The Torch Be Yours
To Hold It High
Jo-Anne Hoyak, RTAM Vice President
M
acGregor Collegiate
Institute holds, annually A
Remembrance Day Service
that is, for the most part, crafted and
entirely presented by the students.
It is a respectful and moving
experience that, on the morning of
November 8, encompassed tributes
to women and war, Indigenous war
heroes, a personal retrospect of
Afghanistan, and three heroic faces
of freedom; all composed and read by
the student participants.
Acknowledgement was given to
tradition as “The Last Post,” a moment of silence,
and “Reveille” were prominent in the program.
However, the most powerful and emotional piece
continues to be the reading of the community Honour
Roll during which a poppy for each name is pinned on
a cross by students, while every second person in the
gymnasium stands in respect as each name is read.
It has always been a strong personalization of the
numbers lost from families in our area.
RTAM and MTS
This is the 75th anniversary of
the Canadian Liberation of the
Netherlands. My Father was with
the Dutch resistance, and my Mother
was a nurse who was “drafted”
into the Canadian army for a time
as she spoke four languages and
interpreters were needed. Not a day
goes by that I am not thankful that,
partly because of this, my parents
brought me to this country as our
chosen home.
I am proud that, in commemoration
of this liberation, the students of
MacGregor Collegiate have planted 128 tulip bulbs
this Fall; one for each name on the Honour Role.
I am proud that Edward Roulette laid the Wreath
of Remembrance on behalf of the Retired Teachers
Association of Manitoba, and that our organization
was recognized at this meaningful ceremony.
We all should be proud that the MacGregor
Collegiate student body has taken up the torch and
holds it high in remembrance and gratitude.
John Sushelnitsky, Political Advocacy Chair
M
TS President James Bedford and Vice
President Nathan Martindale visited the
RTAM Board during the lunch break on
October 16, 2019. The President thanked RTAM for
the invitation and proposed possible closer ties
between the two organizations at a non-partisan
political action level. The co-operation could
include the operational level at events such as
the recent climate event and literature such as
the election postcards. RTAM Board Directors
shared in the discussion over the noon hour. RTAM
President, Peggy Prendergast, thanked the MTS
representatives for the discussion.
Nathan Martindale, Peggy Prendergast, James Bedford
RTAM.MB.CA n 25