Remembrance Day in Mountain Grove

Nov 16, 2022

It was the warmest Remembrance Day in memory, as a crowd gathered from the surrounding area, to join students from Land O’Lakes Public School, cadets up from Kingston, Arden Legion members and Reverend Vernon Scott at the Mountain Grove Cenotaph at on Friday, November 11.

The Mountain Grove ceremony takes place at 9:30 each November 11, so Arden Legion members can complete the ceremony in time to drive to Arden and set up for the 10:55, when the ceremony at the Arden Cenotaph starts.

The ceremony, located as it is in the shadow of the cenotaph containing the names of people from the small village who perished in WW1 and WW2, adds a poignancy to the ceremony each year.

The Mountain Grove ceremony provides an opportunity for the students from Land O’Lakes Public, which is located a short walk away from the Cenotaph, to attend and participate in the ceremony, bringing the average age of attendees down by several decades.

Two students participated by placing a wreath on behalf of the school, and another two participated by reading “In Flanders Field” and the “Response to In Flanders Field” late in the Ceremony.

The fall browns and greys, along with partially overcast skies and warm temperatures made from a lovely scene at the cenotaph this year, only disrupted by a bees’ nest somewhere on the site that must have been disturbed.

A reception was held, following the ceremony in Arden, at the Arden Legion Hall.