No Stone Left Alone ceremonies continue despite COVID-19.
Written by: Aidan Jonah
Multimedia elements by: Felicia Francis
Video producer: Claire Donoghue
Remembrance Day has been a crucial day, to respect our veterans, for more than 100 years. This year’s celebrations were drastically changed because, COVID-19 forced the cancellation of in-person ceremonies, pushing them online instead.
Schools step up during COVID
Humboldt Public School teacher Robyn Moore had to downsize her school’s No Stone Left Alone ceremony due to the pandemic. Moore noted that Humboldt’s active Legion was the driving force to begin participating in the yearly event, and cited its work in the community as motivation for taking on the task of adapting the ceremony to COVID.
Jean Miso, the Ontario Coordinator for No Stone Left Alone, said that despite most activities being forced online, the important thing “was to be consistent in our ideals.”
Moore was able to bring her students out to the local cemetery, and had her students go out in groups to lay poppies on veterans’ gravestones.
What’s the importance of wearing a poppy?
Miso said the importance of leaving poppies at veterans’ gravestones “was to show [veterans families] that they had been visited.”
Moore remarked that she had received a letter from a veteran’s daughter, giving them hearty thanks for remembering her father’s sacrifices.
Arne Kislenko, a history professor at Ryerson University, emphasized the importance of the poppy as a symbol of “Canada’s collective ability to survive” trying times. Kislenko expressed his frustration with groups who actively refuse to wear the poppy, and made the case for the poppy being a symbol of recognition for the terrible cost of war “which has been a key factor in the development of the world we live in today.”
Story continues in interactive
Leave a Reply