Lindsay Thurber Remembers

Principal Dan Lower says he too couldn’t be more proud.

“This is an opportunity for our students to show their respect for people that sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for the place that we have today,” states Lower. “So I think you saw in that ceremony that they showed that reverence and showed their respects so it makes me super proud. I hope people see by this that our kids are honouring and understanding and we’re trying to do our part here at Lindsay Thurber as well, so it’s most important that our veterans see this.”

Craig MacKenzie, son of Walter MacKenzie, a First World War veteran from Red Deer, feels the ceremony put on by the students and staff at Lindsay Thurber is fabulous.

“What it brings back to me of course is Russia and my dad’s involvement in the First World War, 1st Canadian Division out of Red Deer he was,” MacKenzie recalls. “He was a Sergeant in the Army and he had many stories to tell. He was in the first gas attack in World War l and told all of his infantry men to cover their faces with a handkerchief, so they all did except for one and he died the next day.”

Local veteran Al Low, now retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force, says he enjoys the band’s live music at the ceremony and all the efforts of the students involved.

“There was times I wish I had a Kleenex,” admits Low. “But what they do here is excellent.”

Low joined the military in 1963 and was first posted to nearby Penhold in 1964. However, two years later Low found himself in Marville, France at the start of The Cold War.

“We got a gold medal for winning The Cold War and then I came back to Cold Lake,” he exclaims. “It was 36 years, retired in 1999 and a couple of years later we moved to Red Deer. When I got here, I worked with air cadets summer camps for many years. I was commanding officer of the Local 24 Squadron here in 2001 until 2004 and I continued working air cadet camps another eight years.”

Retired Canadian Army veteran Chris Upsdell of Red Deer, says he joined the military after high school in B.C. and served for 17 years.

“I was injured in Bosnia and released from the Army in 2006,” he explains. “Part of the package I got from my injury and from being released was I went to Red Deer College for two years, took the Disability and Community Studies program and now I work at Employment Placement and Support Services. So I help people with disabilities find work.”

Upsdell says one of the many great things about the Remembrance Day Ceremony at Lindsay Thurber however, is all the little details they get right.

“When the parade is run correctly, the right parade commands are used and the right drill movements are used and things like that,” he explains. “I think for me the remembering part is I remember saying goodbye to my kid when she was little and leaving, you know she’s two and I’m heading away for months at a time, those kinds of things. It’s also a chance to think how lucky I am for the things I have.”

by Sheldon Spackman

Lindsay Thurber Remembers

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