‘People are what makes history come alive’: How to support and engage in community this Remembrance Day

Outside various grocery stores and public spaces around Kamloops there are tables with pins shaped like poppy flowers and volunteers ready to give them away for a donation. After the last Friday of October, folks across Canada can be spotted wearing these pins in honour of Remembrance Day Nov. 11.  

This annual, nationwide campaign run by the Royal Canadian Legion raises money from poppy donations to assist military veterans and their families. As a support hub for veterans and their families, Kamloops’ Legion Branch 52 has over 190 veteran members, branch president Mike Young tells The Wren. 

As a 22-year Canadian Armed Forces veteran, Young spent six years in the army and the rest of his career in the reserves. His duties included a Canadian peacekeeping tour with the United Nations emergency force in the Sinai desert. Right before he retired he got involved with the Legion where he has been president for the past year.

“Most people wear the poppy as a way of remembering those soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice in Canada for what we call our freedom,” he explains. 

Wendy McKenzie is one of the Legion members who is a veteran, having served for 36 years with the Canadian Armed Forces. She started her career with the Rocky Mountain Rangers as an infantry soldier and then she became a flight nurse. 

“I feel very strongly that if we don’t remember our past then we’re bound to repeat things. I like to remember people, because people are what makes history come alive,” McKenzie says. 

McKenzie is also the president of the 886 (Overlander) wing of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association in Kamloops. The 886 (Overlander) wing has 25 members left and is a small organization. 

“We try to make sure that everybody remembers the Air Force and 419 Squadron,” McKenzie says. “The torch has been passed to us, and we better remember what happened.”

‘They are what we call the heroes’

For Young and McKenzie, Remembrance Day offers a moment to reflect, remember and honour those in all branches of Canada’s military, including the Army, Navy and Air Force. It’s also an opportunity to learn, connect and engage with the community by attending events and visiting museums, McKenzie says. 

Kamloops has a cenotaph featuring the names of Kamloopsians who served in World War One, World War Two, the Korean War and the Afghanistan war, located on the corner of Battle Street and Second Avenue. 

“When it comes right down to it, they are what we call the heroes. They’re the ones that volunteer to serve the country,” Young says. 

A few days before Remembrance Day is Indigenous Veterans Day, Nov. 8, Young adds. 

“Nov. 8 is the day that was set aside for the Indigenous veterans and the Indigenous peoples – because there were quite a number of Indigenous peoples that signed up and they also served, but they didn’t get the respect when they came back that the Caucasian, or other soldiers got.” 

“It is sort of an acknowledgement of the sacrifices the Indigenous people made when they served, just what they went through,” Young explains.

With Indigenous veterans who are members, the Kamloops Legion branch aims to be inclusive.

“We have always felt that a soldier is a soldier, no matter what your background was, what your race is,” Young says.

Remembrance Day in Kamloops

As well as offering a place to socialize and connect for all veterans, the Legion helps veterans navigate paperwork and other complexities through Veteran Affairs. It also provides support for mental health and helps homeless veterans. 

The Kamloops community has been very supportive according to Young. 

“People in Kamloops are so generous. I just wanted to take that opportunity to thank everybody for their generosity and remembering veterans.”

Every year the Legion hosts a ceremony Nov. 11 in Riverside Park that gets a lot of involvement from Kamloopsians who participate in the ceremony. 

“As a veteran when I see the people come out and all the people that come up to me and say, ‘thank you for your service’ I’m overwhelmed by it all, and it’s just for me to say thank you to the people of Kamloops,” Young says.  

For those who cannot attend the main ceremony on Nov. 11 it is available to stream through CFJC.

“Even taking a moment out of your day and stopping and just reflecting. Think about your own family, most families, if they don’t have military veterans in their family they know of one that’s next door somewhere else, but just remember and be kind to them,” McKenzie says. 

To donate to the poppy campaign folks can find poppy tables with volunteers from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in locations like Costco, Aberdeen Mall, Superstore, Save On Foods, Safeway and others. Poppy trays can also be found in local businesses.

Remembrance Day Events

Indigenous Veterans Day, Saturday, Nov. 8 at 10:45 a.m.: Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc is organizing an event for the National Indigenous Veterans Day at Pen Pen Cementery – 201 Chilcotin Rd. This event is open to the general public and offers the opportunity to recognize the military service of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.

Kamloops Blazers annual Military Appreciation Night, Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.: The Kamloops Blazers will play the Everett Silvertips at the Sandman Centre. The Kamloops Legion members will participate in an official Colour Party to march on for the opening ceremony. Tickets vary in price and are available on Ticketmaster.

Candlelight Ceremony, Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.: Organized by the 886 (Overlander) wing of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association where the Air Force Cadet Corps and members of the public join at Hillside Cemetery underneath the flag pole. Participants will place LED candles on every gravestone. 

“Before you place it, you say the person’s name out loud, and then you place the candle,” McKenzie says. 

The candle’s battery will last three days up until Nov. 11. 

There is not a link or website for this event but it is free to attend. 

Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc Remembrance Day Event, Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 10:30 a.m.: An event that honours the veterans and those who were lost. Hosted at Pen Pen Cementery – 201 Chilcotin Rd. This event is open to the general public.

Remembrance Day Ceremony and Parade,Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 10:30 a.m.: The annual event happening at Riverside Park at the Cenotaph in collaboration with the Kamloops Legion. The ceremony starts at 11 a.m. and more details will be posted on the Kamloops Legion website or Facebook.