The Bragg Creek Community Centre will be bustling Nov. 11 for the hamlet’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony.
“It’s so important for us to honour our veterans,” said Laura Matthews, special events coordinator for the Bragg Creek Community Association. “They’ve done so much for us — this is the least we can do for them.”
Matthews said this Remembrance Day ceremony will be the first without one of the hamlet’s most notable veterans, Jack Merryfield. Merryfield was instrumental in helping to initiate — and with participating in — Bragg Creek’s Remembrance Day service.
Each year about 700 people show up for the service, which features a number of commemorative speeches. This year, the service is set to begin at 10 a.m., and should wrap up in the early afternoon with tea and refreshments hosted by the Bragg Creek Ladies Auxiliary.
Morley will be honouring its veterans in two services at the United Church, located in the Morley townsite; the school services Nov. 8 at 10:30 a.m. and the community service Nov. 11 at 10 a.m.
“We will invite all community members, specifically descendants of veterans, to take part in the ceremonies and then go next door to the high school for a luncheon,” said cultural liaison and Stoney language teacher, Duane Mark.
The Nov. 8 ceremony will feature traditional Stoney prayer and song, including guest speakers Charles Powderface and elder counsellor Tina Fox, who is the niece of WWII rifleman, Joe Poucette.
The Nov. 11 service will feature traditional Stoney song and dance, including powwow dancing, followed by a luncheon at the Bearspaw Youth Centre.
Poucette served with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and died in action Aug. 14, 1944 in the battle of Caen, a few miles inland from the beaches of Normandy.
Driving toward Morley, along Highway 1A, his memorial statue can be seen on the north side of the highway, on the hill that overlooks the townsite. He is one of several war veterans who will be honoured this year.
If you have plans this upcoming Nov. 11, but would still like to take in a Remembrance Day service, the public is welcome to stop by Springbank Community High School today (Nov. 7).
Held in the school’s gymnasium, the short ceremony — it will run from 10-10:35 a.m. — will feature guest speakers, a moment of silence and a short video presentation.
