Remembrance Day

Heroes remembered, Mayor honoured at Hampstead Remembrance Day

Local Journalism Initiative / The Suburban / December 24, 2024 / Hampstead, Joel Goldenberg, Remembrance Day

By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban

The Hampstead Remembrance Day ceremony, held at the Cenotaph at Hampstead Park, was attended by many dignitaries with a special participation by a detachment of Grenadier Guards and a moving exhibit including an original Grenadiers Vimy Ridge Memorial. The dignitaries included Mayor Jeremy Levi and council members, Israeli Consul-General Paul Hirschson, who laid a wreath representing those killed in the Holocaust; Senator Leo Housakos, Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather, Conservative Mount Royal candidate and lawyer Neil Oberman; Alex Copeman, D’Arcy McGee MNA Elisabeth Prass’ political attaché; Hampstead Director General Joe Nunez and other town employees; Rabbi Moishe New of the Montreal Torah Centre, and students from Solomon Schechter Academy, Hampstead Elementary School, Bialik High School and John Grant High School.

Also in attendance was the family of Montrealer and World War II Sgt. Samuel Moses “Moe” Hurwitz, the most decorated Canadian Jewish soldier in World War II who fought bravely as part of the Canadian Grenadier Guards. He died in 1944 of wounds suffered in combat.

“Sgt. Moe Hurwitz’s life and service exemplified the very essence of what it means to be a guardian of freedom and a beacon of hope to his comrades and fellow citizens,” Mayor Levi said. “His story is a testament to the enduring values of inclusivity, unity and the unshakable commitment to upholding the principles that bind us.”

Senator Housakos also paid tribute to Hurwitz, saying he turned down a tryout with the Boston Bruins and instead enlisted to fight in the war.

“He said ‘there’s no time to play hockey when millions of my brothers are getting killed in Europe.’ It was said at the time of his passing, ‘lost to the regiment was its most purposeful and persistent soldier, whose deeds of gallant leadership were an inspiration to those who succeeded him in the battles that were to follow.’ May Moe’s memory be a blessing and inspiration to all of us gathered here today and may it serve as a critical reminder of our collective responsibility to preserve the peace and freedoms Moe and every other soldier fought so hard to achieve.”

Wreaths were also laid representing Canada, Quebec, municipalities, veterans, Hurwitz; the Canadian Grenadier Guards, the Royal Montreal Regiment and the Royal Canadian Legion — members of each were on hand as part of the ceremony; and the SPVM and the SIM — the Montreal Fire Department.

Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi was presented with the King Charles III Coronation Medal by Conservative Senator Leo Housakos, following the ceremony. Honourees are recognized for outstanding achievement in public service and volunteerism. Levi is known for being very active and outspoken, in public and on social media, in support of Israel and against the anti-Israel and antisemitic protests that have taken place in Montreal since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

The medal presentation took place in the Adessky Community Centre, where the town also presented an elaborate exhibition of war artifacts from the Canadian Grenadier Guards, the Royal Montreal Regiment and individual collections — including an original 1917 Canadian Grenadier Guards Vimy Ridge memorial.

Senator Housakos said during the medal presentation, “Mayor, I want to thank you for being a strong voice for what is right in our country and our society and your community.

“I say to everybody, as a Senator, when I go to coast to coast to coast in this country, that the best Mayor in Canada is Mayor Levi, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. He never shies away from doing the right thing, from saying the right thing. The medal goes to people for significant contributions to community and country, and Mayor Levi, you have done that in spades. Hampstead is lucky to have you.”

Levi thanked Housakos, and humbly responded that the medal “belongs to the entire community. I’m just a voice for the community.”

The Mayor then presented Housakos with a Freedom of the City commemorative coin, one side representing Hampstead and the other side representing the Canadian Grenadier Guards. n

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Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Campaign begins Oct. 25

Local Journalism Initiative / The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph / October 22, 2024 / Canadian Forces, military, poppy campaign, Quebec City, Remembrance Day, Royal Canadian Legion, Ruby Pratka

Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Campaign begins Oct. 25

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Over the next two weeks, poppy boxes will begin popping up in shopping malls, box stores and coffee shops across the region as the Royal Canadian Legion 2024 Poppy Campaign gets underway. The campaign begins Oct. 25 and runs until Remembrance Day, Nov. 11.

