A Ceremony that Knits Communities Together- If Only For A Few Precious Moments

Remembrance Day Ceremonies Have A Way Of Bringing People Together In A Warm, Positive Sort of Way

A Brief Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper

Posted November 12^th, 2024 on Niagara At Large

Like the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes who carried around a lamp in broad daylight, claiming he was “looking for an honest man,” I often think of myself doing the same as I am looking for a sense of community.

In a gathering of people around a cenotaph on Remembrance Day, you can feel a sense of community with others, at least for a little while. photo by Doug Draper

And in this day and age of so many people looking down at smart phones and wearing ear plugs as they walk past each other without even trading a friendly smile, a sense of community – of experiencing genuine organic encounters with others – is getting harder and harder to find.

Believe it or not, I find that one of the all-too-few annual events where I continue to experience that sense of community –  where those damn smart phones and ear plugs are set aside and people, young and old, gather together for a common purpose – are the Remembrance Day ceremonies held in communities across our region and our country every November 11^th to honour the service and sacrifice of those who fought and died in past wars.

This Remembrance Day. The cenotaph in Thorold’s  Memorial Park after all the wreaths were laid and the ceremony was over. photo by Doug Draper

In my home base of Thorold this past Monday, November 11^th, several hundred people gathered  together in Memorial Park, around a cenotaph carved with the names of young people from the community who died in the First and Second Wars are carved, for the laying of wreaths.

The feeling of warmth and friendliness among those at  that gathering was palpable and when the ceremony was over many lingered as if they wanted to soak that feeling in for a few more moments before going back to a routine of cocooning themselves in their cars and watching people pass them on a sidewalk like zombies with their smart phones.

Then we wonder why so many of us feel so much loneliness and alienation from one another in what has become a walled-off, rewired world of our own making.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

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