CALGARY – Hundreds of Calgary students gathered Monday to remember the sacrifices of Canadian veterans at two No Stone Left Alone ceremonies as part of a national movement to ensure those who made the ultimate sacrifices are not forgotten.
This is the sixth year the ceremonies have been held in Calgary, but the first time veterans will be honoured as part of the No Stand Left Alone initiative at the Queen’s Park Cemetery in the northwest. Students from Juno Beach Academy of Canadian Studies had hosted ceremonies at the cemetery prior to the school's closure.
A poppy was placed on each of the 5,000 military headstones at the cemetery. Just over 400 students from St. Joseph School in grades one to nine attended the ceremony. Grade six student Molly Kavanagh pitched the idea for their school to participate to their principal, with the help of two friends.
"I hope they take the message of remembering them, honouring them and being more observant of veterans and our past ones and realizing they did this for us and that's the reason we have our freedoms today," said Kavanagh.
Principal Paula Robinson said the three girls also led an assembly to explain the work of the No Stone Left Alone foundation, to teach fellow students Remembrance Day is more than wearing a poppy.
"We believe the action of coming here, of preparing for today, actually laying the poppies, there’s 5,000 that we’re going to lay today, that the act will help our students to understand deeper and make it more meaningful for this year’s Remembrance Day and every Remembrance day to come."
A second ceremony, held at Burnsland Cemetery on Spiller Road S.E. was also attended by students.
After the ceremony, students were asked to write reflection letters about the experience. Maureen Bianchni-Purvis, whose parents were veterans, started the No Stone Left Alone movement in 2011. The first ceremony took place in Edmonton.
The goal of the foundation is to eventually honour all 117,000 veterans with a poppy places on their headstones every November.
Last year, 9,236 students honoured 58,941 veterans in 105 ceremonies held at cemeteries across the country.
