We walked to the cenotaph beside the Surrey Museum for Cloverdale's Remembrance Day ceremony. The service started at 10:15 and ended around 11:30. We had 3 different fly pasts, the first group flying over while we were having our 2 minutes of silence at 11am.
Thankfully it didn't rain, a rarety for Remembrance Day. It was cloudy but not overly cold. The rain held off until mid-afternoon, well past the end of the ceremony.
Years ago the Remembrance Day ceremony was held in the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. It started inside the Shannon Hall building which was very nice in bad weather. When it came time to lay the wreaths at the cenotaph, which at that time was located in the southwest corner of the fairgrounds, alongside 176th Street, everyone trooped outdoors. Back in high school I was in the band and every year we played O Canada and God Save the Queen during the Remembrance Day ceremony. One year I remember we'd all gone outside to lay the wreaths. The crowd was closer to the cenotaph, the band was further away from the group. We couldn't hear a thing from the speakers so we were just standing there hanging out waiting to play the last song. My mother was in the crowd so she was able to tell me this later. Whoever had the microphone announced that now the band would now play God Save the Queen. Nothing happened. None of us had heard the announcement. One of the ministers on stage, his son was in the band. My mother watched the minister frantically trying to catch his son's attention. I guess he got it and word was out to the conductor to get the song going.
Ah yes, high school memories of carrying a soggy clarinet during the Remembrance Day ceremonies.
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