Cauldron lighting kicks off Remembrance Day events in Vancouver – November 11, 2012

For the third year, Remembrance Day in Vancouver will begin with a brief Generation-to-Generation ceremony and the lighting of the cauldron in Jack Poole Plaza.

When: 8 a.m. Sunday, November 11, 2012
Where: Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver Convention Centre

The ceremony, aimed at saluting the new generation of Canadians who serve our country, is marked by the handover of Canada’s flag from a senior veteran to a member of Canada’s new generation of veterans as the cauldron flames come to life.

The transfer acknowledges the continuing service and loyalty of Canadians from generation to generation.

Regimental units taking part in this year’s ceremony include 50 members of the 39 Canadian Brigade and HMCS Discovery. RCMP officers will stand as sentries while the Vancouver Flag Party marches in.

Trumpeter Junichi Fujii of the 15th Field RCA Band will sound the Last Post and Reveille. Pipe Major Alistair Pattison of the B.C. Regiment Pipes and Drums will pipe the Lament. The cauldron will be extinguished at 11 a.m., coinciding with the two minutes of silence at Victory Square.

At Victory Square, Vancouver’s main Remembrance Day Ceremony and Parade will begin:

When: 10 a.m. Sunday, November 11, 2012
Where: Cenotaph at Victory Square
West Hastings Street, between Cambie and Hamilton

The program at Victory Square begins with a performance by the Vancouver Bach Youth Choir starting at 10 a.m. Led by Vancouver Flag Party, the parade of veterans, military marching units and bands will arrive at Victory Square as the ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. The Last Post will be sounded, followed by two minutes of silence, Reveille and the Lament. Weather permitting, the RCAF will conduct a fly-past moments later.

Following the silence, a 21-gun salute will be fired at Portside Park by the 15th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. In Flanders Fields, sung by the Bach Youth Choir and Sarabande, will follow. The official wreaths will then be placed at the Cenotaph.

The combined bands of the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service and the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada will perform followed by the parade march-off.

The parade proceeds west along Hastings Street, turn right at Seymour Street, past the reviewing stand, and returning to Victory Square via Cordova and Cambie Streets.

In addition to Victory Square, a number of Remembrance Day observances will take place in different communities throughout the city, including:
* Memorial South Park at 10:30 a.m. (near main entrance on 41st Avenue at Windsor Street);
* Grandview Park at 10:45 a.m.(1657 Charles Street at Commercial Drive); and,
* the Japanese Canadian War Memorial at 10:40 a.m. (near the Stanley Park Pavilion).

National Aboriginal Veterans will hold a ceremony at the Victory Square Cenotaph at 10:30 a.m. on November 8.

The Remembrance Day at Victory Square event is organized by the Vancouver Remembrance Day Committee, a volunteer group established by the City in the 1940s with the mandate to conduct the November 11 ceremony on behalf of its citizens.

Photo: tintinetmilou