![Kamloops Legion to hold invite only Remembrance Day Ceremony at Battle Street Cenotaph](https://media-cdn.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/1605/files/2021/10/legion-ceremony-2020.jpg)
Remembrance Day 2020 ceremonies in Kamloops. (Photo via Kamloops Legion)
Just like it was last year, there will not be a large Remembrance Day Ceremony at Riverside Park in Kamloops on November 11.
Kamloops Legion President Daniel Martin tells NL News they will be holding an invite only ceremony at the Battle Street Cenotaph, with a maximum of 100 people in attendance, including veterans and dignitaries.
“What we ask is the population please respect the fact that we’re going with the PHO orders and that is not up to us,” he said Friday. “What we would like to do also is invite the population, if they would like, to deposit wreaths at the cenotaph to do it after the ceremony.”
He says the Legion was hoping to return to Riverside Park this year but noted that holding a large event this year came with several logistical challenges because of COVID-19 restrictions.
“We talked to the city to see if we could have it at Riverside Park, but the problem is if we were to do that, we’d have to do what they call the COVID protocol and enclose the entire area,” he said. “We would have to have one entry and one exit and then if its more than 100 people, we have to ask everybody for proof of vaccination. Everybody has to be masked as well, so we’re planning for the cenotaph at Battle Street instead.”
“We’re really hoping that next year we’ll be back to normal at Riverside Park.”
Martin says the 2021 Remembrance Day ceremony will be livestreamed on the Legion’s facebook page if people want to watch it at home.
And he notes, there will also be a fly over by members of 4 Wing Cold Lake on Remembrance Day on November 11 this year.
Poppy Campaign Launching Oct. 29
Martin also tells NL News that people will be able to pick up a poppy at several places in the Kamloops when the Legion’s annual poppy campaign gets underway on October 29.
“We will still have tables to have poppy available everywhere in the City at the normal malls like Northills Mall, Aberdeen, Costco, Walmart, Superstore…we will have our table set up,” he said.
Martin says people can also contact the Legion if they want a box of poppies at their businesses.
“We expect to give the poppy boxes to the general population for their stores. We will have drivers that will go around replenishing the boxes and giving new poppies and new boxes when they are full, that is not a problem,” he added.
He adds he is grateful for the generosity that the Kamloops community has shown towards the poppy campaign in the past, hoping that continues this year as well.