Despite a threat of rain in the forecast, hundreds of people turned out to pay honor to those who have given their service — and sometimes their lives — to Canada as part of this year’s Remembrance Day event at Riverside Park.

Well over a thousand people packed various areas of the downtown Park to observe the ceremonies.

They included time to reflect on the sacrifices that many have made in military service to Canada throughout the years, including many from Kamloops.

“On the way out, there were four dead horses on the road side, a transport wagon was overturned in a ditch and a railway engine over a bank,” wrote Sidney Winterbottom in a letter to his parents in Kamloops, dated April 17th, 1917.  “The funny thing about it was it all seemed so natural to see those things, and no one was the least bit surprised.”

Winterbottom’s letter was written on the front lines of World War I in France, and also included a pledge to his father to return to Kamloops later that year so the two could hunt deer together.

That was a pledge unfulfilled, as Winterbottom was killed in action just before his 22nd birthday.

Various other Remembrance Day traditions were also part of the holiday Monday event, including honor-guard marches, the laying of wreaths, the singing of both Oh Canada and God Save the King, as well as the reciting of poems.

Kamloops Legion President Daniel Martin was among those leading the ceremony, along with other members of the armed forces and cadet organizations.

First responders were led by Kamloops RCMP Superintendent Jeff Pelley and Kamloops Fire Rescue Chief Ken Uzeloc.

Other dignitaries taking part included MP Frank Caputo, as well as provincial representatives, Kamloops Centre MLA-elect Peter Milobar and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA-elect Ward Stamer, who attended his first Remembrance Day event in Kamloops as a representative for the city, despite his swearing-in as an elected member of the Legislature not officially taking place until tomorrow.

 

Despite being stripped of his role as the spokesperson for the City of Kamloops since last years Remembrance Day, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson was still called upon to lay a wreath on behalf of the City at the event.

Deputy Mayor for November, Dale Bass, along with most other members of city council, were on hand for the event as well, but were not part of the official ceremony.

Among the other highlights at the Monday morning event was a fly-over by a pair of CF-18’s out of Cold Lake, Alberta as the clock struck 11am.

This was one of only two fly-bys conducted by the Canadian Airforce in Canada this Remembrance Day.

While the showers in the forecast did hold off through the ceremony itself, the close of the event at Riverside Park did get hit with some rain as those in attendance, as well as the various honor guards, made their way out of the Park.

Despite the short blast of rain, the honor guards continued with the conclusion of the Remembrance Day event with a traditional march through part of downtown Kamloops.