Pitt Meadows is increasingly dedicated to honouring Remembrance Day.
The city has the fastest-growing Remembrance Day ceremonies in the Lower Mainland, said Jim MacDonald past president of the Legion Branch 88. He was at Pitt Meadows city hall this week for a ceremonial poppy campaign announcement, giving a poppy to Mayor John Becker.
“Pitt Meadows Day is our biggest signature event in the city, but Rememberance Day may well be the most important,” said Becker.
MacDonald noted that the local ceremony has ballooned from hundreds to easily 2,000 attending in recent years.
“It’s amazing what’s happened in Pitt Meadows,” said MacDonald.
Branch 88 serves both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, and the 91st anniversary of the local legion iis coming in May. With 2,000 members in the local branch, it is the largest branch in B.C. and second largest in Canada to Calgary.
The local poppy campaign is also impressive.
“Believe it or not, we bring 100,000 poppies to this community,” said MacDonald.
Last year the donations to the local poppy campaign were over $76,000, which must be dedicated to veterans services.
“A lot of the major centres would like to have that kind of draw,” he said.
Remembrance Day in Pitt Meadows will be held from 10:30-to 11:30 a.m. at the cenotaph at Spirit Square at 12007 Harris Rd. There will be a procession, speeches, a two-minute observance of silence at 11 a.m. and laying of wreaths.