The lack of an official Remembrance Day ceremony at Osoyoos’ cenotaph disappointed some residents leading to questions as to why Oliver and other towns held ceremonies but Osoyoos did not. The Times-Chronicle reached out to both the Legion and the mayor of Osoyoos to help set the record straight.
A crucial point to remember is that Remembrance Day ceremonies are the sole purview of the Royal Canadian Legion, with municipalities like the Town of Osoyoos playing only a supporting role.
The Osoyoos cenotaph was dedicated in 1963 and honours the memory of locals who died in WWI, WWII and Korea. Don Urquhart photo.
In a ‘normal’ year – the last being 2019 – Remembrance Day would take place at the Sonora Community Centre with somewhere between 500-700 people in attendance. This would be followed by a walk down to the cenotaph where six major wreaths would be laid.
“I’ve been here for 30 years and it’s always been an inside one and an outside one,” explains Paul Erickson a member of the Osoyoos Legion executive committee, adding that he understands the decision was originally made because of typically inclement weather around Nov. 11.
“We used to be up at the old Elks Hall when it was up where the Baptist Church is now. There was a garage where Tim Hortons is now so people would park there and all the veterans would line up and march down from the Elks Hall to the cenotaph.
While this saw part of Main Street blocked off, the traffic was still an issue he notes. “When you’re trying to hold something and you’ve got a 16 wheeler rolling by, yeah it was very disturbing.
“The reason we didn’t do it this year, or last year either, was because of the limited number of people allowed,” under COVID-19 rules, he says.
“With the limit on crowds, we can’t control it down there because people tend to spill out onto the street and we didn’t have the people available for crowd control and whatnot,” Erickson says.
The area is not ideal given the need for social distancing and the narrow strip of space between the cenotaph and what is effectively still Hwy 3.
“The way our cenotaph is set up we just don’t have room there and the grass outside the art gallery next door is full of dog crap and you don’t want people tiptoeing around that.”
He adds that when there were upwards of 700 people at the Senora Centre this meant a couple of hundred people at the cenotaph.
“And the general age of our veterans, the ones that we do have, you can’t expect them to stay out there because they have to sit down and we have a number of people that have PTSD, they can’t handle crowds like that.
“That’s why this year the priority is on the veterans and widows,” he says.
As such the decision was made to only hold a ceremony upstairs in the Legion, which meant capacity was restricted to just 50 people. Once tickets were spoken for by the vets, their spouses and widows of vets, the remaining tickets were available to the general public who had called to be put on a waiting list.
For Erickson, it makes no difference where you are when you reflect and pay your respects. “You can be just as sad inside as you can outside,” he says.
Meanwhile, echoing Erickson’s comments, Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff said that while the town is not directly involved, “we are certainly supportive and we buy a wreath and I always attend.”
McKortoff says she was invited to the Legion ceremony last week which she attended and took part in the ceremony, as she always has. “We support the legion any way we can but it’s the Legion’s decision,” she underscores.
To do a larger ceremony at the Sonora Centre would have required staff to check vaccine cards to make sure people are double vaccinated for instance, and that proved to be unworkable for the Legion.
“The legion members decided that it was going to be this year, a ceremony at the Legion as it was last year and that is their choice and I was totally comfortable with their decision.”
She noted that following the ceremony at the Legion some wreaths were taken and placed at the cenotaph. Three or four Legion members also went out to the cemetery and did a small ceremony there.
One of the issues that has emerged from this year’s Remembrance Day is that of the cenotaph itself.
Its location is not amenable to large crowds and as a local resident commented to this reporter, the current cenotaph could stand a makeover or even replacement. In comparison, she highlighted the more august examples in Oliver and in other small communities across the region.
When asked if perhaps it’s time for a new cenotaph Erickson replied, “well there’s really no place in town we can put one,” adding “it would be nice to have a new cenotaph.”
Putting the same question to McKortoff, she replied: “I do not think it’s ever come up before.” But she notes that at some point in the future it’s likely the town hall will be replaced because it is a “bit of a dog’s breakfast of bits and pieces now.” This of course would require a close look at the whole property and what’s on it.
She notes the town has a plan, in fact, the first glimpse of a possible new town hall – with a $10 million price tag – was unveiled in July. “Right now it’s expensive and there seems to be lots of uses for our resources so it’s not going to be right away, I don’t know when,” she adds.
As for next year, Erickson is confident that Remembrance Day in Osoyoos will return to the Sonora/cenotaph program, COVID-19 willing.
