The skies opened up from days of on-going rain and showers. The morning was beautiful.
You could smell the wet leaves and the air was cool and crisp.
Liam and I headed down the hill to Fort Langley, just about 2K away from our home.
We arrived fairly early because of the expected crowds.
Everyone started at the historic community center in the heart of town.
A number of scouts had already arrived and the atmosphere was very up-beat.
It was fantastic to see the RCMP in full Regalia and the sunshine had given them that extra sparkle. When I was younger and living in Jamaica, my first images that I pictured in my head of Canada, were that of the red jacketed Mounties and Christmas trees everywhere (we had no fir or pine trees and so I called them Christmas trees).
Anyway, I digress. You have to admit, their uniforms are really quite handsome and enduring.
It was great to see so many children attending the ceremonies. The crowds this year was estimated at 2,500-3,000. Over double from the year previous. Was it the rain in past years?
Who knows, but I hope it grows again (rain or shine).
At 10:40am, we headed out along Glover Rd. to the cemetery and to the war memorial cenotaph.
This is where the crowds started to grow in numbers. The walk was short but really quite beautiful. The golden foliage on the mature, stately trees set the stage.
It was amazing to see the diversity not only in age, but ethnicity. There were children, teens, adults and the elderly. Aboriginal elders, veterans, soldiers and families. Today we stood as one.
I arrived behind many of the crowds, so finding a place with a good view to shoot was next to impossible. I decided to take a few more images from behind the stage and absorb the ceremony.
The ceremony was quite amazing from start to end. It all went to plan.
Rev. Pam Worthington gave a homily that really was quite poignant.
A choir of young teens sang a wonderful song that was written by a local mother and son. There was a lone bagpipe and the "Last Call" from a bugle, both played very well and led into the moment of silence so we could reflect on the dead and current soldiers still in harms way. Immediately following, the deep rumbling of five planes broke the silence as they made two pass overs. I could barely see them from my vantage point but the sound was incredible.
Finally, when all was over, everyone placed their wreaths up at the cenotaph and slowly made their way to place their poppy on the cold stone monument. I wish I had time to take images of the dwindling count of WW2 and Korean vets, but did get a shot of one one our boys currently serving in Afghanistan.
I really encourage you to go if you have not. I have now for the past few years and found it quite profound.
Thank You for making this country and world a safer place.
