Skip to content

White Rock chooses ‘virtual’ Remembrance Day

Due to COVID-19 the Nov. 11 ceremony will be online only
23126826_web1_RemembranceDay2019-4
Hundreds of people gathered in White Rock last year to participate in the annual Remembrance Day ceremony – but due to COVID-19, the city’s ceremony this year will be online only. (File photo)

Veterans who served and those who gave their lives for Canada will still be remembered in White Rock this November – COVID-19 notwithstanding.

A City of White Rock media release says that while the usual outdoor Remembrance Day ceremony, traditionally held at the cenotaph beside city hall, will not be scheduled – in keeping with health guidelines prohibiting events with more than 50 attendees – a recorded version will be broadcast.

The online ceremony will be shown on the city’s Facebook page (facebook.com/whiterock city), and also on the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 8’s Facebook page, starting at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Complete with traditional songs, readings and two minutes of silence, the virtual event is being prepared by the city in collaboration with the legion.

“Remembrance Day is a special time to recognize and honour those who have given so much to our country, fighting for the liberties we enjoy today,” Mayor Darryl Walker notes in the release.

“I want to thank our veterans, those in active service, those who have lost loved ones to war, as well as the cadets, police, firefighters and other first responders who gather on Nov. 11 each year – please know that our hearts and thoughts are with you as we broadcast the traditional Remembrance Day ceremony online for all to share.”

Included will be O Canada and God Save the Queen, sung by White Rock’s own ‘Mr. O Canada’, Mark Donnelly – and traditional bugle calls The Last Post, Lament and Rouse.

The city is also encouraging residents to show their support for veterans, and those in active service with various branches of the military today, by placing poppies in front windows in the days leading up to Remembrance Day and posting pictures on Twitter and Instagram, tagged #WhiteRockRemembers