Outlook’s Remembrance Day services put on by Branch #262 of the Royal Canadian Legion will undoubtedly be remembered for years to come, as a special additional event to the branch’s usual morning program helped mark the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I.
Inside the gymnasium at Outlook High School in the morning, Legion Branch President Mike Frantz welcomed a fine turnout to the program, which was led musically by the OHS senior band under the direction of Mrs. Morgan Dingle. Recent LCBI graduate Chastan Sim – also the most recent recipient of Outlook’s ‘Youth of the Year’ award – recited ‘In Flanders Fields’ with an emotional resonance.
Following letters of greetings from the provincial and federal governments, the band performed a song entitled ‘The Prayer’ by Victor Lopez, which was followed by Branch Secretary Justin Turton giving tribute to Arlo Stranden, a 92-year old local war veteran who served in the Canadian Air Force.
Rev. Lawrence Hahn gave a powerful address to those gathered, speaking of the need to do away with selfishness – one of the root causes of any kind of conflict – and help your fellow man. Hahn’s message was followed by the hymn ‘O God, Our Help in Ages Past’ with musical accompaniment by Sandy Stephenson.
The service in the gym concluded with the laying of the wreaths, an acknowledgement of businesses, organizations and individuals who contributed to the 2018 Poppy Campaign, and the Pledge of Remembrance.
Later that day, just before dusk at 5:00, a large crowd at the Outlook & District Heritage Museum braved the cold to attend the ‘Bells of Peace’ ceremony, in which ten people would ring the town’s old fire hall bell ten times each, marking 100 tolls to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War.
The ceremony was brief, wrapping up in just under fifteen minutes, and perhaps the paper program said it best: “The ceremony will proceed regardless of the weather. Fifteen minutes standing in the cold is a minor inconvenience, compared to the horror of Canadian soldiers who stood for endless days in the trenches.”
If there were any complaints about the outdoor event keeping people in the proverbial freezer, they weren’t heard by this reporter, or they were kept to a bare minimum.
Those who tolled the old town fire hall bell ten times each were Outlook Mayor Ross Derdall, Branch #262 President Mike Frantz, Mavis Tweedie (mother of Ian Tweedie, currently serving with the Canadian Armed Forces), Floyd Howell (descendant of World War I veteran Lorne Martin Howell, who was killed in action September 29, 1918 – just over a month before the end of the war), Zane Sparks (Outlook Elementary School), Justin Morten (LCBI), Kendra Harrington (Outlook High School), Dalas King (Outlook Fire Department), Richard Brenner (Outlook Ambulance Services), and Sgt. Mark Langager (Outlook RCMP).
“As the historic bell rings this evening, here and in communities across our country, we will remember the horrors of war, and feel the joy that the promise of peace brings to our souls,” said Branch Treasurer Gerry Gross. “We invite each guest to remember in his or her own way the service of veterans to our nation. In doing so, we will honor the words of the poet Laurence Binyon, ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them’. Thank you for your presence at this important event.”
Amidst the shivering wind and the tolling of the bell, the solemn silence among the crowd gathered at the museum was otherwise deafening.
