Hundreds of Edmontonians attended a number of ceremonies and services to recognize the sacrifice made by Canadians on the battle ground on Remembrance Day.

Ceremony at the U of A Butterdome

At the largest Remembrance Day event in Edmonton, the ceremony held each year at the U of A Butterdome, thousands were in attendance.

Among them was Corporal Terron Monroe, who serves with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

“It gives everyone a chance to look back and just appreciate everything that’s going on, and the sacrifices that everyone makes,” Monroe said.

For Corporal Monroe, the annual ceremony is emotional.

“When I see the vets walk by, I get pretty teary-eyed, I don’t know why,” Monroe said. “It’s pretty emotional.”

For the Greff family, Remembrance Day brings a certain range of emotions for the family who has lost so much.

Master Corporal Byron Greff died on October 29, 2011, when he was in a bus convoy that was targeted by a suicide bomber.

Before his death, Greff had just returned to duty after being home with his wife Lindsay as she gave birth to their second child, a baby girl.

“For our family, I always say, every day is Remembrance Day for us,” Lindsay Greff said.

Lindsay, along with her children Kellar and Brielle laid a wreath during Friday’s ceremony – she told CTV News she hadn’t participated in a Remembrance Day event since her husband’s death.

“You know, deep down that people care and remember but it’s nice to come and just see it,” Greff said.

Marking Remembrance Day at Light Horse Park

A parade from Holy Trinity Anglican Church in south Edmonton led to the Remembrance Day Ceremony at Light Horse Park, on 84 Avenue and 105 Street.

In addition to a wreath-laying ceremony, the Welberg Bell gave the ceremony even more meaning for the South Alberta Light horse Regiment.

The bell came from a church in a Dutch community the regiment helped liberate during the Second World War.

“The bell was hidden from the Nazis because during the Second World War in Holland they took all the brass bells, all the iron bells, and melted them down for the war effort,” Lt. Col Troy Steele said.

The bell was a gift from two communities in Holland.

It rang during Friday’s ceremony, and the one overseas also rang – as a way for Dutch citizens to express gratitude to the nearly 6,400 Canadians who gave their lives for freedom.

“The fact that this celebrates sacrifices that were made together so many years ago, and that we’re remembering it together at the same time, it’s a beautiful commemoration,” Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said.

The bell will also travel throughout Alberta.

Remembering those who died in Afghanistan

A special Remembrance Day ceremony was held at the Ainsworth Dyer Memorial Bridge in Rundle Park Friday morning, with a focus on those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war in Afghanistan.

The bridge was named in memory of Ainsworth Dyer, who died in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan in 2002, because it served as a backdrop for a big moment in the young Corporal’s life.

“Shortly after Ains died I was talking to an army officer, and he was talking to my daughter and asked, ‘How do you want Ains to be remembered?’ and she said ‘Well, you know, we got engaged on that bridge’,” Aart Van Sloten, father of Dyer’s fiancée, said.

What started as a memorial for Dyer grew, and many now attend to pay respects to others who died in that war

“Remembrance Day is the one kind of holiday that we don’t take, we just give, and it’s really beautiful that this day has touched a family so many years later, and they continue to give back, and they continue to bring the crosses, and that’s really beautiful,” Renee Thomson, whose friend died serving in Afghanistan, said.

During the ceremony, 158 wooden crosses were placed in the grass next to the bridge, Thomson said the crosses help her, and others, come to terms with the deaths of their loved ones.

“For us who are unable to say goodbye to our friends who passed away in Afghanistan, it’s kind of that once-a-year ability to remember them, and possibly bring closure, and also honour and tribute their life,” Thomson said.

Plus, for those who are still serving, Friday’s ceremony could be seen as a chance to teach the younger generation an important lesson.

“I’m trying to show my kids, by the way I live, that we don’t forget the sacrifices made, and that we owe it to those that fell to do our best with the life we’ve got,” Capt. Chris Scott said.

With files from Susan Amerongen, Amanda Anderson and Taylor Oseen