EDMONTON -- The 100th Remembrance Day ceremony hosted at the Beverly Cenotaph in Edmonton looked like it never did before.
While a few dozen gathered on Wednesday at Alberta’s oldest cenotaph to observe two minutes of silence in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, nearly 200 others did so at home via livestream.
“Even though it is different this year, it is so important to observe this day. We know this is not what we pictured or what we expected for this year’s event. All we know, it is important for us to remember together, even when we can’t be together,” Joe Luce, chair of the Beverly Memorial Cenotaph Community, said during the beginning of the ceremony.
The group encouraged those who wanted to pay respects to watch a livestream of the ceremony, and for anyone who attended in person to wear a mask and physically distance.
"It was tough for me to say, 'Don't come,'" Luce, a Canadian Armed Forces vet who served seven years, told CTV News Edmonton.
"And it was a lot of the veterans here (who) thought the same. You know, we're going to go no matter what because this cenotaph is worth it. The people are worth it here."
One attendee, who was deployed eight times in Dubai, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Kuwait over 33-and-a-half years of service, said he appreciated those who didn't let the pandemic stop them from honouring the service of himself and his colleagues.
"I worked with people who were in World War II, as well as the Korean War, so I've seen a lot of people and they've got more stories than what I have, but we all share the same sacrifices, basically," William Ingrey told CTV News Edmonton.
"It means that people still respect what we're doing, and what the military still does for them in service of the country."
When the cenotaph was dedicated in 1920, Beverly was a community of about 1,000 people.
Even so, the town sent 170 men in the First World War, nearly one-fifth of its population.
"These people left their families, they left the town, the workforce... A lot of these people just came from England and Scotland to set up a home here, and then they get called to go back to fight," Luce recalled.
Only 142 soldiers came home.
Less than two years after the war ended, the cenotaph was the first in the province dedicated.
“Yes, we're going through challenges right now," Luce commented. But, he added, "We have it so good here, we gotta think it's becuase of them and their sacrifice that we enjoy what we have."
The names of the 28 killed in the First World War were read before attendees observed two minutes of silence.
Then, Squadron 408, a unit of Griffon tactical helicopters that is part of 1 Wing, Kingston, based at CFB Edmonton, flew over the cenotaph.
Another attendee, Hughie Yetman, originally a Newfoundlander, said he attends the Beverly ceremony every year in honour of those killed in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel in 1916.
"It's only like 25 steps and I'm here. To be here in person and show the ultimate respect for the ultimate people," the Beverly resident said.
"(Canadians) are humble enough to say thank you, at any time. At all times."
A wreath will be left out for people to visit or take pictures with for one week.
The Beverly community was annexed by the City of Edmonton in 1961.
