How London will celebrate Remembrance Day under the pandemic

With Nov. 11 coming up, London has a clearer picture on how Remembrance Day will be celebrated.

Randy Warden is chairperson for the city’s Remembrance Day committee. He said, “the event is greatly affected by the pandemic.”

Last year, there were 500 participants for the parade, while this year, there will be only 25 people participating in the Remembrance Day service.

On the day before Nov. 11 however, the community is invited to place a wreath at the cenotaph. Two veterans will be at the cenotaph starting noon until 8 p.m. that day.

The Remembrance Day service will be invitation-only to help maintain social distancing, but anyone can attend the service online via Rogers or CTV London livestream.

There will be no parade or cadet vigil for this year’s event. Warden says that the parade route that goes from the Delta Armouries to the cenotaph is a very historic route.

“The Delta Armouries hotel was, at one point, armouries for the city of London, and the route that we march every year is the route that was marched by the soldiers when the cenotaph was positioned in London.”

Warden says despite the parade not happening this year, that does not deter the symbolic meaning behind Remembrance Day and the service will go on.

Warden says, “I am saddened that the cadets will not be involved this year. That was a national level decision, and cadets are not involved anywhere in Canada. We respect that decision.”

The Poppy Campaign will start next Friday and the committee will do their best to get the word out there. Poppies will still be out there for the community, and some places will have sticker poppies as well.