By Caitlin Brezinski

Shellbrook community marches in honour of soldiers

Nov 12, 2014 | 5:52 AM

A Remembrance Day service held at the Shellbrook Theatre on Tuesday morning let community members come together to honour veterans and those still serving.   

“We have a wonderful community here and we have great support every year,” said Helen Dagenais, president at the Royal Canadian Legion in Shellbrook.

As part of the ceremony, a choir provided songs and prayers were given.  After the service, people were able to march with legion members and RCMP to the Legion Hall for lunch. 

Dagenais said it’s important to keep the tradition alive and to also be aware that wars are still being fought every day. 

“There’s always going to be wars, and we’re always going to be involved,” she said.  “It’s important that [people] have respect for the veterans and active military as well for what they do every day.”  

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Staff Sgt. Robert Lutzko of the Shellbrook RCMP detachment attended the ceremony with three other RCMP.  He said Remembrance Day ceremonies remind people that soldiers gave their lives so that people can enjoy what they have today. 

“Without that, we lose a little bit of our heritage I think without them being aware of what’s going on in the past,” he said. 

Homer Bator, a veteran who served in Cypress in 1965 said people don’t always realize that Canadian peacekeepers are still working and face danger all the time. 

“This world is not just peaceful.  We’re peaceful in Canada here but it’s not like that in many places,” he said.

Bator said the recent events in Ottawa woke a lot of people up because people may have been forgetting the reality of the job. 

“The soldier’s job can be dangerous,” he said. “Usually we don’t talk about it or anything but it can be dangerous.”

Tracey Hope attended the ceremony and said it’s important for people to understand the sacrifices veterans have made and to continue to honour them.

“We’re a small community and we have a lot of veterans and we just want to make sure that we let them know that we are thankful and that we remember and that we want to pass it on to our children as well so that they know,” she said. 

She said she’s had friends and family who served which has been difficult to go through. 

“We want to make sure that we don’t have to go through that again,” she said.  “We want to make sure the kids work towards peace.”

Hope said even though people come from all different kinds of backgrounds, Canadians all have something in common.

“We’re still behind [our military] and we still are thankful, very grateful for everything they do.”

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