Hundreds mark Remembrance Day in Cornwall

Playing of The Last Post. Scenes from the Remembrance Day service in Cornwall, Ont. Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – A crisp, sunny Saturday with a light wind was the backdrop for hundreds of people at a Remembrance Day ceremony in the city.

The ceremony opened with a march of the colour guard down Second Street West, into Legion Memorial Park, before the playing of The Last Post followed by a moment of silence.

During the moment of silence, all that could be heard was the bubbling of the fountain, which was operating during a Nov. 11 ceremony for the first time in recent memory.

Father Kevin Maloney held the prayer before various dignitaries, businesses and families of veterans, present and past, laid wreaths at the foot of the cenotaph.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 297 Second Vice President Ron Racine said he hadn’t been master of ceremonies for a few years but was amazed at the size of the crowd around Second Street West and Bedford Street.

While thanking the public for donations to the local poppy campaign, Legion President Linda Fisher said the community has three homeless veterans and they would be doing whatever they can to help them.

The ceremony was around 45 minutes, which was followed by some members of the public coming forward to place their poppies at the foot of the cenotaph.

Click on an image below to open a slideshow of photos from the Remembrance Day ceremony.