Hundreds gathered at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month November at the cenotaph in HH Knoll Lakeview Park to join veterans and Legionnaires to honour those who died in war. Young and old stood in the sunlight of a brisk November morning to mark Remembrance Day.
Aircraft from the Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, three in all, flew over the crowd at the war memorial in a tribute to the memory of fallen soldiers and veterans of the Second World War.
After his Remembrance Day address, Mayor Badawey invited Anne Malcolm to the lecturn, to read a poem she had written, at his request, to express the essence of the day from a young person's perspective. Every year, the mayor asks children from all local schools to write poetry or prose for Remembrance Day. He selects from dozens of submissions several to read at various Remembrance Day events around the city during Remembrance Week. Anne, a student at St. Patrick School, and her parents were proud to take part with the mayor. Other dignitaries who were invited by Royal Canadian Legion Branch 56 included MP Malcolm Allan, MPP Peter Kormos, and Regional Councillor Bob Saracino.
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Soldier-comrades of the late Tyler Crooks came from their bases in Petawawa and Trenton to be part of the Remembrance Day ceremony in their friend's hometown. Cpl. Tyler Crooks was killed in Afghanistan on his 24th birthday. He was one of four Canadians killed March 20, 2009. At that time, 116 Canadian soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan. As of November 2010, 153 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. There were 66,665 Canadian soldiers killed in the First World War; 46,998 in the Second World War; 516 Canadians killed in Korea; and 121 Canadians killed in Peacekeeping around the world.
