Mayor David Gillan, centre left, joins representatives from the Legion No. 70 Branch during the flag-raising ceremony Friday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Lest We Forget

City recognizes Veterans’ Week with flag-raising ceremony

Nov 3, 2023 | 3:57 PM

National Veterans’ Week was officially marked in North Battleford on Friday, with a flag raising ceremony outside City Hall.

A Remembrance Day ceremony is planned at the Don Ross Centre on Nov. 11.

People are asked to be seated at 10:20 a.m. It will also be broadcast on CJNB, Access Communications, and live-streamed.

Mayor David Gillan remarked he would like to see more young people taking part in Remembrance Day ceremonies to continue an important tradition.

“We look forward to seeing everybody at the ceremony,” he said. “We want to get the young people involved. It’s not just for the veterans, or for people my age, it’s for everybody.”

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Gillan said many veterans came home from war wounded and broken, and “many didn’t come home at all.”

“It’s very important for us to never forget,” he said.

North Battleford Royal Canadian Legion Branch 70 President Gordon Brown, whose father and brothers were all veterans, said one way the Legion is trying to get more youth interested in Remembrance Day is by having writing competitions, focused on Remembrance Day, through the schools.

The annual National Youth Remembrance Contests , organized by the Legion National Foundation, with The Royal Canadian Legion and schools across Canada, encourage youth to honour Canada’s veterans by creating art, writing essays or poems, or making video creations.

Brown said he is looking forward to seeing some of the submissions from local kids focused on Remembrance Day.

“It’s getting more young people involved,” he said. “That’s what we want. So far, it’s going very good. We’ve had a lot of co-operation from the high schools and the [elementary] schools. I’m looking forward to getting these essays and reading them.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW