Without fail, every year since 1948, the 77 local veterans who were reported missing or killed in action from the Boer War, the First and Second World Wars are honoured with a special service known as Decoration Day.
Hosted by the Newmarket Veterans’ Association, in partnership with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 426, the 71st annual Newmarket Decoration Day memorial service takes place this Sunday, June 9, at the Newmarket Cemetery, 112 Main St. N.
All families and friends are welcome to attend and honour the service and sacrifice made by Newmarket’s own soldiers in global conflicts.
A colour party march begins the ceremony at 1:45 p.m., with a memorial service slated to begin at 2 p.m. at the Veterans’ Cenotaph on Veterans’ Way at the cemetery.
The Cenotaph is one of two memorials maintained by the veterans’ association, with the second one located at the association’s property at Church Street and Millard Avenue. This memorial was erected and dedicated in 1991 to the veterans who served in the Boer War, First World War, Second World War, the Korean War, as well as on peacekeeping missions.
Other veterans of Canada’s military are also honoured with the placement of a memorial cross at the Cenotaph for the weekend.
Decoration Day began in 1890 as a protest by forgotten veterans who fought in the Battle of Ridgeway but went unacknowledged by the Canadian government. Nine soldiers were killed in that battle.
“The Ridgeway Nine are the modern Canadian military’s first nine combat casualties, but the boys killed that day were quickly forgotten by the bungling politicians in Ottawa who had sent them to their deaths, as were another 22 soldiers who later died from wounds and disease contracted on service during the Fenian Raids that summer in 1866,” wrote Peter Vronsky in a 2012 Globe and Mail article.
“By 1890, frustrated with being forgotten for nearly 25 years, the surviving middle-aged veterans protested on the June 2nd anniversary of Ridgeway by laying flowers and wreaths at the Canadian Volunteers Monument near Queen’s Park, Toronto’s oldest standing public monument. The event became Decoration Day,” Vronsky said.
The June 9 ceremony will include a roll call, listing the names of soldiers who gave their lives in combat. The Newmarket Citizens Band will also perform at the ceremony.
A reception for guests will be offered after the memorial service at the Newmarket Veterans’ Association, 406 Millard Ave., Newmarket.
For more information, visit the Newmarket Veterans’ Association here.
