Legion parade Renfrew Ontario 30 August 2023

[FormerHorseGuard]

Incase anyone is in the area and wants to show up for a Remembrance Day commercial
check it out

 

[Blackadder1916]

1350 Legion branches, 91 previous Remembrance Days (supposedly they were called Armistice Day before 1931) and 85 years since television was introduced in Canada (okay, let's say there's only been 50 years of acceptable quality film and video recording).

In all that time and opportunity there isn't enough footage to cobble together a moving portrait of small town remembrance that will hopefully entice people to show up for the ceremony this year. Or at least buy a poppy and acknowledge what it means.

By now you may have assumed that I find this idea a little absurd. Correct. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ridiculing the Renfrew Legion Branch, I don't know it, or it's membership, or leadership. I can only remember that of the last branch I belonged to years ago; part of the reason why I no longer belong to the Legion. But as the announcement states, this is a "National Headquarters" idea. I understand that advertising is a fact of life in business, even a non-profit business, but this enterprise has (at first glance) a "come on guys, let's get together and put on a show in the backyard" feel to it.

 

[FJAG]

Never been a member of the Legion. When I transferred from the RegF to the ResF some 40 plus years back they gave me a Legion membership package in which I had to attest to the fact that I was neither a Nazi nor a Communist. Considering that I had 16 years of Canadian Army service under my belt by that time, I felt heavily offended to have to attest to that and trashed the application. I honestly think I haven't missed out on not drinking in a smokey environment for several decades except maybe lung cancer.

 

[Furniture]

1350 Legion branches, 91 previous Remembrance Days (supposedly they were called Armistice Day before 1931) and 85 years since television was introduced in Canada (okay, let's say there's only been 50 years of acceptable quality film and video recording).

In all that time and opportunity there isn't enough footage to cobble together a moving portrait of small town remembrance that will hopefully entice people to show up for the ceremony this year. Or at least buy a poppy and acknowledge what it means.

By now you may have assumed that I find this idea a little absurd. Correct. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ridiculing the Renfrew Legion Branch, I don't know it, or it's membership, or leadership. I can only remember that of the last branch I belonged to years ago; part of the reason why I no longer belong to the Legion. But as the announcement states, this is a "National Headquarters" idea. I understand that advertising is a fact of life in business, even a non-profit business, but this enterprise has (at first glance) a "come on guys, let's get together and put on a show in the backyard" feel to it.

I suspect the idea is to emphasize that it's still relevant today, not 83 years ago....

I like bashing the Legion as much as the next serving member, but in this case I think they have a decent idea. As you may be aware, there is a total war in Europe right now... One of the last times that happened a whole bunch of Canadians ended up packing their bags and going off to war as well.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

I was hoping some warm bodies would show up and fill the crowd out, this is a big thing for a small town to be the National background for Remembrance commercial, and this town is short on vets and current serving members. I was not looking for legion bashing , save that for next week

 

[Furniture]

I was hoping some warm bodies would show up and fill the crowd out, this is a big thing for a small town to be the National background for Remembrance commercial, and this town is short on vets and current serving members. I was not looking for legion bashing , save that for next week

If it wasn't a Wednesday I'd pop by, it's just down the road. Mid-week is a bit harder to pull off.