A large and silent crowd of about 200 gathered at the Picton Cenotaph Wednesday morning for a formal observance of two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The proceedings, which enjoyed unseasonably warm weather and even a ray of sunshine, were punctuated by the national anthem, The Last Post and Reveille on trumpet, The Lament on the bagpipes, and followed by God Save the Queen.

Legion Branches in Picton, Wellington and Consecon hosted ceremonies to honour all Canadian men and women who have served the country since WWI, and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

New Royal Canadian Legion Branch 78 (Picton) president Phil Dawson served as Master of Ceremonies, accompanied by both active Canadian Forces members and cadets from the 851 Prince Edward Royal Canadian Air Cadet squadron.

Mr. Dawson recited the Peace Prayer of St. Francis to mark at once the solemnity and beauty of the occasion.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, the truth;
Where there is doubt, the faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Mr. Dawson then called out the many names of those present to lay a wreath at the base of the monument to the County’s war dead. The cenotaph is now decorated with beautiful wreaths from all over the County, as well as from the Government of Canada and from the Ontario Government.