CORNWALL, Ontario – Like any other event, Cornwall’s traditional Remembrance Day ceremony has had to adapt to the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unfortunately, this year there will be no parade from the Cornwall Legion, to the Cornwall Cenotaph down the street. There will still be the traditional Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph, but without any crowds.
Cornwall will still be able to honour the memory of those who served on Remembrance Day this year, but it will be done at a distance. The event will be broadcast live on Cornwall’s local YourTV channel.
Traditionally wreaths are laid on the Cenotaph during the ceremony by different cadet groups, family members of veterans, and other community members, but this year, all wreaths will be laid in advance, except four. The Mayor of Cornwall, as well as the MP and MPP for the riding of Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry, will lay the wreaths during the ceremony.
Additionally, there will be no Veteran’s Dinner this year. Kerry Patterson, Chair of the Cornwall Legion’s Remembrance Day Committee explained that the decision to make these changes was not easy, but was done with the safety of its members in mind.
“It is all about the safety of our older veterans,” she said. “We don’t want to put them at risk.”
Cornwall Legion members will still be seen out at local grocery stores with poppy’s to handout during the Poppy Campaign this year. The members will be wearing some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and will not be having any person-to-person contact with those donating and collecting a poppy.
This year’s Poppy Campaign begins on Oct. 30.
