Redcliff Mayor Dwight Kilpatrick takes a second to pay his respects in 2017 during the town's annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the cenotaph near Parkside School. There will be no ceremony this year, due to COVID-19 cases at the town legion.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
The town of Redcliff will be without a Remembrance Day ceremony this month.
After four cases of COVID-19 were discovered in its staff, the Legion decided to close until Nov. 13 and to cancel its formal cenotaph ceremony.
The town legion had originally planned a small ceremony for the morning of Nov. 11 that was limited to 100 people.
The event had been modified from previous years, with the hopes of designing a safe environment for attendees.
Now, with four positive cases linked to the Legion, president Peter Devlin says cancellation was the only way to go.
“We’ve unfortunately had to turn off the Remembrance Day ceremony,” he said. “We had to do this for the safety of our patrons, staff, friends – we had to err on the side of caution.”
While the official ceremony is cancelled, Remembrance Day is not.
“I’ve encouraged everyone to mark the day,” he said. “People should spend the day however they like. It is just important to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
“If people want to show up to the cenotaph and have a moment, I will never stop them. We just couldn’t hold the big gathering this year.”
Devlin says it was a tough decision to cancel.
“As a veteran myself, this was difficult,” he said. “I have friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice.
“At the end of the day, safety has to trump tradition. I was very concerned the four cases and it was too much to just carry on with.”
Both Medicine Hat and Redcliff Legions have launched their Poppy Campaigns, with stores carrying supplies this month.
“It’s going really well so far,” said Devlin. “The support is always great and we hope to see lots of poppies around town.”