Richard Roger is the poppy campaign director for Branch 265 of the Legion, based in Sainte-Foy, which covers the Quebec City region. He said that in the past few years, the Legion has run into challenges running the Poppy Campaign, due to a lack of volunteers and fewer business owners offering to distribute poppies to their customers and collect donations. “There are still volunteers [who hand out poppies in person] in major stores or at the Château Frontenac on weekends,” he said. In recent years, local cadet corps members and their parents have handed out poppies, along with veterans, their spouses, family members and friends.

Roger, who is a veteran, said he took “great pride” in seeing people wearing poppy pins around town. The poppy “says that people recognize our sacrifices and are supporting us,” he said.

“In Quebec, in past years, Remembrance Day was less taught in schools, but more and more schools have requested speakers in classrooms and entered the Legion’s national poem and poster competitions,” Roger said. “The English-speaking schools participate more, maybe because parents and teachers have heard about [in-school Remembrance Day events] from elsewhere in Canada.” He speculated that seeing soldiers help out during wildfires, floods, COVID outbreaks and ice storms in Canada in recent years has made the military’s contribution more obvious to Canadian civilians. “In those communities [where the army helped evacuate wildfire and flood survivors], I don’t think we’ll have any trouble handing out poppies,” he said.

Roger said Branch 265 raised more than $80,000 after expenses from the 2023 Poppy Campaign, of which about $33,000 went to organizations providing support to veterans, such as the Maison Paul-Triquet seniors’ home, more than $15,000 went to scholarships for the children and grandchildren of veterans and $5,000 went to veterans and their families in immediate need. Local cadet corps also received funds. Thousands of poppies appeared on scarves and lapels across the region.

“Wearing the poppy is a way to keep people’s memories alive, to respond to the sacrifices made in Korea, in Afghanistan, in Bosnia. During the two weeks before Remembrance Day, that’s our time,” said Roger’s colleague, André Lavallée, also a veteran, who is co-ordinating this year’s Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cross of Sacrifice.

“If we stop wearing the poppy, in 10 years, people will forget,” Roger said.

Grande Allée to close for Nov. 11 ceremony

Lavallée said the traditional ceremony will take place once again in front of the Cross of Sacrifice on Grande Allée, starting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 11.

“Grande Allée will be closed from 9:30 onward, [soldiers] will march down from the Citadelle, there will be prayers and a wreath-laying by federal and provincial dignitaries, dip- lomats and civilian groups,” he said. A cannon will be fired at 11 a.m., to mark the armistice which ended the First World War, signed at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918. A flypast by military helicopters is also planned, weather permitting. “It is a public ceremony; the best place to watch is on the north side of Grande Allée in front of the National Assembly,” Lavallée said.

“If you are a veteran and you want to participate in the ceremony, there are two buses that will bring people from the Legion hall on Boul. Hamel to Grande Allée and back,” said Lavallée. “After the ceremony, if people would like to stop by the Legion hall and have a coffee and a chat, they’re very welcome.”

Branch 265 looking for new home

In addition to the poppy campaign, Branch 265 is also running a Chase the Ace lottery to raise money for a larger hall. “We’ve rented the current hall on Boul. Hamel for the last 10 or so years, and we’d love to be owners and to have a bigger space. We are starting to have more people show up at our activities, which is a good problem to have, but if we have 60 people coming to a supper, it gets a bit tight. We want to be able to welcome everyone,” Lavallée said.

To learn more about the Legion, find out where to get a poppy in your neighbourhood, volunteer with the Poppy Campaign, attend the Remembrance Day ceremony as a veteran, involve your school or cadet corps in Remembrance activities, buy Chase the Ace tickets or contribute to the Jean-Charles Forbes Fund to support Branch 265’s relocation, call 581-742-9267 or email coquelicotlegion265@outlook.com.

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