Belleville Remembrance Day ceremonies draw large crowds

By Max Reid

BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College’s Alumni Hall was overflowing with students on Monday morning for the college’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony.

Loyalist College president Ann Marie Vaughan spoke to the assembly of students and former service people about her family’s military history. She is an honorary colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, affiliated with 426 Training Squadron at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.

She told QNet News of her great-grandmother and the four sons she lost in Europe during the First World War. They enlisted to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, which at the time operated under British command.

Vaughan said that while today is a very personal day for her, “for us as Loyalist College, because of our location here close to CFB Trenton, I think it is particularly important that we take time to remember today.”

Local author and journalist Mary Thomas also spoke at the event. She has written a book about the role of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in Italy during the Second World War.

The city of Belleville hosted its own Remembrance Day ceremony at Memorial Park, where a large crowd gathered in below-freezing weather to dedicate wreathes and poppies to the lives of fallen Canadian soldiers. The Salvation Army pipe band provided musical accompaniment for the ceremony.