Veteran’s Week is wrapping up on Sunday, with final preparations well underway for its Remembrance Day climax.
The Ottawa Children’s Choir spent part of their afternoon preparing for the annual national ceremony at the downtown war memorial Sunday morning.
“It’s really good to sing for veterans because I feel it’s nice to give something back,” said Brittany Dugan. “They’ve given so much for us and our country.”
The choir will be performing with Terry Kelly, whose song A Pittance in Time touches on the importance of remembering.
“All my school years I’ve listened to that video at our Remembrance Day ceremonies at school,” said Nicholas Garand.
“I’ve always seen him on the screen and I thought ‘That would be so cool to sing with him’ and now I can.”
Second World War veteran William Sims said he’s glad people are interested in Canada’s military history.
“I don’t know how well you can describe it to children,” he said. “I have four grandchildren but they’re too young to really talk to.”
Sims said the memories of war are still fresh in his mind, but they don’t stop him from remembering the good times too.
“I remember somebody was playing the violin and you could just imagine everybody just lying there, listening to it and feeling safe and quiet,” he said.
“We’ve had the good times and the bad times.”
That interest appears to be growing nationally, as a new Ipsos Reid poll shows 30 per cent of people asked plan to attend an official Remembrance Day ceremony, up from 16 per cent in 2008.
Eighty-five per cent of respondents also said they believe Nov. 11 should be a statutory holiday.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Katie Griffin
Keep these road closures in mind if you’re going to be around the National War Memorial or any of Ottawa's Remembrance Day events.
CTV’s coverage of the national Remembrance Day ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
