Whenever Remembrance Day rolls around, my mind goes to the Gibsons Legion. I can hear Taps being played on a cadet’s bugle. I can feel the cold pavement seeping into my bones as I take pictures of folks in the Colour Party braving the elements in not much more than their uniforms. I can recall that in all the years only once was the entire ceremony brought indoors. That was the year the teeming rain caused my camera to fog over so badly half the pictures looked ghostly.
I can see the flag being lowered to half-staff and the Colour Party’s eyes misting as the mournful music echoes out over the parade ground.
If I close my eyes I can see all my favourite old soldiers sitting in the front row at the following indoor service, paying rapt attention to whatever the padre of the day had to say about the roles of their long lost friends.
I remember Glen Mardon with his ever-present chewing gum and his great grin. Beside him could be Terry Connor, his glorious British humour always intact. Next to him for many years was Bob Maxwell. He was an amazing gent, well over 90 and still learning new things. I always suspected he knew more about digital cameras than I ever will.
Some of the military men and women had a tough time coming out to remember their colleagues. Huddled in blankets, sitting in their wheelchairs, still they came to show their respect. Ellaf Olafson earned a medal for his engineering feats during the Second World War. By the time I knew him, words were no longer important to him but paying homage to his comrades still was.
This year I will mark Remembrance Day at the final fall conference of District 21 Toastmasters. It’s somehow fitting in a world where privacy and publicity continually go head to head to spend two minutes thinking about the men and women who fought to give us the right to speak our minds. We are privileged people.
When I consider the Gibsons Legion and Toastmasters in the same headspace, my mind goes instantly to Larry Boyd. For years he conducted the Remembrance Day ceremonies. And for years he was the treasurer of Morning Star Toastmasters. Both positions he held humbly.
There are no better representatives of the Canada I hold dear than the men and women I met through the Legion. They have my heart.
