Vacant Chair ceremony honours those we’ve lost
The Freemasons of Lethbridge took part in remembering the individuals who made the supreme sacrifice and never returned home, Sunday evening with the Vacant Chair Ceremony.
The Vacant Chair is a ceremony of remembrance for those who made the sacrifice of their life during a time of war, peace-keeping missions, or within daily law enforcement, to make sure that their stories are honoured and never forgotten within their community.
"What we used the vacant chair to represent is to pay remembrance and respect to all those who paid the supreme sacrifice, whether that be in WWI, WWII, the Korean War, peace-keeping missions, all the way to Afganastan, we symbolize that vacant chair for those who never returned," says Gerald Waldern, Past Grand Master. "It is a very intimate ceremony, some of our visitors have described it as a very touching, intimate and very meaningful ceremony to them, and that’s not from Masons who are saying that, that is from public members that come."
Since 2000, the Freemasons of Lethbridge have performed this ceremony that is open to the public to attend. Every year the group has a featured presenter to help share the stories of those lost during service. This year’s presenter is 12-year-old Abigail Reimer, a grade seven French Immersion student from Gilbert Paterson Middle School, who presented her research on the Lethbridge connection to the historical moment when guns fell silent in the First World War, 100 years ago.
"As a heritage project, Abigail took on what she thought was a very important story that needed to be told which was one of the last guns to fire during World War I, which was from the 39th battery also known as the Lethbridge battery, before the guns were lowered," says Waldern.
"She was invited to go to the
Canadian War Museum in Ottawa last week, and she was also invited to the Belgium Embassy to make her presentation that she did tonight which is quite an honour."
Honorary wreath were laid down for members of the Army, Navy, Air Forces, for the government, community, and first responders who made the supreme sacrifice for the betterment of society. Remembering those lives given for the safety of others is an important lesson to remember.
"The importance of it is that if we fail to remember, then those who deployed overseas and put their lives at risk for the benefit
of society, that whole sacrifice loses its value, so we have to remember," says Wayne King, Past Master. "It’s been said many times, if you don't remember you are bound to repeat and I’ll tell you, you don't ever want to repeat a war."
The Freemasons of Lethbridge helped the community gather, remember and honour those who played a vital part in the peaceful society we have within our community and country.
The next opportunity to pay your respects to those who made the supreme sacrifice, will be Nov. 11, Remembrance Day, with events around the city, starting around 10 a.m.