The sun was shining on Sunday, as the Sandycove Veterans hosted a Remembrance Service and wreath-laying at the community's war memorial - COVID-style, with masks and social distancing.
It was similar to last year's service: prayers and opening remarks, the playing of The Last Post and the Piper's Lament, the dipping of flags to half-staff and laying of wreaths, but no Parade through the streets of the Sandycove adult lifestyle community.
This is a special year, noted Alan Leslie, president of the Sandycove Veterans Social Club.
"This is the 100th anniversary of the poppy," Leslie said. "That makes it a pretty special year for that thing we do here in Canada, and the British Commonwealth," with the poppy used not only as a symbol of Remembrance, but as a fundraiser for Veterans' services and support. Leslie himself served 21 years in the Royal Canadian Navy.
He noted that the past year has been hard - especially on the pre-World War One field gun that has stood beside the war memorial since the original Sandycove owners built the community. The wooden wheels had rotted, and during the July tornado and heavy winds, they broke apart.
It was ParkBridge Lifestyle Communities and the Sandycove woodworking shop that repaired and restored the gun, in time for Sunday's service, led by Padre Tom Huntley, a veteran of UN Peacekeeping.
Those participating carried their own wreaths, and were called up one by one to place the wreaths at the foot of the memorial, to "honour and pay respect to those that volunteered and sacrificed over many, many years and in many different places."
