With the trumpet player’s final notes of the last post trumpet, a solemn, two-minute silence fell over a crowd at the 84th Saskatoon Remembrance Day service at SaskTel Centre.
More than 9,600 people stood in silent reflection, remembering those who have served Canada and those who continue their service today.
A bagpiper broke the silence at the minute mark while the crowd continued to stand, hands folded and heads bowed.
At the start of the ceremony, hundreds of troops, cadets, and veterans paraded across the stage to the applause of the audience in what is regarded as Canada’s largest indoor Remembrance Day ceremony.
Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield was first to present her wreath followed by Conservative MPs Brad Trost and Kevin Waugh, Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison and Police Chief Clive Weighill. By the end of the ceremony, more than 200 wreaths and crosses were laid at the foot of the old cenotaph.
This year’s ceremony marked the 90th anniversary of the Canadian Legion, the 175th anniversary of the Anavets and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands.