The City of Vancouver will host the following ceremonies to recognize the contribution our Veterans have made and to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of Canada.

As it has for the past three years, the Generation to Generation ceremony will begin the day with the lighting of the cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza:

When: 8 am Monday, November 11, 2013
Where: Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver Convention Centre

As the cauldron comes to life, a senior veteran will handover Canada’s flag to a member of the next generation of veterans, acknowledging the continuing service and loyalty of Canadians from generation to generation.

Regimental units taking part in this year’s ceremony include 50 members of the 39 Canadian Brigade and HMCS Discovery. RCMP officers will stand as sentries while the all-Cadet Vancouver Flag Party marches in.

Flt. Sergeant Tony Zhao of the Pegasus Air Cadet Sqn. 111 will sound the Last Post and Reveille. Pipe Major Alistair Pattison of the BC Regiment Pipes and Drums will pipe the Lament. The cauldron will be extinguished at 11 am, coinciding with Two Minutes of Silence at Victory Square.

At Victory Square, Vancouver’s main Remembrance Day Ceremony and Parade will begin:

When: 10 am Monday, November 11, 2013
Where: Cenotaph at Victory Square
West Hastings Street, between Cambie and Hamilton

The program begins with a performance by the Vancouver Bach Youth Choir and Sarabande starting at 10 am. Led by the Vancouver Flag Party, the parade of veterans, military marching units and bands will arrive at Victory Square before the ceremony begins at 10:30 am. At 11 am the Last Post will be sounded. There will be Two Minutes of Silence, during which a 21-gun salute by the 15^th Field Artillery Regiment will be heard from Portside Park. Rouse and Lament will follow. The RCAF will conduct a fly-past moments later, weather permitting. The enduring In Flanders Fields will then be sung by the Bach Youth Choir and Sarabande and wreaths will be placed at the Cenotaph.

The combined bands of the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service and the Regimental Pipes and Drums of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada will perform, after which the parade march-off begins. The parade proceeds west along Hastings Street, turning right at Richards Street, east on Cordova, then south on Cambie and marching past the reviewing stand at Victory Square.

In addition to the above ceremonies, Remembrance Day observances will take place in different communities throughout the city including:

• South Memorial Park – Ceremony commences at 10:30 am at Memorial Park Cenotaph, 41st Avenue and Windsor Street
• Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park – Ceremony commences at 10:40 am at the Japanese Canadian Cenotaph in Stanley Park
• Grandview Park – Ceremony commences at 10:45 am at Grandview Park,1657 Charles Street at Commercial Drive
• Royal Vancouver Yacht Club – Ceremony commences at 11 am at The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, 3811 Point Grey Road, and can be viewed by the public from Hastings Mill Park
• CRAB Park at Portside – Ceremony commences at 10:30 am
• Chinatown Memorial – Ceremony commences at 12:30 pm at the Chinatown Memorial Square, Keefer at Columbia

Aboriginal Veterans will hold a ceremony at the Victory Square Cenotaph on November 8, National Aboriginal Veterans Day. A march will get underway at the Carnegie Centre at 10:15 am and proceed to Victory Square. The official ceremony begins at 10:45 am.

The Remembrance Day Service at Victory Square event is organized by the Vancouver Remembrance Day Committee, a volunteer group established by the City in the 1940s with the mandate to conduct the November 11 ceremony on behalf of its citizens.

Saturday, September 17, 2011
11am – 2pm
1657 Charles Street @ Commercial Drive

The redevelopment’s opposition group, dubbed Defend Grandview, has organized a block party on Saturday May 15 starting at 8:30pm in an effort to “reclaim the space.” So I say check out the event, spend some time in the park, and judge for yourself to see if the upgrade is necessary. If you can, post your thoughts in the comments section.

:: Read the Parks Board report on the Grandview Park redesign