Waterloo Region remembers ‘100 years’ later
City Hall, churches ring out to honour ‘living in peace’
WATERLOO REGION — Bells rang out across Waterloo Region at sunset on Sunday, making 100 years since the end of the First World War.
It was a resounding bookend to a local day of commemoration in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and around the townships, as people joined Canadians across the country in Remembrance Day ceremonies.
The signing of the armistice a century ago ended the pounding of artillery on the battlefields of Europe — ushering in a striking silence, followed by the sounds of sounds of birds singing.
Rev. Christopher Pratt, chaplain for the Royal Canadian Legion Fred Gies Branch, told a crowd of several thousand in downtown Kitchener Sunday morning to pause and think about what peace sounds like.
“It’s appropriate that as we observe this silence, we hear the sounds of the normalcy of life and a community living in peace,” he said.
“On this day, it’s important that we take time to pause, to listen and to remember.”
Moments of silence were observed around the region. In Waterloo, a parade of veterans, soldiers and cadets wound through the uptown area and marched to the cenotaph near City Hall.
Similar parades and gatherings were held at the same morning hour in Galt, Hespeler, Preston, New Hamburg, New Dundee and the Veterans’ Green in the St. Mary’s Heritage District.
A large crowd gathered at the intersection of Duke and Frederick streets in downtown Kitchener, lining up on the street and packing onto temporary bleachers. The city installed iron silhouettes of soldiers at the base of the cenotaph, and a large wooden sign that read “100 Years.”
The ringing of the bells was organized by local legions that wanted to mark the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended fighting in the First World War. Churches and city halls rang their bells 100 times starting at 5:01 p.m.
Small Canadian flags were also placed on the grave sites of First World War veterans at Mountview Cemetery in Cambridge.
Politicians from all levels of government, along with firefighters, police, veterans and others representing major Canadian conflicts from the past century, laid wreaths at local cenotaphs.
Pratt thanked those who’ve served and supported soldiers as they’ve returned home — but reminded the crowd Remembrance Day isn’t about celebrating conflict.
“Each in their own way have laid the foundations for our community life, and the life of our country,” he said.
“We do not gather today to glorify war, but rather to honour sacrifice, not to take our freedoms for granted, but to appreciate the price paid for the liberties we claim and cherish.”
Special focus was dedicated to the generation that fought in the First World War, which was thought to be the last “great war” — until the deadliest conflict in human history, the Second World War, broke out little more than two decades years later in 1939.
“As we stand here today, a century after a war that should have ended all wars, we must vow that we will carry on their legacy of peace, courage and tolerance,” said Raj Saini, member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre.
After the wreaths were laid and the crowds left, Pratt took a quiet moment to talk about why it’s important Canadians don’t just simply “let the past slip into obscurity.”
He said he was moved when he saw a young girl of about five approach a veteran at the Kitchener cenotaph and thank him for his service.
Even a century after the First World War, we can help ensure our collective memories of the brutality of war live on by passing those stories onto the next generation, he said.
“It was amazing. She’s beginning to learn the story, which makes us all Canadians,” Pratt said. “These are the threads of stories that are woven into the fabric of this country.”