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Community pays tribute

Hundreds of Westlock and area residents turned out at the Westlock and District Community Hall on Remembrance Day to reflect upon the sacrifices of those who fought and those who continue to protect our country. Guest speaker Rev.
Veteran Tom McConaghy, who served in the Service Corp. in the Second World War, places a wreath on behalf of Canadian Forces at the Westlock and District Community Hall Nov.
Veteran Tom McConaghy, who served in the Service Corp. in the Second World War, places a wreath on behalf of Canadian Forces at the Westlock and District Community Hall Nov. 11.

Hundreds of Westlock and area residents turned out at the Westlock and District Community Hall on Remembrance Day to reflect upon the sacrifices of those who fought and those who continue to protect our country.

Guest speaker Rev. Jerry Austin counted off the reasons why he thought the day was an important one to acknowledge.

“In my 69 years of life, I have never had a gun pointed to my head, my house was never bombed, and my wife never raped,” he said.

Austin spoke of the legacy his father left behind, as this was his first Remembrance Day without the man.

His veteran father worked nearly every day of his life, but because Remembrance Day was so meaningful to him, that was one where he would always rest.

Although his father would set aside the time to honour Nov. 11, his views on war were not political.

Austin remembered that his father would not say if war was right or wrong, and kept his own experiences and memories to himself.

As he listed the reasons why that day was significant, Austin said he was eternally grateful that none of his children had ever had to serve nor experienced the trauma and fear that often comes with battle.

After the ceremony, Norm Colquhoun, a soft-spoken man who joined near the end of the Second World War, searched his memory for details.

“In Holland at the bar, they would buy all of your drinks,” he said. “I had all the beer.”

Colquhoun served 33 years in the military, living in cities like Edmonton, Montreal and Calgary, as well as far-flung places in Germany, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and far too many other locales that he couldn’t remember. Two of those years were spent on an HMCS vessel.

Colquhoun also recalled standing in the parade for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

A nearly packed house turned out at the Clyde Community Hall on Nov. 11 to participate the Remembrance Day ceremonies, which were led by Isaac Brower-Berkhoven.

Amid the singing of hymns and prayers, three students from Eleanor Hall School — Dakota Perkins and Izzabella and Graycen Brown — recited In Flanders Fields.

Children were also invited to pin poppies on a white cross at the front of the hall.

Rev. Lilley Glebe of the Rochester United Church led the hall in prayer and delivered a message about the meaning of Remembrance Day.

“We are here today to remember and to pay tribute to those men and women who served in past wars and in wars and in peacekeeping missions still today,” she said.

Glebe said that sometimes the magnitude of the sacrifice of war isn’t really understood by many people, noting that she had been born during war time and thus had no memory of war at all.

“It is very hard for us to remember, because it isn’t part of our everyday experience.”

However, Glebe said we do remember the missing generation — the young men and women who went away to war and didn’t come back.

“They were people with hopes and dreams and skills and gifts to give to our community. Those gifts were not given, because their lives were cut too short,” she said.

“Those who died left a void, a void in our society that we still feel today. The men and women who gave their lives cry out to us. Remember us, and remember our sacrifice.”

With that in mind, Glebe acknowledged that many people around the world are growing up with a firsthand knowledge of war. They live with its horrors every day of their lives.

“The call for peacekeepers can never come too soon,” Glebe said, noting that Christ also called on us to be peacemakers.

She said it can be hard to be peacemakers when we live in a world where our instincts are to protect what we have with violence.

She related the story of a young rabbi who sought to bring peace to the world and eventually realized he needed to bring peace in his own heart.

“Each person can bring peace to their own heart and their own lives. I believe that we will accomplish peace in our community and in the world one person at a time,” she said.

She said there are many people who would seek to take peace away from us through acts of terrorism, by dividing communities, by turning people against one another and by destabilizing our democracy and society.

“We need to be constantly vigilant, striving for a peaceful society and world,” she said.

Eventually, the crowd headed outside for the last portion of the ceremony, which was held at the cenotaph across the street.

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