After putting the public parade on pause for the past three years due to the pandemic, the Newmarket Legion is holding its Remembrance Day Service and parade on Sunday, Nov. 6.
The commemoration begins the night before, on Nov. 5, when cadets will stand vigil at the cenotaph in Veterans Memorial Park at D'Arcy and Church streets. There will be more than 400 crosses, with candles and Canadian flags.
"It's something quite spectacular to see. If nobody's ever seen it, I would encourage them to go by because, especially at night, it's quite the thing to see," said Crystal Cook, legion past president and parade organizer.
The vigil will last until after the service the following day.
Parade participants— which include members from the Newmarket Legion, the Newmarket Veterans Association, the cadets, York Regional Police, Central York Fire Services, Scouts, Girl Guides, and members from town council — will meet at Doug Duncan Drive at 1 p.m. They will march off at 1:30 p.m.
The parade will travel west on Water Street/Eagle Street to Church and will turn there to go north to D'Arcy and Veterans Memorial Park, where the service and wreath laying are taking place at the cenotaph.
The parade will then continue down D'Arcy to Water/Eagle and back to Doug Duncan, where it will disperse. Cook said anyone participating in the parade or watching it is welcome to go to the Newmarket Legion afterwards for light refreshments.
This is the first year the legion has held a full parade since 2019. The past two years, there were scaled down services with restricted attendance due to the pandemic and no marching.
"It's nice to get back to some sort of normal," Cook said. "We made do over the last couple of years, but it certainly wasn't the same."
The legion's Remembrance Day events are held on Nov. 6 and then on Nov. 11 the Newmarket Veterans Association holds a ceremony at the Newmarket Cemetery at 10:30 a.m.