(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Important Celebration

‘Making sure that we carry the responsibility of remembrance forward’: Melfort honours Remembrance Day

Nov 12, 2025 | 5:09 PM

The community of Melfort came together on Tuesday, as hundreds gathered at Melfort & Unit Comprehensive Collegiate to celebrate Remembrance Day.

The ceremony was hosted by the Melfort Legion Branch, as the importance of Remembrance Day was recognized.

“I think being able to point to past conflicts and the involvement of Canadians in them is a great reminder for us all to pay attention to current serving people and more recent veterans as well. There are those same feelings with people having to be away from home and going into dangerous situations, so it’s all about remembering and making sure that we carry the responsibility of remembrance forward,” said Legion member Jim Graham.

“When we go into the schools and give a short talk in the midst of their ceremonies, the thing that we emphasize with them is that we were a generation, and then there’s a generation behind us, and now there’s you. You’re going to be the future of the country, and we’re going to fade away, so you’re the ones who are going to carry this on. Your responsibility is to make sure that our country and our communities are able to stay free and give opportunities to everyone.”

This year marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, as fewer and fewer veterans from that time still remain alive to this day.

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While Graham wasn’t a veteran of said war, he was in other conflicts, and knows just how important Remembrance Day truly is.

“It’s just one of those highlights of the year where I often think back to my service and situations I and many of my contemporaries have been in. Sometimes, there are some words you have that kind of strike home and bring on emotions that you’re you’re trying to hold back, but they just get away on you… if we could have every person on every street and in every building in the town in the city with a poppy on Remembrance Day, that would be our ideal,” Graham added

“We’re so fortunate because the Melfort community is so generous and has always been so good to us, making sure that we can go forward and continue to support veterans. Everybody goes through some tough times in their lives, so it’s nice that we can be tied to veterans and have a way to make their lives a little bit better.”

At the end of the ceremony, many people delivered poppy wreaths to the stage on behalf of family members or other organizations.

(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

That tribute, along with applause for the colour guard, really drove home the support from the community, which Graham really appreciated.

“Just a thanks very much to everybody involved in it, certainly to everyone in attendance. There are also a number of just really generous people in the Legion and people who are tied to the Legion. Even those who aren’t members put in a lot of effort to make this a kind of glorious occasion, so people are just so generous with their time and their efforts, and it just all comes together and makes it a special time of year.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

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