Connection – North Shore Veterans’ Council Canada

In silence

2022-01-292021-11-05 by Editorial Writer

For two minutes, we stand in silence. For some, this is harder than for others. It only takes two minutes to acknowledge bravery and sacrifice. To show respect for those who made a choice that launched them into unknown chaos.

It would have been powerful to stand in silence for two minutes along with the 15,000 troops who participated on that first Remembrance Day. Everything stopped. People, buses, everything. To be a part of the moment when the attention of a nation focussed on acknowledgement, gratitude and grief. To handle all that energy flowing through each person and onto the next. To feel that connection to something lighter and more profound than the next thing to be done. To pause amidst the day-to-day to say, albeit silently, "Thank You".

As a child, I remember stopping on Frederick Street in Edinburgh at 11 AM on November 11th. I was with my Mum. I remember my hand in hers. I remember looking around and seeing other men and women just stopping on the street and standing still. I can even remember when I got on a bus and was told by the bus conductor that we would be stopping for those two minutes.

What stands out the most, though, is that in the silence of people, I could still hear the roar of nature.

Fifty-plus years on, I still stop, even if I am not attending a formal ceremony. The chance to reconnect my soul and self to the deeper threads of humanity is important. This, too, we must not forget. Nor forget that silence is never empty, even though it isn't always heard.

November 11th is the one day in the year where I don't need a smart-watch reminding me to take a 'mindfulness' break. Those two minutes of silence are a part of the day and will probably be so for the rest of my life.

This year though, I think it is time not just to feel the energetic flow of gratitude; I can also consider what I have done with the freedoms so dearly bought by our Veterans. Have I done those freedoms harm or extended them as best I can to those around me? Do I take them for granted or hoard them like an entitlement?

This year, I shall search in the silence about the nature of my gratitude, and it may just be a little bit uncomfortable.

Joss Rowlands

My grandfather died in World War I when my mother was only 6-months old. They never met. His service records were lost in a fire, although he was mentioned in Dispatches. I am the only relative in our family line who can stand for his memory.
I am the CEO of an international group that supports leaders on foreign (and domestic) soil. The rest of the time, I'm a writer, coach, gardener, reader, knitter, grandmother, cat-mother, and the spouse of a Veteran.

Getting Ready

2021-11-162021-10-15 by Editorial Writer

As the new 'kid on the block', as it were, I'm finding the process needed to set up the Remembrance Day ceremonies very interesting. Despite having done event planning at various times in my life, I hadn't truly appreciated the number of restrictions there are in putting on the North Vancouver Remembrance Day Ceremonies.

What I thought

Perhaps naively, I had imagined it would be pretty much the same standard process every year. Of course, last year was the first time we engaged with live-streaming on YouTube. Finding audio and video specialists who would work with a not-for-profit organisation was something we hadn't done before. And we'd had to apply to the Ministry of Health for permission to hold a gathering. I'd also taken for granted that every group of participants, be they a band, choir, or marching unit, would know 'what to do'. And before 2020, I was pretty much spot on in my thinking.

What I've learned

Things are seldom what they seem. Veteran's Affairs, Canada, prescribe the format of every Remembrance Ceremony. The sequence repeated year after year, giving the ceremonies their dignity.

From both historical and modern-day conflicts, the Veterans choose to come - they need no invitation. They are always the backbone.

Then there are the various other participants, Pipe Band, Choir, Ceremonial marching band or unit, the members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Police Officers who stand 'on guard', to name just a few.

There is the Chaplain whose words echo our collective thanks. The Parade Commander who runs the order of ceremony and maintains the precision.

The 39th Field Engineering Brigade, 6th Field Squadron, typically provide the Honour Guard at the Cenotaph. They also offer the JP Fell armouries for the after-parade luncheon venue. There is no luncheon this year quite simply because the gathering rules changed too late.

Let's not forget the members of BC Ambulance Service and the firefighters who stand by in case of need; some of them are veterans.

The Cenotaph

What about the Cenotaph? Who looks after it? Who cleans the plaque that acknowledges purpose? Who takes care of the marble slabs that bear the names of our fallen citizens? Who cleans the site of leaves and other debris?

Since 2020 many of the answers to these questions have changed. Not every supporter is still willing to help due to constantly shifting health concerns due to Covid-19, other illnesses, ageing and retirement. Still, there is hope that those veterans of modern conflicts will someday step forward and take up the reins of stewardship for this event.

In the meantime

At a site survey on a rainy Thursday afternoon, I finally met several people from the City of North Vancouver. I learned that they are the ones who make sure that the site is cleared and cleaned. They are also the people who make sure that there are stanchions, chairs, ropes, tents, porta-potties, extra policing, and barricades for the years when we march up Lonsdale Avenue. We sometimes even have risers, although not this year.

I had many questions and discovered that some of the answers would have to be re-discovered. It's not that they are lost to time, it's just that the who and how and when has been mislaid.

November 11th 2021, is a Thursday barely four weeks from today. I'm learning that things can and probably will change between now and then. On the day, we will have the best event possible for this year.

And next year will be the same, and yet different, again.

Joss Rowlands

My grandfather died in World War I, when my mother was only 6-months old. They never met. His service records were lost in a fire, although he was mentioned in Dispatches. I am the only relative in our family line who can stand for his memory.
The rest of the time, I'm a writer, coach, gardener, reader, knitter, grandmother, cat-mother, spouse and dabbler in all sorts of neuroscience.

Time Is Getting Close, Folks!

2021-11-162021-08-24 by Editorial Writer

We know that Remembrance Day is an annual event and that getting ready might be somewhat repetitive. However, there are so many moving parts that there is something new or different to factor in each year.

Last year, of course, it was the Covid-19 restrictions that made us adapt - and we discovered live-streaming, which we are planning on doing again this year. Covid-19 and the Delta variant are still with us, and thankfully many have been double vaccinated, which may mean that we can have a bigger event this year.

I had the privilege recently of being present when one of our NSVCC executives met with the sound engineer and the videographer to discuss this year's event. We met at the Cenotaph and mapped out the difference between a 'full event' and a 'restricted' event.

What's the difference?

The full event includes a "march on" at the Cenotaph with the full participation of various organisations, including the JP Fell Pipeband, Cadets, Navy League, RCMP and RCMP Veterans, and North Vancouver City and District Fire and EHS. It includes the presence of the public, which in past years has been up to 15,000!

The ceremony concludes with a parade to the JP Fell armouries in the 1500 block of Forbes in North Vancouver.

Last year the restricted event we hosted was one of the very few approved by the Ministry of Health and was watched online by many community members who would normally have been in attendance.

No such approval is needed for this year, even though we still have to abide by the health restrictions in place in November!

So planning an event of this size is tricky - not due to the size but because of not knowing what will happen next. It's a bit like everyday life really, we plan for the worst, hope for the best and keep soldiering on.

Regardless of size, we are focused on maintaining the tradition of a well thought out community ceremony on November 11th, which we have maintained since 1948.