Jasper students were helping keep alive the memory of fallen veterans who dedicated themselves to service.
With help from the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, on November 8 Jasper students made sure No Stone was Left Alone in Jasper’s cemetery.
The No Stone Left Alone program honours Canada’s veterans by facilitating a unique remembrance ceremony. Students seek out the headstones of Canada’s fallen and place a poppy in their honour.
The act is a symbolic gesture for a peaceful future, said Sgt. Greg Key, from the Jasper Legion, who did peacekeeping tours in Cypress and Bosnia.
“For 13 years, at this same time, Jasper students—your older brothers, sisters and friends—have made their way to the Jasper cemetery to honour, learn about and most importantly, to remember Canada’s veterans,” Key told three dozen or so students and teachers from Ecole Desrochers.
Also speaking was Mayor Richard Ireland. He noted Jasper was the second community in Canada to take part in the proud tradition OF NSLA.
“You can continue to honour the service of our veterans by continuing to serve your community,” Ireland said.
École Desrochers student Willow Lent was one of the Grade 10 students who used a map of the Jasper cemetery to identify the headstones of men and women who served. Willow, 15, and her peers marked those places of rest with a poppy. Lent and her friend Jenna Fortin said the experience was valuable and interesting.
“They risked their lives so we could live in a country of peace,” Jenna said.
“It’s a chance to thank the people who fought for us,” Willow added.
Reverend Padre David Prowse addressed the students and reminded them of Jasper’s Patrick Wilson Langford, who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. Langford was a Flight Lieutenant who was sent to a Nazi prisoner of war camp after his plane went down during a night raid over Hamburg in 1942.
École Desrochers principal Marie-Claude Faucher recited John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.”
Jasper’s Kyle Henderson lay a wreath at the gravestone of Flying Officer James “Jimmy” Robinson, one of the 143 men and women who served their country in uniform and whose final resting place is in the Jasper Cemetery.
The event’s Sergeant at Arms, D.J. Klymchuk, who spent time in the Royal Canadian Navy, recited the Act of Remembrance.
“They were young, as we are young. They served, giving freely of themselves.
“To them, we pledge, amid the winds of time. “To carry their torch and never forget,” Klymchuk said.
“We will remember them.”
The No Stone Left Alone ceremony is part of the 2024 Jasper Veterans’ Festival. The fourth annual veterans appreciation event takes place November 4-13.
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
