Around 100 students from the Regina Public and Regina Catholic school divisions will be remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice on Monday morning at the Regina Cemetery.
It’s all part of the 3rd Annual No Stone Left Alone ceremony at 10:30 a.m. in Regina. That’s where students will have an opportunity to pay their respects to fallen soldiers at the cemetery located on 4th Avenue.
Children from St. Francis Community School, St. Theresa School, Dr. L.M. Hanna Elementary School and Imperial Community School are participating in the event.
One of the organizers of the ceremony is Sub-Lieutenant (SLt.) Callista Szachury, who works in the Regina Catholic School Division as a kindergarten teacher. However she is now on sabbatical leave to serve as an officer on watch on the HMCS Ville de Quebec stationed in Halifax.
Before she travels to meet up with the ship down south in a few days, Szachury will take part in Monday’s gathering. She said the students will have the opportunity to participate in their own act of remembrance.
“Each of them will have 15 poppies in their pockets and they are going to be placing them on the 1,300 graves in the Field of Honour at the cemetery. It’ll be a very nice moment,” she explained.
For Szachury, she feels it’s important that they pass down information and stories to future generations in order to understand what really happened in the past, so they can remember for the future.
“It’s a great opportunity for the students to take up the torch. They need to have those hands-on experiences.”
The idea for the No Stone Left Alone began in 2011 in Edmonton. After a lady was inspired by her mother who was a veteran, she decided to create the program to help remember her mother on Remembrance Day.
She gathered more inspiration to have youth become engaged with the ceremony after seeing European children taking time to visit Canadian cemeteries on Remembrance Day.
No Stone Left Alone ceremonies now take place in every Canadian province and territory.