that the solemnity of the event would be preserved; after all, Remembrance Day is not a celebration, it’s an observance to acknowledge the sacrifices made by so many. As it turned out, I walked away even more disappointed.

Get this, people applauded during the laying of wreaths … DURING THE LAYING OF WREATHS! WHAT IS GOING ON FOLKS? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? THIS IS NOT A WHOOP AND HOLLER. As an aside, can someone explain to me why the Silver Cross parents received less applause than some of the other wreath layers?

I even heard people shouting WooHoo at times during the ceremony. I knew enough to refrain from being sick to my stomach. That certainly would not fit in with Remembrance Day protocols.

Am I old-school? Is this the direction things should be heading?

Lest We Forget

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Published by Gary Caines

Gary Caines is a retired teacher. During his 32 year career he taught in Newfoundland and New Brunswick and in private and public schools. He has been a principal, vice-principal, district supervisor and, something of which he is quite proud, has taught at least 1 subject at every grade level – yes, that includes kindergarten. Over the years he has served as Aide-de-Camp for three Lieutenant Governors and retired as a navigator from the Naval Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant-Commander. He directed and produced school musicals and coached rugby at four different high schools (he was still playing the game at 58). He is a recording artist, a past-master of the Masonic Lodge and, for ten years, served as a volunteer ambulance driver. He has climbed mountains in BC and been bitten by mosquitoes in Labrador. He has backpacked in Europe and sung in Irish pubs. Gary has sailed from Halifax to Thunder Bay and return. He once taught a class in Appenzell, Switzerland and twice performed with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. He is a part-president of his curling club and of Imperial Theatre. Currently he is the founder and artistic director of the Fundy Sea Shanty Festival. Oh, and something else of which he is proud, he has two beautiful children and three incredibly beautiful grandchildren. He has a lot of stories to tell.

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