Penticton to participate in inaugural coast to coast Remembrance Day ceremony

PENTICTON – In what will be a first for Penticton Remembrance Day observations, the city will be participating in a coast-to-coast ceremony.

The No Stone Left Alone Memorial Foundation is an initiative involving school students who pay homage and recognition to the sacrifices made by Canadian military men and women while serving in the armed forces.

This year’s inaugural Penticton observances take place at Lakeview Cemetery at 775 Lower Bench Rd. on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 10:45 a.m.

The public is invited to observe the ceremonies which involve participation by students from KVR Middle School accompanied by soldiers from the British Columbia Dragoons, who will place poppies at veterans' gravesides at the cemetery.

British Columbia Dragoons operations officer Captain Jeff Daley says between seven and 10 members of his unit will be attending the event to assist the students in placing poppies on more than 640 headstones at Lakeview.

“There will be a short ceremony to explain why we’re here, and we’ll be assisting the school kids in distributing the poppies,” Daley says, adding Legion representatives will also be attending the event, which is anticipated to take around an hour.

The foundation’s goal is to educate and engage the next generation to raise awareness and funds for Canadian veterans in the service of soldiers and their families.

The No Stone Left Alone ceremony has involved school students in the honour and recognition of Canada’s war vets for the past seven years and has become a coast to coast initiative during this year of Canada’s 150th birthday.

Over 7,000 students from 60 schools in 10 provinces and three territories will lay a total of 40,000 poppies on veterans’ graves in more than 100 cemeteries across Canada in this year’s observances.

The No Stone Left Alone campaign also conducted an overseas ceremony in Poland on Sept.1.

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